Hire Hive: A New Take On Screening Candidates

Using an online questionnaire to screen and vet candidates is not entirely novel. Hire Hive, a US based start-up, takes a fresh look at candidate screening by allowing  employers to use video, images and text to vet job applicants.  

An employer creates a questionnaire for job seekers to answer, choosing either or a mix of video, text and images.  I created a sample questionnaire and it’s easy to use. The killer application seems to be the video (using a web cam) function. Limiting video answers by job seekers to 60 seconds make sense. There is an option to ask for images (which I assume would be for copies of certificates, reference letter etc.). In fact, an employer can also request a traditional resume to be submitted through the questionnaire.

Will it work? Hard to tell, but it’s a promising tool. Using such a tool will surely discourage random applicants as applying requires time and some effort. Perhaps, it would be more useful tool deeper into the selection process rather than in the early screening stage.

I like it for the fact that it didn’t try to do too much other than allow employers to ask questions using different mediums, especially video.