Video Recruiting: Why is Video the Hottest Medium for Hiring?

Video is now the go-to medium for recruiting, interviewing, and hiring. Don’t believe it? This HubSpot infographic shows 18 new videos are published every month by businesses across all market sectors and industries.

WordStream points out the following statistics that measure consumer engagement with video:

• Social video drives a 1,200% higher share rate than text and images combined.
• Video facilitates a 157% increase in organic web traffic.
• Videos up to two minutes long have higher engagement.

Businesses are using video for everything from training to marketing, but many companies are now incorporating video into their recruiting tactics, too.

How Can You Jump on the Video Bandwagon?

Given the popularity of video and the tight market for qualified job candidates in most professional fields, it would seem like incorporating video would be incredibly helpful to your recruitment efforts. But what types of video work the best?

Here are some great tips on how your company can leverage the medium to spread the good word about your mission to hire the best talent.

Traits Good Recruiting Videos Have

Not all recruiting videos are great, but the ones that are all have several things in common: they're well shot, well edited, feature diverse employees and stories, and really give you a feel for what the company culture is like.

Here are some stand out examples:

RecruiterBox.com says, "Square takes the typical approach in their recruiting video, featuring employee stories, office shots and soft music. But overall the video is so well done." Having employees share different stories and values will help win over viewers. Square's video is also a great example of why production quality matters.

Want to have a little more fun with your video? Be like Dropbox:

It’s a hilarious take on the clichéd careers video most companies do and shows Dropbox employees definitely have a good time at work, says Recruiter Box.

Recruiter Box's Great Video Takeaways

• Have a Unique Approach
  There's nothing wrong with getting office shots and asking employees what they like about their jobs, but don’t settle on creating the same ol', same ol'. Try to make your video stand out a bit.
  
  
• Capture Authenticity
  Your employees most likely aren’t actors, so it's okay to allow them to be natural on camera. The best videos are authentic and include candid shots of people speaking from the heart.
  
  
• Quality Matters
  Yes, your phone records decent video, but it's nothing compared to hiring a professional with the right gear and eye to do it for you.
  
  
• Use Your Employer Branding Strategy 
  Make sure your recruiting video is featured prominently on your company’s career page and social profiles. Don't miss out on an opportunity to make your recruiting video a part of your overall employer branding strategy.

Now that you've seen some great examples, here's how to put them to good use...

How To Use Video Recruiting

The first thing to keep in mind when making a video is to keep it short. Wistia backs up the idea that videos under two minutes long drive the highest engagement. Since most job hunting is online now, using video to help get the word out about the opening is the new HR imperative. Getting video on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or other social sites your targets frequent, will help you source candidates faster. When you consider 500 million people watch Facebook videos every day, adding a short film to social seems like a no-brainer decision.

Once your company has gone all in on the video recruiting front, you need to figure out how to optimize the location of the video to reach the right people.

3 Ideas for Highlighting Your Videos:

• First and foremost, place the recruiting video on your website. Candidates are likely to research your web presence during their search, and your website will be the first place they hit. Share your corporate culture, and give them a sense of what it’s like to work in your firm — in two minutes or less. Since videos are very Google-friendly, adding video to your website will have the added benefit of improving SEO.
  
  
• Why not add the video to your job postings as a link or embed? A day-in-the-life video would go a long way toward enticing someone to consider your company.
  
  
• We’ve already talked about the importance of using video in social channels, but it’s so important, we need to reiterate it. If your company doesn’t have a YouTube channel or a LinkedIn company page, you’re falling behind. The real benefit of social is the viral potential — users share videos frequently, which will have the added benefit of extending your brand while advertising for new talent.

The Bottom Line?

Adding video to your recruitment efforts is an easy, low-cost way to extend your reach to the widest pool of candidates.

Need someone to run point for you? Contact Artisan Talent for advice and support to help maximize your search efforts. We have an extensive network that can help you find the best creative talent quickly.