Recruitment strategies have changed a lot from the days when you just posted an ad about what position you needed filled and expected people to come to you. The job market today is one where there is a lot of competition for snatching up fresh talent.

In finding and hiring new talent, as in a lot of other areas of modern marketing, videos get things done. And recruitment videos are one strategy that is very much in trend these days.

More and more businesses are realizing the value of creating great recruitment videos. But small and medium-sized businesses tend to worry about the expense and expertise that would be required to create such a video.

The thing is, you don’t have to break your bank to create a great recruitment video. The best videos are actually the ones that are made on small budgets. In this particular area of video marketing, authenticity wins over expertise, every time.

Why Is It Important To Have A Good Recruitment Video?

If you want to attract great talent that can provide real value to the company, you cannot simply sit still and expect they’ll find you.

Talent won’t come knocking at your door unless they know where the door is, and what’s really behind it. According to LinkedIn, 70% of today’s job market is made of passive job seekers.

According to a report, job postings with videos have a 34% greater application rate. Those numbers have risen higher still, as video is taking up more and more space in the content people consume.

The paychecks are not the only thing people consider when picking a job anymore. Comfortable workspaces, as well as supportive bosses and co-workers, are important factors for people nowadays when choosing an employer.

But it’s not just for your employees. By showing your work environment and the life of your employees, you can ensure that you will attract candidates who will mesh well with your team.

Chemistry in your work environment is crucial to the smooth working of a team. And well functioning teams are necessary for the success of your business.

What Is A Recruitment Video?

A recruitment video is a video made specifically for the purpose of attracting potential employees to your business. It tells the story of your company.

Recruitment videos are different from the brand films and about us videos you create for potential customers. As opposed to the value your business and products provide to a customer, a recruitment video shows your employer brand.

Your employer brand is about your reputation as an employer, and what value you provide your employees.

Basically, you’re not selling your end result. You’re selling your process. You’re making it seem inviting enough so that potential candidates will want to be a part of your process.

How To Create A Great Recruitment Video

What makes a good recruitment video? How can you make sure you have a video that reels the best fresh talent in the job market?

How do you create a video that stands out from the rest? Let’s look at some of the practices that would amount to a great recruitment video.

1. Your Employees Are Your Stars, Your Office Is Your Set

Having your CEO talk about how great your office is and how supportive your work environment is is not enough. Include the boss, but not just the boss. Whoever you're trying to recruit, that’s who you need speaking for you. Have your employees talk about their personal experiences.

Empathy is key. The type of candidate you’re looking for would ideally see the video and go- “Wow, they are like me! They look like they enjoy this job so maybe so will I!”

Show off your office in the video. The little things that people would like. Do you have a foosball table? A little play area for pets? A nap room with bean bags and extra comfy couches?

An amazing coffee machine that makes mind-blowing coffee? Scooters to get around? (Yes, offices do have stuff like that these days, so if you want to impress the millennials, you need to step up your game).

What makes your office welcoming and interesting to a potential recruit? Highlight those points in your video.

2. Write A Script, But Don’t Use It

Confused? Don’t be.

Basically, do not script your people. What makes a great recruitment video is authenticity. If your employees seem like actors reading off a script, you lose your viewers then and there.

The people on the video need to look real, human. Use the natural talents of your employees. Use their humor and their quirks. Include some of the little bloopers in your end product to make it even more convincing.

But that does not mean just walk around the office with the camera and dump the whole footage into your video.

You do need to have a script for your overall video. What scenes you're planning to include, who all you're planning to interview, the sequence, where to include what, and all that. You need to have a plan for your video.

Have a clear idea of what image you're trying to convey, and plan how you can get there. Don’t be too rigid on your script, but you do need a script.

3. Creativity

There are so many creative possibilities when it comes to making a video. You could do a run of the mill video with interviews and an office tour. Or you could do something innovative. A video of a ping pong tournament between employees. Asking people completely weird questions.

You could try different formats of videos- a time-lapse maybe. With today’s available apps you could even do something crazy like add an animated character to your office setting or something with little expertise. The more unprecedented your idea is, the better.

4. Short and Sweet

The ideal video falls into the category of somewhere around 3 minutes long. According to a study by Skill Scout, the average amount of time a candidate spends on a recruitment video is 1 minute 36 seconds.

So unless the first one and half minutes of your video is really that interesting, don’t make it longer than that.

5. Culture and Conversation

The two things to keep in mind while planning your video- conversation and culture. Firstly, maintain a conversational tone throughout interviews with employees.

Don’t let it seem staged or forced. Imagine what questions a potential recruit would have. Then ask those questions to your employees and record honest answers.

The second thing is to focus on workplace culture. To make sure you attract potential recruits that are right for you, you have to clearly tell them who you are and what you're all about. Show them what day-to-day life looks like when working for your business.

6. CTA

The video gets people interested, but without a well-placed CTA at the end that interest might be wasted. Include a CTA at the end with clear instructions on how to apply for a job.

Equipment Required to Create a Simple Recruitment Video

One of the primary reasons why businesses are hesitant to use recruitment videos is that they are worried about the expense.

Videographers and professional camera equipment and editing equipment cost a lot, that’s true. But the thing is, you don’t really need any of that.

  1. Video

You don’t need fancy camera equipment and tripods and all that. Use whatever you have. All you really need is a decent smartphone camera. You don’t even need a tripod, although it does help to have one.

It’s fairly cheap. If you have access to something like a GoPro then go crazy. Remember, authenticity is what matters. Just take out your phone and start filming is all you need to do really.

Take care of the lighting. Poorly lit videos are not well received. Another point to keep in mind is to always shoot in landscape mode. Vertical videos are off-putting in most players, and unless the situation specifically demands it, it is better to avoid them.

2. Audio

Although the quality of your visuals doesn’t matter much, the quality of your audio does matter. Bad audio is way worse than having low-quality visuals. You don’t need to buy professional equipment.

Just make sure that there is no disturbing background noise in your footage. Shoot interviews in quiet rooms.

Another thing to keep in mind is the background music for the video. Take care as to not include copyrighted tracks. Find free, royalty-free, music on the web, or purchase the rights to a good track.

3. Editing

This is one area where you might need a bit of professional expertise. Footage with a homemade feel sells the best, but homemade editing, not so much. Clumsy editing can make your video feel hard to watch.

Freelance video editors are fairly cheap to hire. You can do it in-house, you just need to polish up your skills a bit. It is not an insurmountable task to teach yourself the basics of editing.

Especially for the millennial generation who grew up doing a lot of amateur editing on social media. You just need the right software. Most applications have a fairly easy to use and easy to learn interface these days.

The key is to keep things simple. Newbies in the editing field tend to overdo things a tad. A simple video will have a professional look and feel. This when combined with the homemade feel of your footage, will create the perfect combination of elegance and comfort.

Where To Share Your Recruitment Video

You have your great video, what now? Sharing and promoting your video will determine how much of your potential candidate base will actually see it.

You need to consider you target demographic when your choosing which platforms to promote your videos most actively in. YouTube is a no-brainer of course, but there are lots of other platforms out there too.

1. YouTube

According to research, as much as 53% of traffic on job videos comes from YouTube. That’s way, way more than what you get from your official website. Vimeo is also another similar platform you need to upload your video on.

2. Company Website

Don’t forget to put your video up on the careers page of your company website. Although research shows that very few people actually come to the careers page without having already decided to apply. It needs to be done nevertheless.

3. Social Media

Social recruiting is gaining importance and will only continue to do so. Social recruiting means finding and hiring talent through social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, as well as review sites like Glassdoor.

So posting your recruitment videos on these platforms can get you lots of eyeballs, second only to YouTube. Encourage your employees to share the content via their personal social media accounts to improve reach.

4. Newsletters

Including your recruitment videos in your email newsletters can help you find talent from those who might already have expressed interest of some kind in your business.

Some Good Recruitment Videos

Now that you know the basics of recruitment video creation, it's time to inspire you with some great examples of recruitment videos from the recent past:

1. This is Zendesk

“This is a chair. This chair is sad without you.” This line is sure to make anyone smile, and that’s Zendesk’s victory.

The video looks professionally made, but such a video can be replicated on a low budget as well. It’s funny, simple and really effective.

The group shot of their employees shows them all genuinely laughing. Even the bits that are obviously scripted and staged, seem to give off an authentic vibe.

They bring in popup basketball games and parties and a guy in a superman suit playing football, showing that they have a fun work environment. They tell us what exactly their company does, as well as how it has grown over the years.

The video is 3 minutes 27 seconds long, but those that begin watching are very unlikely to stop, even after the average 1 minute 36 seconds.

The CTA at the end is simple. “This is Zendesk. Join the Crew.” After the video, it just really makes people want to sign up.

2. What Interim HealthCare means to its employees

This is a good example of how small a budget you need to create a good recruitment video.

This video was shot on a smartphone probably, without even a tripod. It doesn’t even involve graphical effects in the introductory part. All it uses apart from its employees is whiteboard slate and a marker. And it works.

The video is short at 39 seconds, which makes a lot of difference. As it is a standard employee opinion video, a longer video would’ve been likely abandoned by viewers before they were one minute in. The thing the video does wrong is failing to include a CTA.

3. Work/Life Balance at BambooHR

This is a great example of a recruitment video that really attempts to empathize with potential recruits. Someone working long hours and going home tired might see this video and think, “This is what I need.”

The home videos mixed with work videos give the whole thing a human feel. The use of stop-motion, as well as the cheerful tune in the background, makes the video fun and interesting to watch.

4. Start Your Career at Autodesk

The Autodesk recruitment video is a simple and effective video. It’s professionally made but it would really have not made much difference if it was homemade.

It starts off with a simple graphic introduction then the rest of the video is basically employees describing their experiences of working in Autodesk. Their selection of employees is diverse, which means there is someone for everyone to identify with.

The interviews are interspersed with shots of their work. There are also some shots of employees having fun to show that the environment is easy going in addition to being professional.

At 2 minutes 32 seconds, the video is just about the right size. There is a clear CTA at the end, meaning that potential recruits whose interests are piqued would not have to go too far.

5. Google interns' first week

We know you don’t Google’s budget to spend on a video, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the giant.

The quality of each video clip is great, making the whole thing very attractive. The people included in the interviews are all interesting, and each of them has a good story to tell.

They have included a lot of the cool features of the Google office as well as the quirky design elements of the buildings. They highlight all the fun activities and make the workplace seem entertaining.

There are a few issues with the video. They may be forgivable considering it’s Google, but for a small business looking to learn, those mistakes matter. First is the length.

Even if the video is really interesting, 5 minutes 50 seconds is a tad too long for a recruitment video. Second, the CTA.

The link is mentioned at the end of the video but not in the video description, from where it could’ve been more easily accessed. Also, the video may be too professional, it feels like it lacks authenticity in places.

Be Real, Not Slick

Research proves that millennials prefer real, down-to-earth videos, over slick, polished ones. That means that you don’t need a huge budget to compete with the big shots. Creativity and authenticity are what matters. Focus on that, and the talent will flock to you.

Book a demo with us today to know more about what a video can do your business.