Your guide to hiring the best talent with an amazing recruitment video

With remote work more popular than ever and a general increase in competition for the best talent, companies have to distinguish themselves. Even the best companies won’t attract top job seekers if they can’t successfully market their firm as the place to work.

Thus, many companies are turning away from generic job postings and using the power of recruitment videos to hire. 

In this post, we’ll break down exactly what recruitment videos are, what they’re made of, and how they help your company reach top-tier talent. We’ll also offer advice on making an irresistible recruitment video that makes your firm a top choice for candidates.

What is a recruitment video?

A recruitment video is a type of video companies can use to show off their company and jobs to candidates. Here’s an example from Dropbox:

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These types of recruitment marketing assets are similar to employee video testimonials in that they highlight the best aspects of your company.

Employee testimonials are much more specific — but they can and should end up in recruitment videos, as explained later.

As for the creation process, you may be able to create recruitment videos in-house. 

That said, many companies find that outsourcing is an investment that pays off. These companies get dedicated professional help and have more time for their actual business operations.

How recruitment videos move your business forward

Companies need every edge they can get in today’s labor market. 

Employees across industries have many more job choices — remote work is largely responsible for that.

On top of that, many employees are leaving their jobs to pursue better opportunities post-pandemic. 

Recruitment videos can give you a hiring advantage over your close competitors. 

They help humanize your company and ditch any semblance of that “faceless corporation” type of feeling candidates may get.

These videos also help you give potential recruits a glimpse of what goes on “behind closed doors” at your firm while presenting it in a positive light. This builds trust and makes job seekers excited to apply and interview with you.

Of course, any sort of recruitment marketing helps to show candidates more about your company — but video as a medium captures more attention from job seekers.

A CareerBuilder whitepaper found job postings with video icons are 12% more likely to be viewed than those without. That same whitepaper discovered these job postings get 34% more applicants, too.

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Just imagine the choice of talent you’d have with compelling recruitment videos. You’d have an easier time recruiting the brightest minds and hardest workers for your company’s teams.

Lastly, your recruitment videos aren’t just meant for a careers page or job posting. 

You can share them on social media — whether as an ad or organic post — and grab the random scroller’s attention. 

For example, if they’re in the market for a new job, simply sharing that video on something like Twitter could make the difference between you and your competitors hiring this person.

Key elements of a recruitment video

All successful recruitment videos share several key elements that maximize how compelling they are. These components help show off your company in the best light. 

As long as you include the following elements, you have plenty of creative freedom when making your video:

Information about the company and the specific role

General information about your company is foundational to a good recruitment video. But you also need to provide information about the role if you’re making a video for a specific team or position.

Briefly talk about your company’s mission, values, accomplishments, news, and similar matters.

For specific roles, talk about daily responsibilities and highlight how that role contributes to the company at large. Once again, connect it to the company’s mission, vision, and values.

Company culture

A significant number of employees rate company culture as an important factor in choosing a job, and for a good reason.

Not every skilled employee will be a great fit at your company — they need to thrive in the specific culture you’ve built. 

For example, if you have a more casual and laid-back atmosphere, you may not want to recruit candidates that like a more formal type of work environment. They simply won’t fit well.

With that in mind, use your video to discuss company culture — both through show and tell. 

That means mixing shots of an employee or two talking about the culture with shots of people interacting in a manner that represents it.

Qualities that make the company different

Every company has unique qualities that make it an ideal workplace for different kinds of people. A good recruitment video highlights these qualities

For example, you may have a great company culture, per the last point.

Or, perhaps, you offer an amazing work-life balance through remote work opportunities and unlimited vacation.

Or, maybe you focus on maximizing and emphasizing diversity within your company’s workforce.

Whatever your unique selling points are, the recruitment video gives you a chance to highlight and explain them.

Answers to common candidate questions

Good candidates will have plenty of questions about your company.

Now’s a good chance to answer several of these job seeker questions before the interview.

Some may be more “objective” questions — anyone in your company can answer these in an “interview” format in the video.

However, more opinion-based questions — such as what the culture feels like — are best answered by employees themselves. 

Job seekers will put more trust in these employees because they’re involved in the day-to-day.

Employee testimonials

Similar to the last point, you should include a few key employee testimonials in the video. These strengthen a viewer’s trust.

Try to get several employees from different career stages and roles or functional areas. Have them hammer on the best aspects of your company.

These testimonials also let you address objections or hesitations job seekers might have.

For example, you might be able to address work-life balance concerns by having an employee talk about their flexible work schedule and how it helps them take care of family appointments.

How to make a recruitment video people will love

A good recruitment video is a powerful tool in hiring great talent, but a lot goes into making one of these videos successful for months or even years to come.

From picking who to interview to choosing sound and music, there’s a lot to consider when making a video job seekers will love.

Here are some tips for making a killer recruitment video:

Know what to include in your video

Your video should include some background about your company, its mission and values, and some key facts that distinguish it. Check back on the list of vital video elements above as well.

Then, of course, know which employees to interview. 

If it’s a general recruitment video, make sure to get people from different points in their careers across several functional areas. This gives a good overall view of the company from multiple perspectives and appeals to several types of employees.

If the video is tailored to a specific role, get a few people from that role or general career path at different career points.

For example, say you’re hiring an accountant.

Try to get an accounting clerk, staff accountant, accounting manager, and even controller (head of the accounting department) if possible. 

Doing so shows what’s possible if the employee sticks with the company long-term.

Keep it authentic

Although the point of this video is to highlight the positives, you don’t want to pretend your company is perfect.

Being genuine about company strengths and weaknesses attracts top talent. 

It helps job seekers set better expectations and judge if your company’s a good fit, and it leads them to trust and respect you more for being honest.

Thanks to this, you won’t likely have to worry about replacing that employee down the road should they leave due to lack of fit. 

Of course, this isn’t too helpful if it’s just the CEO or someone else high up in the company. 

Once again, the “on-the-ground” employees should talk about these things in the film. That will make things seem more genuine.

Now, being authentic also means being true to your brand voice and personality. 

Fiverr offers a good example by making fun of the concept of recruitment videos with its own:

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Keep it short

Video might be an excellent way to capture attention, but you still can’t let the video draw on too long. Like any other marketing asset, it should convey the point and all necessary information in as little time as possible.

You don’t want to sacrifice anything important, like employee interviews. 

At the same time, you don’t necessarily need three different interviews from employees in the same roles. Repetitiveness could lose the viewer’s attention.

Avoid buzzwords

Avoid buzzwords — especially intra-company buzzwords — because they don’t help to answer job seeker questions. Plus, they’re often vague and boring.

In fact, too much jargon can lose the reader’s attention, even if they know what it means. It can also sound pretentious in some cases.

Pay careful attention when writing the script. Be specific when answering questions or getting testimonials to eliminate buzzwords — coach your interviewees to avoid them.

Make interview portions conversational

As mentioned earlier, recruitment videos should be conversational — this helps the video humanize your brand.

Try to facilitate an actual conversation with your script. Have the “interviewer” ask a follow-up question or two to keep things flowing. This will help you avoid a video that sounds stiff and boring.

Nail the sound and music

A good video won’t reach its full potential without a similar investment of time and resources into music and sound quality.

Think about it — you’d be less likely to watch a video if the sound was quiet or poor quality.

Even if you watch the whole thing, you’ll be less emotionally invested, and it would be harder to retain that message.

Aside from making sure you have good recording equipment and a great environment for sound quality, find positive-sounding music that matches your company culture and personality. 

For instance: do you have a fast-paced work environment? Pick some background music that’s a bit more lively.

Of course, make sure music turns down whenever a narrator, interviewer, or employee is talking. It can remain at a low level, but if it's too loud, the viewer won’t hear the person talking.

Even with subtitles — covered next — it will feel awkward to the viewer.

Throw in subtitles

You want to make your video as accessible as possible, so you can’t forget subtitles.

Whether a candidate lacks headphones or is hard of hearing, this small addition to the video makes it much easier to watch.

This is especially critical today, with so many people watching videos on mobile while on the go. Most mobile watchers view videos without audio.

Another thing to consider: an international workforce. 

This Apple recruitment video offers a great example. 

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The subtitles in the picture are in English, but the employee is speaking another language. Of course, you can arrange the languages however you need depending on where you are attempting to recruit from.

Stick a call-to-action at the end

The whole point of this video is to get people excited to apply to work at your business. You can’t forget to tell them to take action, which is what the call to action is for.

Make the CTA clear and concise. Tell them where to send their resume/cover letter and how to apply in 1-2 short sentences.

Reiterate you’re looking forward to receiving their application as well.

Make sure you speak in the 2nd person — no “you all” or “candidates.” Using “you” personalizes the video. The viewer feels like you’re talking with them, even if they know that’s not true.

Also, include a written CTA with the link so it’s as clear as possible where viewers can go to apply.

Get the best talent with a solid recruitment video

In an increasingly competitive talent market, you need every hiring advantage you can get. 

Recruitment videos stand out and catch candidate attention, but they also make sure you attract the top talent that fits your business. 

By investing adequate time and resources into these recruitment marketing tools, you’ll ultimately get a more productive and profitable workforce.

Want some help creating a stunning recruitment video that brings in the best candidates? Testimonial Hero is happy to help out. Contact us today to learn more.