The best employer brand videos pull back the curtain on your workplace and give would-be employees a brief glimpse into your company’s mission, expectations, workplace culture, and day-to-day operations. That’s a lot to fit into a video that will likely last between one and four minutes.
So how do you create employer brand videos that are informative and engaging? Though big companies like Apple, Twitter, and GE are known for their employee brand videos, creating valuable videos that share the spirit and ethos of your organization doesn’t require a huge budget. Here are some of the things effective employer recruiting videos have in common:
When creating an employer brand video, you should ask ‘Is this us?’ throughout the process. Of course you are going to put your best employer foot forward, but you want to paint an accurate picture of working at your company. don’t film a break room brimming with snacks and beverages, if workers are responsible for their own lunches. Instead, highlight genuine elements of your company culture that might appeal to potential recruits. If your workplace tends to hold small group brainstorming sessions, for example, be sure to show that.
The recruiting video for e-commerce company Jet.com, owned by Walmart, shares that the company’s offices are an unusual reverse commute just outside of New York City. The video features fun team-building activities, as well as one-on-one interviews with a handful of employees that highlight a fast-paced, startup environment with opportunities to expand skills.
While it’s wonderful to have an open, skylit office with a game room and an outdoor café, not all companies can offer that. But every organization has something appealing to offer their employees. For example, companies can share how they have an established mentoring program that nurtures careers, that they are creating cutting-edge technologies, or that they offer paid time off for volunteer work.
Supermarket chain Wegman’s emphasizes its second place spot on Fortune’s Best Places to Work list in its employer brand video. The company highlights how many employees stick with the organization long term and enjoy opportunities to work their way up. The video features employees telling their own stories about advancing, or deciding to commit to a career at the company.
When developing ideas for the video, reach out to your employees to discuss what they like best about the job. Ask them to share how they would describe a day in the life at the company to a good friend who was looking for work. Or ask them to share the single word that best describes the job. This can help you pinpoint the most important things to share in the video.
When it comes time to shoot, don’t use actors and don’t give your employees scripts to memorize. Let them be themselves. It’s great if they think about what they’d like to say in advance, but when they talk about the job it should be unrehearsed and genuine. People looking at these videos want to get to know who they are working with and what it’s really like to work there.
People aren’t going to stick around to watch a video of a group of employees sitting at a conference room table talking about their company. At least not for very long. Employer branding videos should be authentic, but also dynamic. To figure out how that looks for your company, ask employees to brainstorm and share possible ideas for the video. Whatever approach you take, however, the end product should feel organic to your organization. For example, the tech company, GoPro, used one of their action cameras on an employee to introduce viewers to the office while he kicked a soccer ball between desks. The file sharing company, Dropbox, used adorable puppets as stand-ins for the employees who were recorded talking about what they loved about their job.
Unless your organization is very small, chances are you have multiple departments with roles that vary significantly. These different departments and positions will draw talent with different workplace expectations, so consider creating multiple targeted videos with that in mind. Apple, for example has separate employer brand videos for corporate jobs, store positions, and work-at-home roles.
Attention spans are short and people looking for jobs are busy. Most employer brand videos should run between one and two minutes.
Once you’ve created your employer brand videos, don’t let them sit waiting for views on your careers page. Add them to your company pages on Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and share them on Twitter. If you work with recruiters, make them aware of videos targeted to the types of roles they are hiring for. Finally, many companies are creating careers pages on YouTube where they upload employer brand videos, as well as videos that share in-depth looks at specific jobs, departments, or employees.
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