Gobi’s top 5 tips for creating great recruitment videos
Creating your own recruitment videos can be difficult, especially if this is your first time doing so. Let's take a look at some of the basic but essential elements that your video should have to be effective, authentic, and positive for promoting your brand in the market.
Before we begin, check out these four examples we made on different approaches for creating recruitment videos.
1. Be a window into your business
Your video should give potential candidates a taste of what it looks like to work for your organization. This can mean a couple of things depending on your type of company.
This can mean that you show the workspace and the place where people spend most of the day. It can also mean showing them where your team might have lunch or a meeting in action. Your potential candidates need to know what to expect when they come to the interview and, more importantly, when they work with you.
They should also be able to spot the physical objects in your recruitment video and gain elements of recognition if you bring them in for an interview. Of course, you don't want to give up the whole game as this may result in them answering interview questions they anticipate you’ll want to hear, rather than a true, authentic response.
Let your recruiting video be a window into your company, but not a swing door.
2. Introduce your business
While the window into your business focuses primarily on atmosphere and working conditions, which includes examples of your organization's physical location and provides a specific "vibe" around you, the introduction focuses on real the business going on every day.
Many recruitment videos often forget this. However, this is probably the most important detail you should include in your recruitment video: what does your company do?
It may seem absurd that many experts forget this important ingredient. Ultimately, it’s easily done. If you work on the same tasks every day, it's easy to forget that other people may not know your company as well as you do.
However, recruiting videos lose their charm if you don't explain exactly what your organization is doing. As with sales, candidates need to know what is special about your company and why they should apply to work for you instead of a competitor. Either this is stated directly (e.g. "We offer [your product or service] for [your target market] in a better way than [your competition] because of [unique selling points]", or it can be largely expressed by the footage and vibe in your video.
3. Clearly outline your company’s values
Your video should also represent and communicate the values of your business. The video is likely to be seen by potential applicants who have not yet applied, so this is a good opportunity to make sure your candidates know what your organization is all about even before they hit the apply button.
An organization’s values are an important factor in the overall business culture, and your company may represent strong values that every employee should hear and adhere to. Recruitment videos are a great way to demonstrate this, and you could take this even further by having an employee reference them in the video.
4. Focus on employees and provide details about your team
Remember: this is not a sales video for your target market. This is a recruitment video, so instead of selling the product or service that your organization provides, you are selling the idea of working there. Your video should show your team and its dynamics. The most successful recruitment videos focus on people, so give your viewers a clear idea of who they can expect to work with.
Make sure your future candidates can imagine themselves having a good time with their future colleagues, and have a social environment where they can thrive. Social relationships in the workplace will reinforce the appeal of working there, especially if the team is reiterating the benefits of being employees of the organization.
5. Be engaging and inspiring
The purpose of the recruitment video is to attract and encourage candidates to work with you. We realize that this is tricky because engagement and inspiration are subjective for the audience. However, this is why you need to have a clear idea of the ideal candidate for the role.
If you know your ideal candidate, you can make sure to target your recruitment video toward them. And, if you know them well enough, you’ll be able to determine the elements that they’d rank as “engaging” and “inspirational”. You can have all of the above elements in a good recruitment video, but without this last bit, you may fall short to win your dream candidates.
Depending on your company and its values, alongside the ideal candidate profile, you may choose an emotional angle, humoristic angle, or prestige angle. The angle you choose should be clear, and remember, do not muddle your waters. If you are aiming for a funny recruitment video, make it funny. Stay away from high levels of prestige. Consider it a genre and run with it.
Now you have everything you need to succeed in creating great recruitment videos. Want some tips on how to record those videos? Check out our six tips for creating better stories here.
Happy recruitment!