Level Up: Should you submit videos during job applications?

X is that gift that keeps on giving when it comes to career gist or juice, and this time around, the talk is on video assessments prior to interviews.

Personally, being a camera-shy person,  I don’t even bother when I see a job application asking for a video prior to interviews. I’ve only done it once, and it ended in tears.

Someone was also quick to point out how a video could promote bias.

Apparently, there are companies that ask you to post the videos on Instagram. It’s giving “job applicant turn content creator.”

But you also can’t deny the role of financial remmuration. If the salary is worth it, get me TG Omori ASAP! We’d shoot a video.

As expected, HR personnel and recruiters found themselves caught in the middle of this debate. An HR manager took to X to create a thread explaining why companies request video submissions. Curious, I reached out to him to further understand his perspective and ask a few questions.

So here’s the defending counsel on this matter Emmanuel Faith, People and Talent Leader explaining the role of videos in job applications. 

Why do companies ask for videos during applications, and do the benefits outweigh the downsides?

People tend to mix things up a lot when it comes to video applications, video assessments, and video interviews. They aren't the same. A video assessment, for instance, is where you're required to record a video response to a specific task or scenario—not just introducing yourself over and over again, which I find repetitive and exhausting. I don’t advocate for that. 

That said, there are certain roles, particularly client-facing ones or those requiring communication with high-profile individuals, where a video assessment makes sense. I remember a particular airline that required applicants to submit a video assessment for a multilingual role. The task was to record themselves addressing a client in English, then switching to French when the client revealed they didn’t speak English.

While you could argue this could be done in an interview, the purpose was to reduce the number of candidates progressing to the interview stage.

Have you asked people to submit videos before, and how useful was it? 

I’ve actually asked applicants to submit video assessments before while I was at Cowrywise, and it made a huge difference in the hiring process. It was for a Product Specialist role, which sits at the intersection of customer relations, customer experience, and product management. We needed people who not only understood our products but could effectively communicate with customers, listen to their needs, and provide valuable feedback to the product team.

We were looking to hire two people, but we received about 2,000 applications and eventually hired four people. If we hadn’t used that method, we wouldn’t have hired up to that number. 

The best part? This hire happened in 2021, and four of them are still at Cowrywise. Video assessments can be very useful for assessing certain skills and competencies, especially in communication-heavy roles.

The defending counsel has spoken. Over to the Jury.

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