Recruiting videos are one of the best ways to showcase your company’s culture. While a job ad tells a candidate what they’ll be doing for you — a quality recruiting video is almost a personality piece. After watching, an applicant will understand what makes your company tick, and the personality behind the brand.

Today, we’ll be going over how to make a recruiting video that captures the eye of the applicant. Relatability, professionalism, and a positive work environment — your video needs it all. Let’s dive into the process. 

Choose Your Tone

Before starting the scripting process, or even brainstorming concepts, you need to decide on the tone of your video. While you may think that going with a simple upbeat style is best, that’s not always the case. In reality, you should shift the tone of your video to match the audience. 

For example, if you want to attract younger candidates, a genuine comedic approach could gain traction. New Zealand’s police force released a recruitment video back in 2017 that was entertaining enough to gain 1.8 million views on YouTube. That’s a huge advertisement. 

Finding a way to stand out among the countless recruitment vids out there can be a boon, but be careful not to misrepresent your organization. Recent military recruitment ads have unfortunately capitalized on The optimal tone is really whatever feels most appropriate for your company. 

Include a Variety of People

A good recruiting video resonates with a diverse audience. Filling your video with folks from a range of backgrounds, and who work at various levels within your org, is essential. Candidates don’t just want to hear from the CEO or a few managers, because they don’t represent the totality of your workforce. 

Showcasing a diverse workforce in your videos can boost your organization’s reputation, so choose the participants for your video carefully. An even spread of different people is optimal.

Keep Your Recruiting Video Short and Sweet

If your recruitment video is overly long, it will begin to feel like a lecture. Keep your run time short, and keep your points concise. Short sentences are a must. The optimal length for a recruitment video is anywhere between two and five minutes, but don’t be afraid to go a little over or under. 

Answer FAQs

As you’re promoting your org, dole out information to the viewer in small doses. Answering frequently asked questions makes the audience feel closer to your company. You’ll want to keep both the questions and answers more general and set up to paint your business positively. This is promotional material after all. Some questions you may address are:

• What do your employees enjoy most about working for your company?
• What is your workplace culture like?
• How is the work your organization does meaningful/impactful?
• Who works for your organization?
• Why should someone consider joining your company?
• What is your organization’s goal?

Answering a few or all of these questions, applicants should feel more connected to your group, and excited to begin work. 

Promote the Video Extensively

When all is said and done, the purpose of a recruitment video is to have it viewed by as many people as possible. If the finished product isn’t posted to social media or advertised on YouTube, it’ll be nearly impossible for it to gain traction. Encourage your employees to share the video on their LinkedIn profile, and promote it on every one of your sites that sees traffic.

Update as Time Passes

Your organization is bound to change over time — and as it does so too should your recruiting video. Updating your recruiting video with fresh faces and a new perspective has a number of benefits. When your new employees come to the office, they’ll see faces that they glimpsed in the video, and feel more at home. A second benefit is that it prevents false advertising. An outdated video could contain information about policies, practices, or expectations that don’t align with your current organization. Lastly, a new video could achieve the success that the old video didn’t — another shot at going viral.

With a few personal tweaks to these guidelines, you’ll have a recruiting video that really works. Attracting talent is hard, but quality promotional material gives your brand a voice. Just make sure that voice is confident and strong — and you should grow your talent pool by leaps and bounds.