There are so many ways to use videos as part of your overall talent management strategy, and it is becoming increasingly popular as there are more tools and resources to create professional-quality videos without a great deal of technical knowledge or a huge production budget.

Regarding talent management, videos can be incredibly useful for not just employee training, but also for recruiting and hiring.

Using Videos for Recruiting

While you can create recruitment videos posted on your own site, you can also post them on YouTube to reach a broader audience and strengthen your employee brand in the eyes of more people. If you create a great video, it may even go viral which could lead to an explosion in talented employees striving to work for you.  

Research shows job postings accompanied by videos have 34% more applications, and videos appear in the top 100 search engine results 70% of the time. In terms of YouTube alone, the average visitor spends 15 minutes watching videos, which is a lot longer than you’re going to find the attention span is for other forms of content or even videos in other locations.

A few general tips for creating recruiting videos include:

• Before you start the production of a video or even writing the script, gather information that will answer the questions and concerns of real applicants. You may have your HR team compile the questions they’re most frequently asked by recruits and contribute their own insight as to what would be most helpful to job seekers.
• Don’t create videos with a tone that feels gimmicky or too over-the-top. Job applicants want information on the job—they don’t want to be pitched to as if they’re watching a TV commercial for a cleaning product. Keep your tone fresh, concise and to-the-point, while providing as much relevant information about the job and your company as you reasonably can.
• Your video should be a tool to highlight what makes you different. Steer clear of including generalities that would be relatively similar to your competition, and instead, use your video as an opportunity to demonstrate why you’re distinctive.
• Use real employees in your recruitment videos. This helps you avoid the gimmicky feel that can come with using actors, and it lets your videos stand out and feel homegrown, which is something that can really appeal to talent.
• You may want to consider creating a story for your recruitment videos, which could even span across several shorter videos. For example, you could take the approach of following a recruit through the interview process and into being hired, then showing what a day in the life is like at your company.

Along with using videos for recruiting tactics, they’re also becoming increasingly prevalent as part of the employee interview experience.

Video-Based Interviews

Using videos as some part of the interview process for new employees is becoming increasingly common.

Why?

Video interviews are less expensive than traditional interviews, particularly if you’re interviewing candidates who aren’t local. Using video interviewing can also give hiring managers a good idea of factors like cultural fit before they have candidates progress too far into the hiring process. With the use of video interviews it becomes possible to have a wide variety of stakeholders get to know a candidate, even if they’re located at offices throughout the world.

If you have a large talent pool you’re selecting from, using videos as part of the early stages of the hiring process can allow you to narrow candidates down much more quickly, and this is also a good alternative to phone screenings. As compared to phone screenings, video interviews give you a much more thorough picture of who the candidate is and whether or not they’re a good fit to progress farther into the process.

When you’re looking to tap into the very best talent, they’re likely to be people that are also very busy and in-demand. Video interviews can save not just your hiring manager’s time, but it can also save candidates’ time and pave the way for them to have a more favorable review of your organization. For applicants who aren’t going to make the cut, video interviews give you the opportunity to know that sooner in the process, so you can let them know more quickly to keep them from becoming too invested. This form of early communication is useful for building a strong, positive employer brand.

Finally, when you use video interviews, you’re typically going to have a better chance of eliminating the applicants who aren’t really serious because they’re not usually going to respond to a video invite.

A few best practices for video interviews include:

• Choose a video vendor or platform that requires minimal equipment. You don’t want to turn off great talent because they need complicated equipment or need to go through a long registration process to participate in the interview. Keep it simple and straightforward.
• There are two main approaches you can take to the video interview. The first is to have candidates record an interview either giving a brief overview of themselves or answering questions you sent in advance. The second approach is to hold a live video interview. The first option is often best when you’re just beginning the screening process, whereas the second option is best for candidates who’ve already progressed pretty far along in the process. This type of live video interview can even replace the in-person interview in some instances.
• Make sure you’re not asking yes or no questions. Video interviews are really about getting an idea of cultural fit and personality, so keep this in mind when designing questions. For example, rather than just asking whether or not a candidate was fired from their last position, ask them to describe their relationship with their previous employer.
• Set expectations upfront. Don’t leave video interviewees guessing as to what the interview experience will be like. The goal isn’t necessarily to catch them off guard or ambush them but is to get a correct feel for what they’re like and how well they’d fit in your organization.
• Use video interviews to give candidates a picture of what your office is like. You may not have the time or budget to have every applicant come in for a tour, but videos can set the tone for your business and help applicants determine their own interest in your organization, which is a good way to find serious candidates and also reduce turnover.

Let us know your thoughts and how you currently or plan to use videos as part of your recruiting and interviewing strategies.

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