The Client
The Oregon Health Authority is a government agency committed to the mission of ensuring all people and communities can achieve optimum physical, mental, and social well-being through partnerships, prevention, and access to quality, affordable health care.
The Challenge
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is a large state agency of around 5,000 employees with a fairly small recruitment team—and certainly no shortage of work. OHA hires many types of positions from entry level to executive, both permanent and limited duration for seven divisions which include the Oregon State Hospital, the Public Health Division, Health Policy and Analytics Division, Health Systems Division, External Relations Division and the Office of Equity and Inclusion. OHA also provides time-sensitive recruitment for the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Unit.
Depending on the position, Oregon Health Authority receives as many as 150 to 200 applications per job opening. “It can be a lot,” explains Cyndi Phipps-Roman, Senior Recruiter for the State of Oregon Public Health Division.
STATE OF OREGON PUBLIC HEALTH DIVISION
With the length of the average recruitment being between 90 and 120 days, OHA also wanted to improve the candidate experience and speed up the recruitment process. “We’re competing with the private sector, and we lose applicants because our process takes so long,” says Phipps-Roman. It was time to explore options to modernize their recruitment practices, to be more efficient and effective, so they worked better for everyone.
The Solution
Oregon Health Authority revamped its hiring process to include pre-recorded video interviews. “It’s a great pre-screening tool. It’s not like a video conference where everyone is expected to meet at a specific time.”
Applicants are first screened to determine if they meet the minimum requirements of the position (including whether they need Visa sponsorship). Individuals who meet the required criteria are invited to participate in a pre-recorded video interview.
“We try to limit the interview to three questions at five minutes per question,” says Phipps-Roman. Candidates can record their answers to the questions whenever they’d like before the assigned deadline.
Next, the recruiter sends the interview team an invitation to rate the videos. Automated reminders for raters to watch and grade the videos help to keep the momentum going. Once the deadline for the raters has passed, the final report is sent to the hiring manager for their review to determine which candidates will be invited to a virtual interview via Zoom or Teams.
Adopting any new software—even one that makes people’s jobs easier—isn’t always a straight line. “People are used to doing things a specific way and they don’t necessarily want to change,” says Phipps-Roman, who is the main point person for teaching managers and employees how to best use VidCruiter. “It’s up to me to encourage and motivate them to use new screening tools because it benefits the entire recruitment process from the time the applications are graded to the time the hire is made.”
“VidCruiter is a great tool to reduce the size of large applicant lists, only moving forward applicants who are a good match for the position.”The Results
Oregon Public Health has improved its hiring efforts by modernizing traditionally slow-moving government recruitment processes.
“Now we can screen anytime and at our own discretion. We can screen candidates incrementally rather than all at once. That’s something we absolutely love.”
Applicants can complete their interview at their convenience and on whatever device they’d like. “Some people (especially millennials) want to be able to apply and complete their videos on their phones. We don’t want to discourage people or provide barriers to keep people from applying,” says Phipps-Roman.
Pre-recorded video interviews have modernized outdated processes while still keeping the government agency in complete compliance. The videos on VidCruiter’s secure platform create a permanent record that’s always available for reference.
Oregon Health Authority’s candidate grading matrix is seamlessly integrated into VidCruiter’s software, helping people work more efficiently with a standardized process. “At public health, we’re very much on board with equity initiatives,” says Phipps-Roman.
VidCruiter looks forward to continuing to help Oregon Health Authority innovate its hiring efforts.
“We have a saying – what we do for one, we do for all. It’s a lean, repeatable process that eliminates back-and-forths.” 