Asynchronous interviewing is the format with the highest potential for structure

7:34 pm 17/Aug/26

Asynchronous interviewing is the format with the highest potential for structure

Asynchronous interviewing has the highest structural potential of any format. VCO Group reviews seven design decisions and the real cost in Vietnam.

In the professional literature on personnel selection, asynchronous interviewing is described as the format with the highest potential for structure, because every candidate receives the same question set in the same order with the same time to think and to answer. VCO Group operates this format for programmes in Vietnam at a cost of around VND 6,000 per candidate.

Table of Contents

The case for it is not only time saved

Asynchronous interviewing is usually introduced with an efficiency argument: candidates answer whenever it suits them, recruiters review in batches, no scheduling is required, and a round that once took three weeks can be compressed into a few days. That argument is correct, but it overlooks the larger value.

The larger value lies in structure. Selection research has long shown that the degree of structure is the deciding factor in the predictive validity of an interview round. In the special issue on asynchronous interviewing in the International Journal of Selection and Assessment, the argument is stated plainly: it is hard to find any interview format that achieves a higher level of structure than the asynchronous one.

The reason is mechanical. Every candidate receives exactly the same question set, in the same order, with no improvised follow-ups, no additional information carried over from a previous candidate, no questions back from the candidate that shift the thread, and everyone has the same time to think and the same time to answer.

Conditions that a live interview round must work very hard to achieve are achieved by default in this format. That is the point worth putting into the argument when presenting to a panel, rather than talking only about time saved.

Seven design decisions and what each one affects

Structure is the potential of the format, not an automatic outcome. The seven decisions below determine most of the quality of the output.

Seven design decisions in an asynchronous interview round

Decision	Recommendation	Why
Number of questions	Three to five for a first round	Below three there is not enough basis to score. Above five the completion rate falls noticeably while the additional information gained is negligible.
How questions are presented	Displayed as text, optionally with a video of a real person reading the question	Text lets candidates reread as needed. A real person on video reduces the sense of talking to a machine.
Thinking time	One to two minutes per question	Enough to organise thoughts but not enough to draft a full script or look things up externally.
Answering time	Two to three minutes per question	This range is enough for a structured answer, and keeps the total length of the round under twenty minutes.
Allowing a retake	Allow one retake, not unlimited retakes	One retake reduces the disadvantage for candidates who hit a technical problem or who are too anxious on the first attempt, without turning the round into a rehearsal exercise.
Who scores	At least two independent scorers for the borderline band	The very high and very low bands rarely need a second scorer. The middle band is where differences between scorers affect the decision.
Rating scale	Describe specific behaviour for each level, anchored to defined competencies	A rating scale that does not describe behaviour returns results to a matter of impression, and the entire structural advantage is lost.

All seven decisions sit within the configuration scope of the system and require no new feature development. Skipping them is the main reason two companies using the same tool obtain very different results.

The interface affects how truthful the answers are

There is a notable finding that most tool purchasing decisions in Vietnam have yet to take into account. The way the interview round's interface is presented affects not only the experience but the content candidates produce.

A field study on real candidates, published in 2023, compared several different interface versions of the same asynchronous interview round and measured candidate impression management behaviour. The results showed that different interfaces raised or lowered both honest impression management and deceptive impression management, in different ways.

The practical implication is that interface design is a measurement decision rather than an aesthetic one. Choosing to display or not display a human face, stating or not stating that the assessment involves an algorithm, showing or not showing a continuously visible countdown clock, all have an effect on the content of the answers.

Because this remains an under-researched area in the Vietnamese context, the sensible recommendation is to hold one interface configuration constant across seasons so that results remain comparable, and to change it only when there is a plan to measure the effect of that change.

Cost and the break-even point

The cost of running an asynchronous interview round in Vietnam at Young Talent programme scale currently sits at around VND 6,000 per candidate, at the level VCO Group is deploying. That is the technology cost and does not include scorer time.

The most meaningful comparison is not with the technology cost of an alternative, but with the recruiting team's time. A fifteen-minute telephone screening interview, plus scheduling time, time spent waiting on candidates who do not pick up and time spent writing notes, typically consumes around thirty actual minutes per candidate.

For a programme that needs to screen three hundred candidates at this round, that is roughly one hundred and fifty working hours. This figure is usually far larger than the entire technology cost of the round, and that is before accounting for the fact that a telephone interview is a format with almost no structure.

The break-even point therefore arrives very early. For most programmes with two hundred or more candidates at the screening round, the asynchronous option is already advantageous in the first season, and the largest gain is that the recruiting team's time is redirected to later rounds where human judgement creates higher value.

When not to use this format

There are cases where asynchronous interviewing is not the right choice, and stating them clearly makes deployment smoother where it does fit.

First, in the final rounds, where candidates need to be persuaded more than they need to be assessed. For a group that has reached the final round of a Management Trainee programme, a direct conversation with their future manager carries an attraction value that no automated format can replace.

Second, when the candidate count at that round is too small. Below thirty candidates, the effort of setting up the question set and the rating scale is not repaid by the time saved.

Third, when the company is not yet ready to state clearly to candidates what role an algorithm plays in the assessment process. This point needs serious preparation, both for compliance reasons and for reasons of candidate trust. In regional survey data, the proportion of candidates who believe an artificial intelligence tool can assess them fairly remains low, so transparency from the outset is a condition for holding the completion rate.

Finally, one operating principle should not be compromised: a result produced by an algorithm must not be used as a final rejection decision without human review. This is both an increasingly common requirement in international regulatory frameworks and a condition for defending a hiring decision when it is challenged.

Three things to do

Configure the asynchronous interview round with three to five questions, one to two minutes of thinking time and two to three minutes of answering time per question, and allow exactly one retake.
Build a rating scale that describes specific behaviour for each score level anchored to defined competencies, and assign two independent scorers to the middle band.
Hold one interface configuration constant across seasons so results remain comparable, and state clearly to candidates what role an algorithm plays in the assessment from the initial instructions onwards.

Frequently asked questions

What is asynchronous interviewing?

It is an interview format in which candidates record their answers to a fixed question set at a time convenient to them, and recruiters review them afterwards. In the professional literature it is regarded as the format with the highest potential for structure, because every candidate receives the same questions, in the same order, with the same time to think and to answer.

How many questions should an asynchronous interview round contain?

Three to five for a first round. Below three there is not enough basis to score, and above five the completion rate falls noticeably while the additional information gained is negligible. Total length should be kept under twenty minutes.

What does automated interviewing cost per candidate?

At Young Talent programme scale in Vietnam, the level VCO Group is deploying is around VND 6,000 per candidate, excluding scorer time. The meaningful comparison is with the recruiting team's time, since a telephone screening round typically consumes around thirty actual minutes per candidate.

About VCO Group

VCO Group operates the assessment infrastructure behind Young Talent Programmes and Management Trainee schemes in Vietnam, covering application intake, aptitude testing, automated interviewing and Assessment Centres. VCO Group serves young talent and candidates with under three years of experience, working with large enterprises and multinationals in Vietnam. Its assessment and candidate management platform is called Testalents. Head office in Ho Chi Minh City.

If you would like to benchmark your own selection data against the market, or discuss the Young Talent Program Insight Report, contact Mr. Dung on 0334 889 068 or visit vcogroup.com.vn.