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I encountered something new today while applying for a job at a local retail store: as part of the online application you have to upload a two-minute video of yourself answering a couple of basic interview questions.

 

I wonder if this is a common part of the process these days; I've never heard of such a thing before and I find it very interesting. I guess it'd be a useful way of discouraging lazy jobseekers (the video is absolutely compulsory) and it works like a pre-interview interview so they can get an idea of what you're like in person without needing to actually meet you. Guess I'd better set up a little studio in my room!

 

Has anyone else encountered this sort of thing before?

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pink_sugar

I think this is a new phenomenon. I had to do this for an internship I applied for and I'm hearing this is a new form of interviewing applicants especially for companies wanting to simplify the hiring process using temp/staffing agencies. I don't really care for it, because I find I stutter and stumble more than I would in an actual interview.

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I think this is a new phenomenon. I had to do this for an internship I applied for and I'm hearing this is a new form of interviewing applicants especially for companies wanting to simplify the hiring process using temp/staffing agencies. I don't really care for it, because I find I stutter and stumble more than I would in an actual interview.

 

Actually, it's one of the best new developments in the recruitment world. It weeds out the creeps and the people who are just applying as a requirement for welfare/job seekers allowance, which is going on a lot over here in the UK — Brits too lazy to get a job, do sloppy interviews and then start boiling when an immigrant actually takes up the job that couldn't be bothered to take up.

 

I first encountered CVs with attached videos 2 years ago when I friend of mine had like 30 short pre-interview like videos on his macbook. I turns out that he did it over and over again until he was satisfied — no stutters and stumbles. So OP, make sure you do it over again with friends/family if you want that job and leave 1 button undone ;)

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It's a way for them to weed out fatties, different races, religions, ages, etc. Recruitment is supposed to be blind and therefore unbiased. I'm sure there will be more lawsuits in the future about discrimination.

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It's a way for them to weed out fatties, different races, religions, ages, etc. Recruitment is supposed to be blind and therefore unbiased. I'm sure there will be more lawsuits in the future about discrimination.

 

I don't think so. When was the last time you heard of someone not getting a job because of the race or religion, that didn't have a victim mentality? Whats wrong with discriminating against fatties? It would be pretty hard to prove, it would be like "your honour, I believe he chose not to offer employment because my client's fat gut covered the camera lens".

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I don't think so. When was the last time you heard of someone not getting a job because of the race or religion, that didn't have a victim mentality? Whats wrong with discriminating against fatties? It would be pretty hard to prove, it would be like "your honour, I believe he chose not to offer employment because my client's fat gut covered the camera lens".

 

Everything is wrong with discrimination. A person's size, race, religion, gender, sexuality, and political views should not affect their suitability for a job. Do you not think that a "victim mentality" is developed as a result of actually being victimised throughout a person's life? People should be hired based on their professional skills, experience, and their capacity to improve on both. You are the problem.

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Everything is wrong with discrimination. A person's size, race, religion, gender, sexuality, and political views should not affect their suitability for a job. Do you not think that a "victim mentality" is developed as a result of actually being victimised throughout a person's life? People should be hired based on their professional skills, experience, and their capacity to improve on both. You are the problem.

 

There are many people with a victim and woe is me mentality that are actually quite privileged. People should be hired based on their ability to deliver which is different to what you said. Actually there are many threads on LS that complain about colleagues that are creepy; social impression should be an element during the hiring process.

 

I'm all for video attachments. No fat chicks.

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GorillaTheater
There are many people with a victim and woe is me mentality that are actually quite privileged. People should be hired based on their ability to deliver which is different to what you said. Actually there are many threads on LS that complain about colleagues that are creepy; social impression should be an element during the hiring process.

 

I'm all for video attachments. No fat chicks.

 

I do employment law for a living, and will be the first to tell you that 90% of discrimination and retaliation suits are bullsh*t. That's how many we weed out before the issue of trial/settlement even comes up. The problem is that it can be expensive for employers to deal with even bullsh*t suits (mainly the pain-in-the-ass discovery process if we can't get the suit dismissed outright), and the best bet is to shield yourself as well as you can from claims in the first place.

 

One good way to do that is to have an application process which tells the employer nothing about race, age, etc. (gender and to some extent nationality is going to be fairly obvious, regardless). That way unsuccessful applicants are going to have a harder time coming out of the box claiming discrimination.

 

One of my clients was getting copies of drivers' licenses from applicants. Bad idea, for the same reason. They can get everything they need to know from merely asking for the license number, assuming that driving is one of the essential functions of the position.

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I do employment law for a living, and will be the first to tell you that 90% of discrimination and retaliation suits are bullsh*t. That's how many we weed out before the issue of trial/settlement even comes up. The problem is that it can be expensive for employers to deal with even bullsh*t suits (mainly the pain-in-the-ass discovery process if we can't get the suit dismissed outright), and the best bet is to shield yourself as well as you can from claims in the first place.

 

One good way to do that is to have an application process which tells the employer nothing about race, age, etc. (gender and to some extent nationality is going to be fairly obvious, regardless). That way unsuccessful applicants are going to have a harder time coming out of the box claiming discrimination.

 

One of my clients was getting copies of drivers' licenses from applicants. Bad idea, for the same reason. They can get everything they need to know from merely asking for the license number, assuming that driving is one of the essential functions of the position.

 

Yeah its out of control, and even worse here in the UK where everyone seems to cry out 'unfair dismissal' when they get fired for good reason.

 

Technically wouldn't giving out your name, address or phone number be enough to file for discrimination because the employer could easily lookup your Facebook profile with that. Actually, sometimes at work when I get a new client over the phone I do a Facebook check with her email just to see if she's hot or not.

 

However as the world is becoming more and more connected (not necessarily in a good way) video attachments might become the norm, maybe turn into a situation where you feel obliged to submit it even if it's not requested.

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