Your Guide to Making Effective Recruitment Videos

Show, don’t tell! That’s one of the golden rules of marketing, especially video production. Video gives brands unique opportunities to show their human side and attract top talent. In fact, a CareerBuilder survey showed that job postings with a video received 34% more applications. A recruitment video is a short video that you make to tell potential candidates about a job opening. It helps them understand what your company does and what it’s like to work in your team. Such a video could be specific to a particular job post, or it could be an evergreen culture video posted with every job post.

The best thing about this is that making recruitment videos is easy and cheap. All you need are the right tools and a few enthusiastic people, and an exceptional strategy. 
The right video could potentially create 800% more engagement and more organic reach on LinkedIn and other job platforms than regular text-based postings. If you’re not already doing it, you’re putting yourself at a major disadvantage.

What Makes a Great Recruitment Video?

In our book, one of the most important aspects of an effective recruitment video is authenticity. People crave connection, but they need genuine humans to connect to. A recruitment video displays the quirks and traits that make your company and team unique, your human side.

There are other elements that we consider sacred when it comes to producing awesome recruitment videos.

• Address the viewer’s questions 
• Short videos are best, usually between two and five minutes long
• Keep the videos fun, the kind that keeps you glued to the end (this requires great storytelling and scripting)
• Watch what you wear and display it on the video. Brands and logos, such as those on clothing, can create copyright issues
• The sound and music have to be sublime, period
• The video should be clear and concise with a powerful call to action

You can hit all these points even if you have a modest budget. But first, you need to decide what kind of recruitment video you want.

Types of Recruitment Videos

Recruitment videos work best when you have a strategy. That includes evaluating your current recruitment process and identifying holes where video could bring the most impact. For example, your job posts might not be getting enough awareness and spread, or you may not be getting enough responses despite massive circulation.

Once you have a plan, you can choose the type of recruitment video you want.

General Announcements

These are videos that shout, “hey, we’re hiring!” They’re designed to have the maximum reach when you post them on your LinkedIn, social media pages, website careers page, and even embed them in emails. 

Whether you have a single or multiple spots open, a general announcement generates buzz in your circles and increases your reach. Posting on social media, for example, encourages 1,200% more shares while posting on your careers page increases SEO rankings on Google.

Open Job Posting Videos

Compared to general announcement videos, open job posting videos are more detailed and targeted. They generally feature a senior executive or hiring manager talking about the job, the perks of working there, and other related elements.

These are the kind of videos you can post on Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, and other job platforms. 

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Culture Videos

These are the most common and effective types of recruitment videos we’ve seen. They are used to drive engagement and increase response rates by showing off your company and what it’s like to work there.

There are several types of culture videos you can create:

• Sneak-peek videos—these offer a glimpse of the job by showing an employee doing the job and highlighting the challenges, perks, and goals of that job
• Testimonials—these are usually a montage of “brand ambassador” employees highlighting what they love about the company. They’re often the easiest to make
• The “documentary” videos—a narrator weaves a story of the company, its employees, major achievements, and its culture
• Office tour videos
• Humorous videos—these show the funny and quirky side of your brand, but they’re the riskiest to pull off and require immense creativity and significant investment

Culture videos work wonders for recruiting, providing both engagement and reach. You can reuse them for as long as you like, which gives them the best returns on investment.

One-to-One Candidate Videos

These are simple videos where the CEO or a senior executive talks about the company and the job. Candidates get to meet their potential boss, which is great when you personalize each video for specific job postings.

One-to-one videos are especially useful when hiring for permanent and senior positions, such as law firms hiring lawyers and businesses hiring managers. By talking about strategy and goals, you can appeal to the right cadre of applicants you are targeting and drive more responses.

A Simple Guide to Making Recruitment Videos

There’s a lot that goes into making a fantastic video. There’s the videography part that comes from years of experience and training. There’s scripting and storytelling, which requires talented writing to make it compelling. Then there’s the business side of it that aims towards driving engagement and conversion.

This is not the time to talk about panning, lighting, sound, green screens, camera angles, backgrounds, and all that goes into video shooting. 

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Instead, let’s discuss how to make your recruitment video compelling.

Introduction

Start with a personalized introduction tailored to that specific job post. This makes the video feel fresh and shows that you put effort into what you do. If you’re resharing an evergreen culture video, create a short introduction video and make it a playlist.

Mind Accessibility: Use Captions and Pronounce Your Words Clearly

Accessibility is critical when creating recruitment videos. Talk precisely and clearly, unhurriedly, and include high-contrast captions. For videos posted on social media, use open captions that are baked into the video itself. Other video accessibility options include transcripts, audio descriptions, and accessible video formats.

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Always Use Real Employees

It may be tempting to use actors, but they will make your videos sound hollow and unnatural. Select your loyal employees who have been with you for some time and have them speak from the heart, which is how you can create that authentic feel.

Why Should the Viewer Care? Start With That

It’s critical that hook the viewer early on in the video. They wanna know “What’s in it for me?” Some of the things that work in otherwise dry corporate videos are surprising (add a fascinating fact or event, such as filming employees gaming in the office), humor, or a hint at a juicy story.

Explain the Business in Brief

By this point, viewers want to know what your company is all about. Explain briefly, talking about how and why it was founded and your mission. Cherry-pick the details that are most relevant to the viewer rather than reciting your entire history.

Answer as Many Questions as You Can

By answering several important questions in the video, you ensure that candidates build up more interest in your company. Talk to them about the job’s requirements, working hours, perks, and remote/in-office working arrangements, among others.

Finish With a Clear CTA

Finish off with a single, compelling call to action telling the viewers what you want them to do. Whether that’s submitting a CV via email or filling out an application form, be very specific.

We recommend giving the video several takes until you get it right. We also advise that you script your videos and edit them as much as necessary to keep them short and sweet. Remember to brand your video accordingly to reinforce your brand and messaging.

Partner With MultiVision for the Best Recruitment Videos

In today’s job market, recruitment videos are a dime a dozen. It’s a candidate’s market with a severely limited labor force, so you’ll need a truly special video to stand out from your competition.

When you work with video professionals like the team here at big&small Productions, you get an instant advantage. We’ll work with you to create a working video strategy, then pool our years of videography and video production experience to create something awesome.

Best of all, we’re affordable and are great at staying within your budget. Talk to us today and let’s get started with your ace of a recruitment video.

As we wrap up, remember this: YouTube ad targeting isn’t just a tool; it’s an opportunity to connect with your ideal customer in a world that’s overflowing with content. Use it wisely, use it creatively, and watch your business thrive. If you’re not sure how to get started and want to get expert help, contact us to request a free quote from us.