How Coalters Aligns the Interview Experience With Their Brand and Saves Time With Spark Hire

I was spending so much of my working week telephone interviewing candidates which made me realize I needed a smarter solution. Candidates wouldn't answer the phone, then they would want to arrange a new time to interview. I was constantly moving my diary around. As a real estate company, we're positioning ourselves at the forefront of property technology – so I wanted to embrace this technology within our recruitment process too!

This is the first time we have embraced video interviewing. I looked into several different providers, but Spark Hire was competitively priced, provided a user-friendly platform, and the customer service I experienced stood out over other providers.

The solution had to be cost effective, efficient and user-friendly. It had to enable me to continue to interact with candidates, but in a much smarter manner. It was vital the candidates’ experience within our recruitment process be enhanced by this solution. We further wanted the solution to help us stand out against our competitors.

I participated in trials of several providers and spent time being guided through their platforms. I looked into cost, as this was a big factor for us. Spark Hire’s ease of use, competitive pricing, and again, customer service stood out. Everyone I have spoken with at Spark Hire has been great – you guys really stand out in terms of helpfulness and service.

The process of signing up was really easy. I was confident in the platform because of its ease of use and knowing support was readily available.

Spark Hire has enabled me to spend more time with our candidates and less time on the phone. While it hasn't increased our number of hires, Spark Hire has improved the efficiency of our process.

We recruit for Graduate Trainee Managers, and our process is thorough. All candidates are sifted initially against essential criteria and those scoring high enough are sent a 30 minute written exercise so we can assess both written communication and alignment with our core values. Candidates who score high enough were then progressed and interviewed via telephone. Now, we use video interviewing and this is where we have made big wins in efficiency. Candidates who are successful at the video interview then progress to the first of two face-to-face interviews here in-branch.

Video interviewing is really important to us. It enables us to get a snapshot of a candidate; how much they know about us, how they present themselves, and why they want to work with us. If it's not going well - I can switch it straight off and move on! If it's going great, the interview gives me great insight into a candidate prior to inviting them to the branch.

I have to be honest - not everyone seems to like it. We often get feedback that candidates miss having a real person at the end of the phone but the majority can see the value in why we use it. Our team utilizes video in their work as agents - so Spark Hire exposes them to this method of communication early on.

It has streamlined the process greatly - I now have more time to progress our candidates through the process much more efficiently.

During the initial demonstration I saw for myself the platform is so easy to use and to navigate. I could see the positives straight away.

As a company we position ourselves at the forefront of quality, service, and technology. Spark Hire fits perfectly with that. Other companies looking to improve their hiring efficiency and their candidates’ journey should look into video interviewing. From a selfish point of view - I'm happy for my competitors to continue to work with their old school ways! We stand out a mile!

It's so efficient! It's easy to set up, and easy to manage - I love it!

Ease of use and the customer service from the Spark Hire team.

Innovate, flexible and time-saving!