The New Year is all about new beginnings. It’s no surprise many people start their job hunts in January. In fact, one of the largest job sites, Monster.com, sees a 70% spike in job searches in January.

So, how can you be sure that your company stands out from the competition for talent? Use recruiting videos to establish your company’s brand, sell your work culture, and motivate candidates to apply. Here’s how.

Why Add Video to Your Recruitment Tactics?

If you’re looking to hire new employees, recruiting videos can set you apart from your competition. Don’t just take our word for it! Check out these statistics:

  • “Organizations that invest in employer branding are three times more likely to make a quality hire,” – Glassdoor.
  • “Job listings with videos are viewed 12% more times and receive 34% more applications than listings without,” – HireRabbit
  • “46% of recruiters see recruiting becoming more like marketing, treating candidates like leads in a funnel” and “Even if you’re not hiring now, it can help to begin building your “employer brand” by creating recruitment videos,” – Business2Community.

Recruiting video may not be the norm in the hiring process just yet. However, statistics like these show it is becoming more popular due to its effectiveness. What better time than now to start implementing video in your recruiting efforts?

More Benefits of Recruiting Videos

Consider this: As a job applicant, would you be really excited about a dry, written job description? Or, a video that showed you what you’d be working on, who you’d be working with, where you’d be working, and other company benefits? Which experience do you think would inspire applicants to put forth the extra effort? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. 

In addition to motivating candidates, recruiting videos humanize your company in the applicant’s eyes. Video allows them to get to know the people, places, and projects that make up your work. You want the candidate to perceive your company as more than just another name or logo on a sign.

They should see your firm as a team of passionate people working to build amazing things, raise customer expectations, and perhaps even change the world. And so, with all of this in mind, we’re going to look at five different approaches to recruiting videos to help inspire you for the new year. Grab the popcorn!

Emotional Customer Focus

McKesson certainly does, ahem, deliver in their 2016 recruiting video, McKesson Delivers. A company of this size no doubt has plenty of data it could share to woo potential candidates. Instead, this video, with its slow, folksy-sounding music, takes the more dramatic, emotional approach by presenting the broader impact of the important work they do.

Rather than focusing on themselves, the star of McKesson’s video is young Jack, who we quickly learn is just a regular little boy who loves baseball. He also happens to be fighting cancer.

The McKesson team is introduced only as it relates to Jack, and other patients fighting illnesses. The company does a very good job of creating a heart-warming feeling by interweaving home video of Jack and his family with footage of the McKesson team hard at work to deliver the products that are helping him to battle his illness. Who wouldn’t want to work on a team like that?

Importantly, emotions are a huge motivator for people to take action. Whether it’s sharing a video, or applying to a job, emotions are often behind our reasoning. McKesson is smart to tap into this natural source of motivation with their recruiting video.

Documentary

Probably the most popular approach to recruiting video is the documentary-style video, like Google’s Interns’ First Week. There are a few good reasons this approach is so popular.

First, instead of a company (in this case, Google) telling you how great a company they are to work for, they let their employees do it. And not just any employees – their interns! Internships are often glorified coffee-runner positions. But, it is clear from the start of this video that everyone who works at Google is given the opportunity to work on projects they are truly interested in.

A second reason this approach is so popular is that it gives the viewer the feeling of getting an “insider’s view”. By having the interns and employees speak directly to the camera, juxtaposed with the colorful, active b-roll shots of the Google campus, it feels like you are going through the experience yourself.

Thirdly, by featuring so many interns and employees, the company is able to show the diversity of its workforce in an organic way. It feels more authentic than, say, reading percentages about the same thing.

A Dose of Reality

The truth is, some jobs are really tough. Not everyone is cut out for them. It takes a special kind of person to excel in certain roles.

Law enforcement is no exception. It’s possibly one of the hardest jobs on the planet. And, the day-to-day can swing from extremely mundane to heart-palpitating in seconds. This recruiting video from the Metropolitan Police in the UK does an excellent job of mentioning both the bad and the good, while still leaving you wanting to apply.

Admittedly, it is a bold move to question the viewer’s desire to work for your company. However, between the narrator’s somber tone and the action-packed b-roll (much of which appears to be actual police footage) set to intense music, it works well here because it is believable.

This approach to recruiting videos teaches us that showing the reality of a job, with all its ups and downs, can be a great way to connect with your viewers. Ultimately, this approach can make them more enthusiastic about working for your company because they have a clear sense of what it would really be like.

Hiring as a Laughing Matter

In contrast to the more somber approach above, comedy can be an effective way to engage viewers and motivate them to apply. After all, wouldn’t you like to work somewhere with a sense of humor?

Fiverr hits the nail on the head with this self-deprecating, brilliant video. Why “brilliant”?

By poking fun at the recruitment video template used by so many companies (especially start-ups), it puts itself in the position of the viewer in a surprising way. This refreshing approach is likely to get the attention of the job seeker.

Without explicitly saying so, it suggests to prospective applicants that the Fiverr company culture is one where employees can be themselves (even in a recruitment video). Equally important, this video is likely to turn off some viewers who don’t “get” it. This is a good thing because it cuts down on the back and forth your company would otherwise go through with candidates who aren’t a culture fit.

The Big Picture

When job seekers are looking for a new role, they usually want to land a position where they can make a real difference. Working towards a higher purpose helps motivate and retain employees. So, it makes sense that many recruiting videos tap into that desire.

GE’s recruiting video makes working at GE look downright magical. Their fantastical approach, shared from the point of view of a child, invites the viewer to imagine all the wonderful ideas that GE is making a reality, and how those creations are changing the world. As a job seeker, wouldn’t you be inspired?

Clearly, a lot of thought went into this polished video. However, the power of the video hinges on the child narrator.

From her perspective, GE can present the work their employees do in a more fanciful, imaginative way than they otherwise could. This approach is certainly more fun – and effective – than showing that GE parent’s day-to-day work. We’re guessing it involves more screen-time, and fewer moon-powered submarine fan machines and talking bird-plane flights.

Using a child’s perspective also speaks indirectly to the importance of GE’s work for future generations. And, while she does not say it in so many words, the child is clearly proud of the work her mother does at GE. This serves to further emphasize that GE is a great place to work.

Takeaways From These Five Examples

While each of these videos represent drastically different takes on recruiting videos, there are many similarities across these examples. Use these key takeaways to help improve your own recruiting videos.

  • Tell stories. Showing how the job relates to the big picture, impacts customers’ lives, or changes the world, is key to standing out and attracting the best candidates. 
  • Implement music that fits the mood of your video. It helps to set the tone and the pace of the video.
  • Feature your employees and your customers. It humanizes your brand, and adds transparency.
  • Highlight what makes your company unique. Perhaps you offer a great work-life balance, perhaps it’s the intensity of the work you do, or the growth opportunities you offer. Whatever it is, be sure to incorporate it into your messaging.
  • Well-crafted stories are inherently shareable, so make it that much easier by including social media sharing options to ensure that your video gets in front of the right applicant.
  • Incorporate video SEO to ensure people searching for the kind of positions you’re offering can easily find your video(s).
  • Include a post-play call-to-action. Time is of the essence, so don’t leave the viewer hanging. Give them somewhere – like a link to an application – to channel the energy you just inspired in them!

Surely our list is missing some great recruiting videos. Please share your favorites with us, and let us know if you have questions about creating your own!