Recruiting

The Power of Video Job Ads

In order to make their job postings stand out from countless others, and create a more engaging job seeker experience, companies are turning to video.


Before you dismiss video as a fad, consider that YouTube is the second most popular website, second only to Google, according to Alexa, a provider of web data traffic and analytics. More than 1 billion people, almost one-third of all people on the internet, watch YouTube videos.
YouTube, while the most popular, isn’t the only channel for video; others include Vimeo and DailyMotion. In addition, media outlets and others routinely share information via video. Companies also use video to market products and services.
Internet users, who include job seekers, are comfortable with receiving information via video; indeed, research shows many prefer this method of delivery.
Recruiting Daily Advisor asked Rob Kelly, CEO of Ongig, a provider of visual job advertising, for insight into how companies are leveraging video to attract candidates.
RDA: Statistics related to YouTube are nothing short of astonishing. According to multiple websites that track such information, 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and nearly 5 billion videos are viewed on YouTube every day. Why are people so enamored with video?
RK: In the world of communication, the most high-bandwidth connection is, of course, hanging out in person. But if you can’t see someone or something in person, video is the next best thing. And because it’s just a click away, it’s now so easy to consume video.
I just got off the phone with a South African comedian and he’s performing tonight at a cool club in the West Village of New York City. But I’m in Oakland, California. I can’t fly across the country today to see him but I was able to watch part of his set on YouTube. What a wonderful world!
Video sites like YouTube also allow you to easily discover things you might not have heard of – that video I watched of my comedian friend had, of course, 20 other videos alongside his for me to explore.
RDA: Where a traditional job ad tells a job seeker about a position and a company, a video can show the job and the company. Obviously, the concept is powerful. What do companies typically include in video job ads?
RK: Ongig has seen a few types of recruitment videos that work well:

  • A History of Your Company – People like stories. If you’ve been around for a while (e.g., 10 + years), a video is a great way to share your story/history. Biotech leader Roche did this with a “Roche in 60 Seconds” video that was all video, music, and text (no voice-over).
  • Mission/Purpose – Many companies have a clear mission/purpose and a mission-themed recruitment video can be super effective. This is especially appealing to the millennial and Gen Z candidates who research has shown value careers with purpose. Modernizing Medicine (a new company transforming healthcare through technologies) did a good recruiting video with multiple employees speaking about the mission.
  • Virtual Office Tour – If you’ve got an office that you’re proud of, a simple virtual tour of the office helps the candidate picture themselves there. 3Pillar did a fun 360-degree type view of their office.
  • Job Specific – If a particular job is super important (perhaps an evergreen job that employers have to fill with many people on an ongoing basis), I suggest a job-specific video (40 seconds) in which you use text and voice overlay. BMC Software did a killer video for one of their digital marketing positions in which they had a video about BMC in the background and then voice-over and text overlay about highlights of that particular job. This way, the candidates could get a feel for both BMC the company and the particular job in just 40 seconds!
  • Repositioning – Some companies use recruiting videos to show that they are repositioning who they are. Walmart, for instance, did a “More than Expected” long tease video in which they emphasized supporting women, military, African farmers, smaller businesses, and more … and only at the end, did they mention Walmart. It was definitely impactful.

RDA: Is video an effective alternative for all job postings, or is it a better fit for certain kinds of jobs?
RK: I believe that video can be effective for all jobs because it will help you stand out (versus mostly text job ads) and give the candidate a chance to engage with you.
RDA: A case study at your website suggests people might be more inclined to share a video job ad, as opposed to a traditional job posting. Can you tell us about that?
RK: Yes, when you include a video in your job ad, and someone clicks a social share button (like Facebook or LinkedIn), the thumbnail of the video will actually appear in the preview of that user’s news feed (before they even share it). This then increases the likelihood of the user sharing because people share video/pics way more than they share just a page of text.
If you have a video job ad, your employees are more likely to share it as well.
Ongig has had clients who had a single job get 3,000+ new candidates viewing the job from social! I view such social referrals as one of the most high quality sources of candidates – especially when the social visits came from employees sharing it.
Social employee referrals – what an awesome new world, huh!?
RDA: Finally, as you know, it’s critical that employers consider mobile. According to the Pew Research Center, 77 percent of Americans now have a smartphone. People use these phones for everything, including job search. One global study finds that 45 percent of job seekers search for jobs daily on their mobile device. What is the advantage of video job ads for mobile users?
RK: Video job ads get even more effective on mobile for a few reasons:

  • As you know, Marketing 101 is “get their attention first” and the video on a video job ad can act as your “hero media” on the screen, which will really stand out versus your competitors using text-based job postings.
  • The video on mobile allows the candidate to listen to and more easily view the job ad while in transit (bus, train, etc.). The reason that’s important is that it is the passive candidate (employed!) who most employers covet and the passive candidate has way more time before or after work (or in line at lunch) to consume a job ad.
  • Finally, if your job ad looks good on mobile (with a killer hero media for the video thumbnail), then by association the candidate will think that you are tech-savvy/progressive. If you have nothing but text (and it’s in small type and you have to slide the text around because it’s not mobile optimized) then you will look like an old, archaic company (regardless of how great you might be).

This is one of the reasons Ongig puts all of our video job ads through three mobile friendly tests.

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