The Power of Video: How to Create an Effective Recruitment Tool 

In the war for talent, 2/3rd recruiters find attracting the right talent their greatest challenge. The job market is more competitive than ever and is majorly candidate-driven today. And with the rise of social media and video-sharing apps, the channels to scout for talents have become more diverse and complex. 

As such, conventional job postings with bulleted descriptions on job portals and career websites are passe and fail to capture the attention of job seekers.     

Reaching out to the right audience and attracting the best talent has become more of a task about the content you use to reach out to them. In 2023, most companies will realize the importance of recruitment videos to attract and entice top candidates. 

For instance, LinkedIn highlights a Cisco study which reported an 800% increase in engagement via recruitment videos to regular text-based job postings. 

Unsurprisingly, the most effective job postings have embedded video links or icons. It is worth noting for recruiters that 82% of the candidates use their mobile phones to search for jobs, and 87% of the mobile traffic is purely video content, according to Trifactor Creative’s observations on the CareerBuilder survey.

Recruiters, who are still into text-based job postings, need to take this info with a pinch of salt and reconsider their recruitment marketing strategy. 

Recruitment videos have become an integral part of the talent acquisition strategy.. Such videos are compelling storytelling tools and help to make aware and engage candidates about the company culture and values in advance. On LinkedIn and other social media platforms, these recruitment videos help to increase the brand reach. 

Let’s learn what a recruitment video, its benefits, and the elements that make a great recruitment video is. 

What is a Recruitment Video?

Recruitment videos are short videos or films scripted and posted by hiring companies and recruiters on websites like LinkedIn and video-sharing apps like YouTube. Such videos tend to capture the look and feel of how a company functions, its culture, and its authenticity, for candidates to get a preview of what it would be like to work for the company. 

A good recruitment video will work like an advertisement or commercial – letting candidates know what the job offer has in store. A few questions that a good recruitment video should answer are as follows: 

• What does the company do?
• What are the values the company culture upholds?
• What do the current employees have to say about the company?
• What benefits does a job role with the company bring to the prospect?
• How is this job opportunity better than those of the competitors? 
• What kind of fit works best for the company?

Such a video that answers all the above questions will help job seekers assess whether they are the right fit. And if they are so, it will help them connect at a deeper level.     

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7 Benefits of a Recruitment Video 

A good recruitment video can have multiple benefits, including: 

• It can help entice the best talent to apply for open roles and create greater reach on job-related platforms and social media. 
• Recruitment videos help show the human side of an organization, the faces behind its success, and a peek-a-boo into the company’s daily work life and values.  
• Employee testimonials are considered the most trustworthy sources. When a company showcases well-engaged and motivated employees, it hits a prospect differently, and they can connect with the company at an emotional level. 
• Visual content is more effective as viewers can retain 95% of the message against 10% in the case of text messages. 
• Recruitment videos act as commercials that also help strengthen the company’s brand image.
• Social media posts with video links perform better than those without them. As such, platforms such as Facebook, whose paid ads work well and produce excellent results, can be leveraged fully to spread the message. 
• A recruitment video helps an organization stand out from the job market noise and make a better impression on the candidates. 

Read – How to post job on LinkedIn for free

8 Elements of a Great Recruitment Video

 A well-planned and well-executed recruitment video can be a powerful tool to increase the volume and quality of applications.According to StoriesIncorporated, 88% of the respondents in a survey on talent community professionals confirmed that recruitment videos generate more responses from passive candidates.

But what elements make up a great recruitment video? Here are a few elements that every good recruitment video should possess to make the right impact, leading to great hires. 

#1 Crisp & catchy Introduction

A brief introduction of the company and its core values and vision

#2 A snapshot of what the company does 

#3 Office tour  

A walkthrough of the office location for the prospect to get the feel of the company culture  

#4 Employee testimonials

3 to 5 interviews or testimonials from current employees from different backgrounds and job roles

#5 Work Culture as per Employees 

The highlights how employees feel and what meaningful relationships they have built at the workplace 

#6 Subtitles

#7 Great sound quality 

Good sound quality and dynamic background score 

#8 Call to Action 

CTA with relevant links that would lead the interested candidate to the job application form

Besides these, a few tips that can come in handy to design and develop a good recruitment video can be 

• A recruitment video should be at most 2 to 3 minutes long. They should be short, crisp, and to the point to fit the average viewer’s attention span.
• The content of the videos should be fun and interesting, designed to captivate the interest and urge the prospects to apply for the role.  
• Employee testimonials and stories make up the best recruitment marketing videos.Candidates trust employees 3x more than other sources. (Source: LinkedIn’s Employer Brand Statistics)
• The video’s production value should be top-notch – locations, background, lighting, script, and employees that would be a part of the venture should be selected carefully. 
• The visual tools should be used to their advantage to tell the brand story as well as possible. 
• The post-production value should be equally enhanced with good editing, animations, filters, and overlays to send the message clearly.  
• Recruiters can also make different videos to attract and speak to a specific kind of audience. 
• The recruitment video should try and answer the queries a candidate may have in the pre-interview stage 
• Spread the reach of the video via organic reach and paid adverts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc., and job portals like LinkedIn and Indeed, career sections of the company website, and email communications. 

4 Examples of Best Recruitment Videos

While there are innumerable recruitment videos trying to flaunt the brand image and attract prospects, there are some that hit the right mark and create indelible impressions. Here’s a list of some of the finest recruitment videos out there:

#1 Listrak 

Listrak is an all-in-one platform for brands and retailers to help them in data unification and identity resolution. Its unmatched channel orchestration helps to drive revenue and deliver exceptional customer experience. 

Listrak’s recruitment video is well-scripted and the responses from the employees look natural. The viewer can feel the vibe and energy in how the employees present themselves, the actual office setup, and the friendly banter that is shown in the video. Nowhere does the message appear forced and the music isn’t overpowering. The employees share what they do for the company and what things they love while working here. 

The video has superior post production value, crisp editing, and a fun feel to it. Candidates viewing the video would feel a connection even before they set foot in the office. 

#2 Fiverr 

Fiverr is an online marketplace where freelancers can scout for work from clients all over the world. The platform was established in 2010. 

The company intends to build the largest digital marketplace led by a culture and a workforce that upkeeps the values of growth and empowerment. 

Fiverr’s recruitment video is exceptional at so many levels. Starting from the title ‘Another generic video’ builds up the intrigue and candidates are forced to click on the video link. 

The video is barely two minutes long but speaks intelligent tongue in cheek humor and parody of typical recruitment videos. The commentary forces you to cackle out loud while you wonder at the resplendent culture and people, all a part of the thriving office of Fiverr. 

The cherry on the top is the CTA that encourages people to work from anywhere if they are good and invites them to work for Fiverr. The video uses reverse psychology and good humor to spread the message.  

#3 Zendesk 

It is a customer service software company headquartered in San Francisco. The company builds software for other organizations to help improve the customer service. 

The core values of the company uphold the motto of sustainability and work-life balance. The culture is all about belongingness and giving back to the people. 

Its recruitment video is over 3 minutes and gives a tour of everything that substantiates Zendesk and its core values. The video was released in 2012 and has outperformed many other brands in viewership. 

The video shows the warm culture and inclusiveness that represents Zendesk’s work culture. The voiceover gives a clear cut message of how everyone is a team, including a great CTA. 

#4 Hubspot 

Hubspot is a HR software company that builds CRM systems for firms to help them seamlessly connect their data, teams, and customers. It is a fast-growing CRM software company in the HR software space. 

Another recruitment video where the employees are the protag and represent what the company seeks and envisions to deliver. The background score is peppy and the post production value exceptional. 

The employees come ahead and explain what makes Hubspot a workplace for them and how they own their own space in the company. 

Wrap-up 

Recruitment videos can be great to reach out to a wider candidate base as they are viewed and shared more and the information is retained better. In the times when social media marketing is as powerful as any other kind of marketing, companies should stop living under the rock and consider innovative ways like recruitment videos to entice candidates and strengthen their brand presence. 

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FAQs on recruitment videos