Recruitment Video Ideas
As we all know, it’s getting more and more difficult for companies to hire. When it comes to effective content formats: video reigns supreme, and this rings even more true when it comes to recruitment content.
Let’s Start with the basics. What is a recruitment video?
A recruitment video is a type of content that companies use to attract candidates. Different from a job post or company “about page,” a recruitment video provides a unique look into your company, its values and work environment.
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Benefits of recruitment videos for your business
Review these potential benefits of having a recruitment video, according to the global software company Interact:
Attract the right candidates
Gain a larger candidate pool
Attract a younger age group of candidates
Hold your audience’s attention longer than text
Helps you compete with competitors
Use more cost-effective recruitment methods
How to create a recruitment video
Choose the right format
There are a variety of formats you can use to portray your company to potential candidates. Here are a few different ways you can format your video:
Staff interviews: Showcase employees at different levels and departments within your company. In the interview, the employees can discuss what they like about the company and their daily job duties.
Narration: Display an unseen voice, discussing the company and its many roles, as camera footage shows the daily goings-on of the office.
One-person narrator: Include footage of a visible person who speaks directly to the camera about the company. This may be in a sit-down or moving around the office format.
This recruitment video reflects the H&M’s inherent creativity. As you’d expect from a fashion brand, it’s extremely well shot, moving, and aesthetically pleasing.
Choose the right tone
Recruitment videos should be energetic and enthusiastic to the viewer to make potential candidates excited to apply. If your video features formal language and a monotone narrator, a candidate may lose interest or get the wrong impression about your company.
Topics to discuss
What you include in your recruitment video is up to you, but there are a few components that can help candidates gain a brief understanding, for example:
Company values: “Here at XYZ company, we are committed to transparency, accountability and kindness.”
Company size and career opportunities: “We are a small business with two locations in the Dallas, Texas area, and we’re looking for candidates who want to evolve with us through their careers.”
Employee benefits and work culture: “At XYZ company, we provide our employees with top-tier healthcare, 401-K contributions and a casual work environment that can be adjusted to fit your personal needs.”
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Call to action
At the very end of your recruitment video, include a call to action to encourage viewers to either share the video with someone who would be interested in the position or apply themselves.
9 ways to feature your recruitment video
According to Talent Economy, here are ways to feature an effective recruitment video:
1. Focus on the “why” for candidates
When candidates consider applying for a position at your company, they want to know what you can offer them. Make sure you include a few facts about employee benefits, incentives, work culture, career advancement opportunities and other beneficial components.
2. Share it on every platform
After you’ve created your recruitment video, be sure to share it across multiple platforms for maximum engagement. For example, share it on your social media platforms, your website’s career page or on your company account with a job listing website. You may also include a recruitment video as a paid advertisement on video-sharing sites or social media sites.
3. Encourage sharing
When sharing recruitment videos on social media, include a call to action at the end of the description or post, to encourage viewers to share it on their professional profiles. This may connect you with a wider candidate pool and help you establish your brand.
4. Review your competitors’ recruitment videos
Within your industry, you’re not only competing with competitors for customers and sales, but you’re also competing with them for top-tier talent to contribute to your company. The way they structure their recruitment video could provide insights into their candidate engagement, and how you should structure your own video.
For example, each of your competitor’s videos includes an energetic and well-dressed person who speaks enthusiastically about the company. The camera also seems to move with the person throughout the office to feel like the viewer is there with them.
5. Hire a professional videographer
If you don’t already have a marketing department with video equipment or video editing experience, hiring a professional videographer service may help amplify the quality of your message and your video itself. It also can boost the credibility of your company. Fans of Vogue’s 73 Questions will instantly identify with this parody version of the hit interview series. It might not feature interviews with Kim Kardashian or Zac Efron, but Appian’s Business Development Reps do a fantastic job of emulating the interview style. It’s familiar, it’s conversational, and each interview is shot in a single take while the interviewee moves around the office, much like the original Vogue interviews.
6. Create more than one version
Consider making a few versions of the recruitment video that highlight different aspects of your company. For instance, the first recruitment video can be a general overview of your company and what you have to offer to an employee.
The second recruitment video can highlight one or more current employees at your company, their background and the opportunities within your company. You can circulate these across social media sites to prevent mediocrity and give candidates another view of your company.
7. Make it short
Talent Economy suggests that recruitment videos should be between two to five minutes. Keeping it short ensures that viewers don’t get bored and ensures that you only include the absolutely important information in your content.
This recruitment video is short, but it’s hugely impactful. Released in July 2020, the video has already amassed more than 26 million views, and it’s not hard to see why. The U.S. Space Force, founded in 2019, is the latest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and is currently the only independent space force in the world.
8. Refrain from including brand-name items or copyrighted music
This includes things like logo T-shirts (unless of your own company), copyrighted music, mugs, car brands or forms of branded technology. It might be okay to show certain items like a car brand or laptop with the Apple logo on it, so long as you don’t make it the main focus of your video. Consult with your legal team to determine whether or not it negatively affects your company.
9. Revise recruitment videos to keep them current
Every few years, film a new version of one or more recruitment videos to replace the previous ones. This ensures that your company maintains an up-to-date approach to recruitment and recruitment tactics. It also allows you to retire videos that didn’t work well for your company, candidate leads or your brand.