BrightView is a video interviewing platform designed to replace first-round phone screens with asynchronous video interviews.

Candidates record answers to pre-set questions on their own time. Recruiters review responses later.

Promise: Save time on initial screens and eliminate scheduling back-and-forth.

Reality: It works well for high-volume non-technical hiring, but struggles with technical roles and candidate experience issues.

Pricing: $299/month for up to 100 interviews, $599/month for unlimited

We tested it for 60 days across 8 roles.

What BrightView Does

Core features:

• Pre-recorded question banks (or create custom questions)
• Candidates record video responses on their schedule
• AI transcription and keyword analysis
• Side-by-side candidate comparison
• Shareable interview links for hiring teams

Target users: Recruiters handling high-volume hiring (retail, customer support, sales)

The pitch: Eliminate phone screen scheduling and pre-screen candidates faster.

What Works Well

1. Saves Time On High-Volume Roles

For roles with 50+ applicants, BrightView significantly reduces time-to-screen.

Old process:

• Schedule 20 phone screens
• Spend 30 minutes per call
• Total time: 10+ hours

With BrightView:

• Send video interview link to all 20 candidates
• Review 20 recorded responses at 1.5x speed
• Total time: 4 hours

For customer support and sales roles, this saved us 6+ hours per position.

2. Candidate Comparison Feature Is Excellent

You can watch multiple candidates' answers to the same question side-by-side.

Example:

"How would you handle an angry customer?"

Candidate A: Focused on de-escalation and empathy Candidate B: Focused on policy and procedure Candidate C: Rambling answer, no clear strategy

This made it easy to identify top performers quickly.

3. AI Transcription Is Accurate

The AI transcribes candidate responses with 90%+ accuracy.

Pros:

• Searchable transcripts (find candidates who mentioned specific skills)
• Helpful for reviewing answers without re-watching video
• Good for accessibility

4. Flexible Scheduling

Candidates complete interviews on their schedule. No more "Are you available Tuesday at 2?" emails.

Candidates appreciated this flexibility.

One candidate: "I loved being able to record my interview after work instead of taking PTO for a phone screen."

What Doesn't Work Well

1. Technical Candidates Hate It

We tried using BrightView for software engineer phone screens.

Candidate feedback:

• "I can't ask clarifying questions about the technical question"
• "This feels impersonal and robotic"
• "I prefer talking through my thought process live"

5 out of 8 technical candidates withdrew after receiving the video interview link.

One candidate: "If this is how your company interviews, I'm not interested. I want to talk to real people."

For technical roles, live interviews are still better.

2. No Way To Do Technical Assessments

You can't ask candidates to share their screen or write code.

For technical roles, this is a dealbreaker.

BrightView works for "tell me about a time when..." questions, but not for hands-on skill evaluation.

3. Candidate Drop-Off Is High

Our completion rates:

• Customer support roles: 78% of candidates completed the video interview
• Sales roles: 71% completed
• Software engineering roles: 43% completed (many withdrew instead)

Many candidates find asynchronous video interviews awkward and impersonal.

We lost candidates who would have done well in a live phone screen.

4. AI Keyword Analysis Is Overly Simplistic

BrightView's AI flags candidates who use certain keywords.

Example: For a customer support role, it flagged candidates who mentioned "empathy" and "problem-solving."

Problem: The AI doesn't understand context.

Candidate A: "I believe empathy is important" (flagged as strong) Candidate B: "Some people talk about empathy, but I focus on solving problems quickly" (flagged as weak, despite giving a good answer)

The AI keyword matching isn't sophisticated enough to replace human judgment.

5. Time Limits Stress Candidates

You can set time limits for responses (e.g., 2 minutes per question).

Candidates get a countdown timer while recording.

Multiple candidates told us this was stressful:

• "I felt rushed and couldn't articulate my full answer"
• "The timer made me nervous and I blanked"

We turned off time limits after Week 2.

Pricing And ROI

Plans:

• Starter: $299/month (up to 100 interviews)
• Professional: $599/month (unlimited interviews)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing (includes API access and custom branding)

ROI calculation:

If you're hiring for 5+ high-volume roles per month, BrightView pays for itself in recruiter time saved.

But: Factor in candidate drop-off. If you lose 30% of candidates due to the impersonal experience, the time savings might not be worth it.

Who Should Use BrightView

Good fit for:

• High-volume hiring (retail, customer support, sales)
• Companies receiving 50+ applications per role
• Roles where phone screens are primarily behavioral questions
• Distributed hiring teams (easy to share video interviews)

Not a good fit for:

• Technical roles requiring live coding or problem-solving
• Senior-level roles where candidate experience matters
• Small teams hiring 1-2 people per quarter (not enough volume to justify cost)

Alternatives To Consider

If BrightView doesn't fit:

• Spark Hire (similar platform, better technical interview features)
• Modern Hire (more enterprise-focused, includes assessments)
• Zoom/Google Meet (for live interviews with more personal touch)

The Bottom Line

BrightView works well for:

• High-volume, non-technical first-round screens
• Saving recruiter time on scheduling
• Comparing candidates side-by-side

BrightView struggles with:

• Technical roles (candidates hate it)
• Candidate drop-off (30%+ don't complete interviews)
• Senior roles requiring personal touch

Our recommendation:

Use BrightView for high-volume, entry-to-mid-level non-technical roles. Stick with live phone/video screens for technical and senior positions.

Rating: 7/10 (Great for specific use cases, but not a universal solution)

Pros: ✅ Saves significant time on high-volume hiring ✅ Excellent candidate comparison features ✅ Accurate AI transcription ✅ Flexible scheduling for candidates

Cons: ❌ High candidate drop-off, especially for technical roles ❌ Impersonal candidate experience ❌ AI keyword analysis is too simplistic ❌ Not suitable for technical assessments

Price: $299-$599/month depending on volume

Learn more: brightview.com (Note: Pricing and features as of November 2025)