Green Job Staffing With Video Interviews

86532054Green is the new black, at least when it comes to the employment marketplace. As the environmental movement gains steam (or at least purchases carbon offsets), the industry growth means more jobs to fill.

In 2011 alone, green industry jobs numbered approximately 3.4 million. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this accounts for about 2.6 percent of total U.S. employment. If this doesn’t seem like an impressive statistic, you only have to look at the projected growth of the green industry to see the impact. By 2016, only a few short years from now, green industry jobs are likely to grow between 6.3 and 20 percent. This makes the environmental movement one of the fastest hiring industries around, and one your staffing company should be considering.

Of course there are hiring challenges for the green industry, just like any other employment sector. To solve hiring problems, the solution might just be to find an environmentally friendly solution like video interviews. Here are a few ways the video interview can be perfect for hiring environmental superstars:

Greener Hiring For The Environmental Industry
You might not want to do away with the traditional resume entirely (although you might pause before hitting the print button), but using online video in the hiring process can make Mother Earth a whole lot happier.

As you’re looking to staff an environmentally friendly company, you want to impart the company culture as fast as possible. Because video interviews are a green technology, inviting a candidate to connect in this fashion will paint a positive image of the company’s values.

Besides, you certainly don’t want to appear behind the times when it comes to greener hiring practices, especially if you want to work with green organizations. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistic survey, about three quarters of all companies, not just those in the green sector, reported the use of at least one eco-friendly hiring technology or practice. Greener hiring doesn’t just save the environment, companies from all sectors are realizing it will also save their bottom lines.

PREMIUM CONTENT: The fastest-growing U.S. job markets, by detailed industry and geography

Avoid Greenwashing
Put simply, greenwashing is when companies use a veneer of environmental friendliness as a selling point or marketing gimmick and not much more. Greenwashing can not only lose a company customers, it can also ensure you don’t find candidates with sincere passion needed for your green sector jobs.

The problem with greenwashing is how widespread it is among both the green sector and other industries. A recent study from the U.K. showed 27 percent of responders reported their eco-friendly policies were implemented to make the company look good to customers. Another 20 percent adopted policies due to consumer pressure, while 18 percent thought it made good business sense. So how many companies made their green business decisions out of genuine concern and regard for our environment? Just one percent.

So it makes sense when green companies or industries are viewed with skepticism by both a consumer base and a pool of talented, passionate candidates. You want candidates who have real passion about the industry and a genuine interest in making the world a better, greener and more sustainable place.

By using green technology in the hiring process, you’re showing the company is interested in more than just greenwashing. You can find candidates who will fit with ease into the company culture and who agree with the company’s core mission statement.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Before you buckle up for takeoff, remember the plane flying you to your destination is dumping tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In fact, the average American dumps 19 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere per year and air travel is the biggest carbon offender.

You can buy carbon offsets for every talented candidate you decide to fly out for an interview, or you can just skip the plane ride altogether with video interviewing. You might be asking yourself why you’d have to fly out candidates at all. Why not just keep it local? The issue is the skills gap, which is a problem for the overall employment marketplace but a particular issue for the green sector.

Because many of the jobs green industries rely on didn’t exist even a decade ago, finding workers with the right skills can sometimes be a challenge. This is one reason staffing companies open their doors and widen their talent pools to search for far-flung candidates with the right stuff.

Interviewing talent in person, however, can be far from environmentally friendly. Even without taking flight, local candidates could find themselves stuck in traffic, dumping yet more carbon into the environment and delaying the hiring process.

Instead, you can connect personally face-to-face using a live video interview. Best of all, because these interviews are recorded, you can share the best candidates with your whole team. Not only are you saving the environment, you’re saving a good deal of hassle in your own hiring process.

Hiring the best workers for green jobs shouldn’t feel impossible and certainly shouldn’t damage the environment. Using video interviews allows you to find the best candidates for your green industry clients, all while doing your part for the environment.

What are some ways the staffing industry can use video interviews to hire for the green industry? Share in the comments!

MORE: Video Interview Tips for the Internal Candidate

 

Josh Tolan

Josh Tolan
Josh Tolan is the CEO of Spark Hire, a video interviewing platform. Learn more about using video interviews for staffing and connect with Spark Hire on Facebook and Twitter.

Josh Tolan

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