Asynchronous video interviews in selection: A systematic review and five empirical investigations

Abstract

It has become very popular to conduct employment interviews using new digital technologies, including synchronous and even asynchronous video interviews. In contrast to this wide usage in practice, less is known about how these technologies influence psychometric properties and selection outcomes. Findings gained from traditional face-to-face interviews cannot easily be transferred to digital interview formats. In addition, scholars have recently called for increased theory development to overcome the numerous limitations of cross-media comparisons and explain why and how technology should influence selection outcomes. While a variety of theories on media usage, media choice and media adaption exist, their applicability and explanatory value for technology usage in the area of employment interviews is rarely addressed. The present dissertation addresses this notable gap in the literature through both a systematic review of conceptional frameworks on technology usage in employment interviews as well as empirical results on understudied digital interview formats. In doing so, it identifies promising avenues for future research and provides information for HR practitioners about how to design their selection systems. More specifically, the current dissertation encompasses a comprehensive review of technology usage in employment interviews and five empirical studies on the specific format of asynchronous video interviews. The review integrates several theoretical perspectives on the topic, including the unitary perspective on technology-enhanced interviews, major theoretical directions in media research, and research on differences in psychometric properties and selection outcomes due to technology, into a comprehensive working model. The empirical portion of the dissertation presents five exploratory studies on asynchronous video interviews that explore research questions on blind spots in the literature or address urgent issues concerning the use of technology in today’s selection practice. The first study addresses interrater agreement and the importance of structured evaluation formats in a nonapplicant sample of N = 111 participants. The second study investigates the influence of social bandwidth on the accuracy of interview ratings in a sample of non-applicants with N = 279 participants. The third study provides first results on the validity of asynchronous video interviews in the field of high-stakes selection with N = 899 real applicants. The fourth study assesses the impact of personalized communication via video messages on applicant reactions in asynchronous video interviews with a non applicant sample of N = 98 participants. Finally, the fifth study explores rating inflation due to preparation time in a non-applicant sample of N = 51 participants. This dissertation contributes to the literature in several ways: The review provides an up-to-date, multi-perspective overview of the field and integrates several previous research strands into a single framework on technology usage in employment interviews. The empirical studies provide promising initial results concerning the psychometric properties of asynchronous video interviewing, specifically with respect to reliability and validity, but also highlight possible pitfalls--like rating inflation--that might appear when preparation time is introduced into the process design. In addition, the studies further highlight the extraordinary importance of structure in interviews, even though further study is required to better understand the exact nature of the relationship between structure and technology in employment interviews.