No matter what industry you’re in, there’s a very good chance you’re fighting an uphill battle for talent right now. And while there’s something to be said for misery loving company and not being alone in the fight, that won’t help you attract and retain the talent your organization needs to grow and succeed.
However, as I’m about to discuss, recruitment videos are a relatively new tool companies are using in their recruiting strategies, and, most importantly, finding success because of it. So stick around as I provide some best practices on making your recruitment videos as effective and powerful as possible.
1. Don’t be Stingy with the Details
No doubt about it – this is a job candidate's market. In fact, you’re not just competing with other companies in your industry for talent, but with companies from all industries. And that means you have your work cut out for you.
Therefore, it's important to put yourself in a job seeker’s shoes, keeping in mind certain things that might attract them to your job postings and company. First and foremost, don't feel the need to limit the details around the open position. To that point, picture a potential candidate going through hundreds of postings from different companies – literally. Do you think a video is more eye-catching than a wall of text in a job posting? Of course it is.
Thus, you catch their attention with a recruitment video and maintain that attention with details on the open position and what type of person you would like to apply. As you go, keep it friendly and relatively light, but not at the expense of providing sufficient detail.
2. Showcase Your Culture
Have you ever been shopping for a used car and visited so many lots or looked at so many ads, the cars all start to look the same? That's what the typical job seeker is going through right now, where there are so many open positions at the moment, only the truly special ones really stick out.
Of course, one of the things that differentiates your organization from others is your culture. Think of it as the secret sauce that makes working for your company fulfilling, challenging, and rewarding. In other words, culture drives engagement with your people, and engagement attracts talent.
In your recruitment videos, use this great differentiator to your advantage, highlighting different aspects of your company culture that make you unique and dynamic. This would include short clips of testimonials from current employees, company events, and anything else that shines an exciting and appealing spotlight on your culture.
3. Use Your Current Team Members
Building on the previous point, current team members are your most powerful and effective ambassadors. Thus, when you create a recruitment video with employees discussing what they love about working in your organization, a potential candidate is going to see, hear, and feel the authenticity in their facial expressions and voice.
Just like your customers, a job seeker can spot anything disingenuous from a mile away. However, if you’re able to capture a sense of authenticity that paints your company in the most positive light possible, potential candidates will inevitably give your open positions a much closer look.
4. Keep it Short
I’m not going to try to convince you that human beings now have the same attention span as a goldfish. First of all, that statistic has always seemed a bit – yes, fishy – to me. Second, you don't have to be a psychologist or sociologist to know that you simply don't have a lot of time to capture the attention of an audience.
When it comes to recruiting, the audience is the job seekers. Therefore, you want to grasp that attention with your recruiting videos, convey your message as quickly as possible, and stand out from the other recruitment posts. Long story short, keep it concise and to the point.
5. Make it Fun and Conversational
Finally, just because you need to be authentic and brief doesn't mean you must also be wooden and boring. In fact, you should be just the opposite, infusing your recruitment videos with a fun, conversational tone that is light but professional, loose but not distractingly so.
Now, sometimes keeping all of this in mind can make you feel like you're trying to walk a tightrope at first, but I promise that practice makes perfect. As a matter of fact, there’s no time like the present to start working on your on-camera skills because talent will continue to be in short supply for the foreseeable future. And as you know, OneDay will be here to help and guide you every step of the way.