You decide to apply for a new job, and they ask you to send in a video interview or a video resume. In addition to documentation, they want you to take a quick video on your phone where you talk about your qualifications, why you want to work at the business and things of this nature.
You are immediately concerned that this is just a way for the business to discriminate against you. Maybe the owner of the company wants to discriminate based on your race or ethnic background, for instance. They know that they can’t ask you about this directly, so they ask for a video interview so that they can see for themselves—and then filter out applicants who don’t meet their standards. This would clearly be a violation of your rights, so is it discriminatory for them to ask for the video interview?
Video resumes are not prohibited
The first thing to understand is that these video resumes can be used. While employees do have concerns about them, there’s nothing inherently wrong with requesting a video interview. In some ways, it just streamlines the process because there’s nothing that would be apparent in a video that the company owner couldn’t learn during an in-person interview.
That said, it is important that businesses do not use these videos as a basis for discrimination. If the business owner is only looking for details like race, gender, ethnic background, age or disability status, and then discriminating against people in these protected classes, that is illegal. But as long as video interviews are used properly and discrimination doesn’t occur, then they are still permitted.
You may find yourself involved in a dispute if you believe your rights have been violated, and it’s important to know what legal steps to take.