How Off to Work have adopted video interviewing to recruit the best talent in hospitality
key advantages
Brings a CV to life and identifies candidates personality
Cost effective & strong ROI for clients
Screen more candidates with less time
About Off to Work
Off to Work is the UK's premier hospitality staffing, training and consultancy company sourcing the finest talent for the most prestigious events in the UK and beyond since 2000. They have raised the bar in hospitality service standards by thinking differently and challenging perceptions of how casual staffing, recruitment and client management should be practiced.

Off to Work helps their teams grow their experience with them so their careers can flourish, because creating success for their clients begins with enabling success within. This includes helping the less fortunate through their services, time and charitable contributions. 
In doing so, Off to Work aims to improve the reputation of service within the UK hospitality industry and around the world.
What Off to Work thinks about Video Interviewing
Hospitality is a guest-facing occupation and in this industry, we are constantly working with people. Employing someone based on a quick phone interview can be a big risk, so, we want to see who they are and who is going to look after our guests. When it comes to placing and retaining talent, personality goes a long way. No matter how well written your CV is, it’s hard to glean a sense of who you are from a written application. Video interviewing allows us to see the candidates and verify suitable candidates early in the process.

Jobatar gives flexibility to candidates as well as our recruitment team. Candidates record their interviews on their watch and our team can work through the responses at a time that suits them: a 24/7 screening process. If the hours between 8 am and 6 pm aren’t great, which for those with other jobs they so often aren’t, candidates can have their say at any time of the day or night.
The Challenges
What are the biggest challenges when hiring hospitality talents?
Hiring someone based upon a CV or a brief phone interview can be risky in this sector as it only tells part of the picture, it does not help analyse cultural fit or showcase the candidate's talent.

Hospitality is a guest-facing occupation. The good old telephone interview has always been a solid staple for our recruitment, but as we’ve grown, we have started to bump up against various issues. Deciding whether to invite a candidate in to interview is difficult enough, but when we can’t even schedule a time to talk to them on the phone, the task becomes impossible!
Wasted time for candidates
As we have expanded in the UK, a lot of recruitment is done remotely which requires more time and money. Video interviewing has enhanced our ability to recruit easily around the country and at the increasing number of international events we support, without having to deploy resources out of the country too far ahead of time.
The Solution
Jobatar allows us to screen the candidates based on the written and video answers both
Instead of just filling in a form, we send candidates an invitation to record video answers to a set number of questions which includes written multiple choice questions, too.

We are looking for outgoing, confident, warm and engaging individuals and video is the best way to showcase these strengths. It also means that all our candidates get a fair chance. Hospitality skills can be taught, but that sparky personality? Well, you either have it or you don’t. Candidates that previously may have been discounted for their lack of skills are given the chance to prove themselves and more often than not, their attitude quickly makes them an integral part of the team.
Jobatar has made our screening process 24/7

We can then pick up and review a candidate’s interview at a time that’s convenient when we’re not out running our amazing upskilling sessions, or helping our current teams to grow. It takes away the need to synchronise diaries, meaning that we can still prioritise making a personal connection without sacrificing any precious time.

Video interviewing has enhanced our ability to genuinely connect with our candidates.

And here is the fluffy bit - the bit that we really pride ourselves on at Off to Work - the human touch. It's important to know the people who work for us and what works for them. The initial face to face communication that comes with Jobatar helps us to get the right people in the right place for them, paired with the right one of our operational specialties, as quickly as possible. We are given a window to their personality before we ask them to travel down and meet us, so when they do, they know their chance of a big smiley "Yes" and an offer letter is very high!

In an increasingly competitive market, a programme like Jobatar that can make us more efficient is a game changer. It means we can continue to be increasingly cost-effective for our clients, whilst still committing to the best rates in the industry for our team.
Jessica Hopkins
Talent Attraction Executive, Off to Work