We keep repeating it because we really believe it’s true. And since talent acquisition relies on human connections, video is an essential component of a successful conversational recruiting strategy.
The great news is that video can do a lot of things. In recruiting, video has infinite applications, and because recruiting videos don’t need to be big budget productions, it’s easy to start using video today. (You have a smartphone, right? That’s all the equipment you need.)
Earlier this year, we shared tips for getting started with recruiting videos which offers a great foundation for thinking about how to incorporate video into your recruiting playbook. Once you’re convinced about the importance of video and you’ve conquered all your fears and doubts about common video nightmares, you’re ready to dig in and make video an integral part of your conversational recruiting strategy. To help you take the next step, we’ve put together ideas for five specific types of recruiting videos you should consider to make to compete for top talent.
Show off your company culture
We don’t need statistics to tell us that all job seekers want to know what it’s like to work for a potential employer. Of course they do. It’s just common sense. So, don’t make them wonder. Use video to show job seekers exactly what your company culture is like. Go deeper than free snacks and the dart board in the break room. Show how your team members collaborate, how individual employees are supported, and explain your commitment to work/life balance. You might do this in a documentary-style video, cut with short interviews of employees at all levels of the organization. If you’re struggling to figure out what to include and what to leave out of a company culture video, don’t worry. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. Refer to your candidate personas to help you determine what matters most to your ideal candidates.The "shadow-an-employee" recruiting video
Video is the best way, aside from in-person shadowing, to show job seekers what a day on the job actually entails. Creating videos of employees who are currently working in positions you’re hiring for can help job seekers envision themselves in the same position, and answer many of the questions they may not even want to ask. A ‘day in the life’-style video can follow an employee from clock-in to clock-out, highlighting their individual workspace, interactions with peers and managers, and even lunch time. Tap your top-performing employees to star in these highlight videos, and consider including a brief interview where they have the opportunity to talk about why they chose to work for your company and share their favorite parts of their job.Interview with a hiring manager
Another must-have recruiting video helps job seekers learn what managers are looking for in their future employees. Hiring managers can speak on camera about the requirements of the specific positions you’re recruiting for, as well as other qualities that make a person a good fit for the organization. In this video, you may also benefit from having managers talk about the professional development opportunities in your organization. Whether that’s mentorship and promotions, continuing education benefits, or time off for professional networking events, giving job seekers the inside track on the relationships between employees and company leaders can help build trust in your organization and keep them engaged in the recruiting process. It can be difficult to envision what a video like that might entail, but fear not. It doesn’t have to be complicated or overly produced. Recently, Brazen announced two open positions for Customer Service Manager, and we made a brief video with the hiring manager, Sierra Ryan, director of account management, to lure in job seekers. Check it out:Feature your recruiters
Recruiters are usually the first employee a job seeker meets at your company and first impressions are key. So it makes a lot of sense to use videos featuring your recruiters. Again, they don’t have to be big budget productions. Recruiters can record simple introduction videos on a cell phone and talk about the position, the recruiting process, or just use as a greeting to put a face to a name. Theresa Mazzaro, RN, CHCR, senior talent acquisition specialist at Johns Hopkins Suburban Hospital, uses video successfully in this way. She creates video messages for particular stages of the recruiting process, and can use them to communicate with any given number of candidates, so candidates get a personalized human touch while Theresa saves time and energy - a win-win. Check out an example of one of her videos here.Inside HR
Compensation and benefits may not be as huge a factor for job seekers as they once were but they are still incredibly important. Put your benefits manager on screen to answer job seekers’ questions before they even have a chance to ask them. They don’t have to read the nitty gritty details of your health plan’s coverage, but a video ‘highlight reel’ of key benefit offerings can give job seekers a more comprehensive understanding of the opportunity you want them to apply for.Lights, camera, action
Making recruiting videos can be incredibly simple. Once you decide which video to make first, ditch the script and give your video stars some talking points (especially when it comes to how to end a video), and press record. Casual, unscripted videos can become some of the best recruitment marketing content your team creates. After you’ve created all this great video content, you’ll need to get job seekers to watch them. Hopefully, you already have a content distribution strategy that encompasses your careers site, social media networks, email, and all the other channels you use to connect with job seekers. Think about where, when, and how to share your recruiting videos and create a promotion plan that aligns with those needs. The best part? Because recruiting videos can be shot on your cellphone in a matter of a few minutes, you can easily make and share new videos whenever the circumstances require it, and the more you use video in your conversational recruiting strategy, the more comfortable you’ll become with this cutting edge recruiting tactic. Looking for more tips on how to do video recruiting? Check out our full interview with Maury Hanigan, CEO at SparcStart, for 10 tips to get started with video recruiting.
