Hiring Managers: Use These 4 Videos To Build a Talent Pool of High Quality Candidates
Learn from real world case studies how companies are using video storytelling to attract and retain high performers across different industries. Add these to your existing hiring processes and start seeing immediate results.
“The single biggest constraint on the success of any organization is their ability to get and to hang on to enough of the right people.” – Jim Collins (Best Selling Author – From Good To Great).
Today I’ll show you how companies are using video storytelling to build long term hiring funnels. These allow them to build a talent pool of high quality candidates instead of relying on last minute job posts.
I’ll address the biggest struggles companies are facing in the hiring process and how to solve them with video.
Problem 1 - Not getting enough applications
High performers quickly become known in their industry for their work. As a result, they get approached a lot by head hunters and companies.
So they become desensitized to typical job posts that mainly tell about the role, responsibilities, benefits, salaries and so on. Nothing stands out to them.
Solution: Brand Story Video
Solution – Stand out in job posts by engaging with potential candidates emotionally and logically. Humanize the experience with video.
Create a brand story video that captures the unique essence of your business. Make this video integral to all your job posts.This will give your staff (both current and future) a big bold vision they can get behind. The video should inspire and not just be transactional. Watch our brand story video below:
Here are some of the things your future candidates will want to know about your company before they apply:
- What does your company stand for? What does it stand against?
- What is your unique business story? How did you get started?
- What is your vision for their industry?
- How are you different from your competitors?
- Who are your typical customers? What do you do for them?
- How are you combating outdated perceptions about your industry?
Compress all this information into a short 2 to 3 minute engaging video. Make it visible in your job posts.
Below is an example of how BAE systems are using a brand story video in their job posts.
Research shows that employees who engage with their company’s vision are 18% higher engagement levels than those that aren’t. And more engaged employees are often more productive as they are self motivated. This also leads to low staff turnover.
How to Use It
- Place this video at the top of the every job post you make. This will educate candidates about the company before they learn about the role. Thus creating a strong first impression.
- Place it very close to the “apply” button. Applicants who align with the message in the video will immediately want to do something about it. This will help you get more applications.
Problem 2: It’s difficult to find candidates who are a good cultural fit
Some companies get a lot of applications from people who are not going to be a good culture fit. So more time is wasted in interviewing the wrong people. Some companies add hiring stages to deal with this. But it only introduces new inefficiencies.
Instead if these companies could simply set clearer expectations about their working culture upfront, then they’d attract much better candidates.
Solution: Company Culture Video
If you want to attract people who are going to be a great cultural fit, then simply show them what your company culture already looks like.
But culture can mean different things to different people. So find out which cultural aspects people in your industry care about the most. Do real world research. Don’t make assumptions.
For example, below is a list of the most common reasons why people have been leaving jobs in the tech sector. Lack of fulfilment, getting burnt out, lack of freedom and so on.
These are based on actual comments from real people on public forums.
The next step is to identify the things that set your work culture apart. Ideally these are things that your future candidates already care about.
Maybe you give employees ownership of projects, or allow flexible working hours and so on.
Make videos that highlight these aspects of your company. Plant these videos in places where your ideal candidates are already spending time. Bamboo HR does a brilliant job at this. You can watch their company culture video below.
As a tech company, they’ve clearly seen the gap and have addressed it with a video on their Youtube channel.
The call to action (CTA) link underneath the video takes you to the hiring page on their website.
Clicking on the CTA link takes candidates to the main application page whe re they get to watch the next type of video.
Problem 3: Not getting applicants who are qualified enough for the role
Getting culture fit candidates is important. But hiring someone without the hard skills required to execute a job can mean long lead times before the employee becomes productive. So it’s definitely an advantage to attract qualified candidates.
The reason why companies struggle with this is because it’s difficult to excite and qualify potential qualified candidates about a role purely based on skills requirement. People’s attention spans are shortening. So they might not even read all of it before applying for the role. This leads to too many interviews with people who were never a fit to start with.
Solution: Make a "Roles and Responsibilities" video for each role advertised
Rather than writing a wall of text, make an engaging video that shows the key technical capabilities someone already in that role has.
Make this video visible after someone has already shown interest in the role so you don’t overwhelm them with too much information. This can be done by breaking the application process into smaller steps. Then you can make separate videos for each role type. People would watch this video before clicking the apply button.
This is exactly what the recruitment company Bamboo HR did in their hiring funnel.
They made a video each for their most important roles. Below is what the engineering section of their video hiring funnel looks like:
Here are some of the things that can be included in your roles and responsibilities video:
- What are your typical working processes?
- What gets prioritized?
- How are the team responsibilities split?
- What does the reporting structure look like?
- What makes this role enjoyable?
- The worst parts about the role (shows honesty and makes everything else more believable).
- What does the management look for in new candidates?
Problem 4: Low job acceptance rates
Some companies suffer due to outdated perceptions about their industry. Potentially due to failed projects, bad future prospects for the candidate, poor hiring reputation and so on.
So even if they do manage to attract and interview the right candidates, they do not get enough job acceptances. Because it’s hard to make a powerful impression on someone when they’re doing all the talking.
Solution: Make a "Day in the life of an employee" video to create a powerful vision of their future at your company
Research and identify the biggest reasons why people are not accepting jobs in your industry. Then make a video capturing the day of an employee who resembles someone you’re trying to recruit. Show experiences from their working day that get rid of fears and doubts your future candidates might have. Below is a great example.
Make this video visible in places where your ideal candidates are already spending time or finding you. Also send this video in an email as a pre cursor to your interview. That way, you won’t be trying to explain everything about their potential future in your interview. Instead the video will create a powerful vision of their own future. Once at the interview, they can focus on asking more meaningful questions that will help them make a better decision.
Here are some things your video will need to show about your employee:
- How do they typically start their day?
- What inspires them every day to go to work?
- What do they like the most about their role?
- What personal satisfaction do they get from it?
- What was their first project in this role?
- Who is this role best suited for?
The key is in identifying traits and values your company will be looking for in new candidates. Your line of questioning should match that.
Why use video in your hiring process
- Repeatable: Once your videos are created and your hiring funnel is built, you can repeatedly use the same videos over and over again to attract high-quality candidates.
- Multiple use cases: One filming session can create multiple small segments that can be used in various ways for future hiring and marketing.
- Build talent pools: Instead of relying on last minute hiring, build a talent pool of people who are already interested in working for you before jobs even become available.
- Better analytics: Video analytics will give you far more engagement data than what typical job ads can provide. This will pin point what is working and what’s not so you can improve fast.
- Brand recognition: Build a strong employer brand and get recognized as a company doing great things.
- Create human experiences: You’ll be able to connect both emotionally and intellectually with your future candidates. Thus humanizing your brand. Candidates will be much more willing to accept your offers.
- Better downstream marketing: Some of these videos will also act as marketing assets to raise your brand profile among future customers.
Avoid these common mistakes
- Too long: Don’t make your videos too long. 2 to 3 minutes is the ideal length.
- Reading off a script: Unless well trained, this will make you sound robotic and will be lacking in excitement.
- No hook: Find the most powerful part of your interview and place it at the start of your video. This will need to engage your audience within seconds of watching your video.
- Lack of structure: Humans make decisions by following thinking patterns. Give your videos a structure so these patterns are followed to have the best chance of converting.
- Going down wrong paths in the interview: This will add more in the editing process and make your video directionless.
- Lack of preparation: Do a trial run before you film the main interview. Otherwise you’ll be fumbling for word on the day of filming. It will also make you look less confident.
- Missed information: Filming a video is time consuming. Your interviewer will need to ensure they capture all the key elements of the message you want to deliver.
- Lack of distribution: Have a clear distribution strategy. Actively place your videos in places where your future candidates are most likely to find you.
Now it's your turn
Now that you know how video can give you an unfair advantage as a company, it’s time to do something about it. You don’t necessarily need to make all these videos. Making even one of these could be a complete game changer.
The key is in identifying which one. It would depend on things like
- What you’re doing to attract your ideal candidates right now
- What has the response been like
- How many times you expect to hire for specific roles in the future
- How frequently will you be doing it
And so on. Then only make the videos that are absolutely necessary first. Add more videos as the need arises. This will help you make the most of your hiring budget right from the start.
Want our help?
If you want us to execute one of these strategies or if you want to discuss your own ideas, then we’d love to help you.
The first step is to book a free discovery call. Tell us a bit about your business and what you’re trying to achieve.
If there’s a good fit, we’ll show you how we can help.
