What can I say? If I were looking for a job, Jive Software would be on my application list. I love the concept of sharing what the company has to offer in such fun, informative, and collective way. Whether it is a slice of apple pie, or a large Apple monitor, Jive seems to give employees what they love. How can we learn from companies like Jive that treat recruiting as a marketing process? Well, as InfoTrust is constantly hiring, we decided to give a recruitment video a shot and by using web traffic tracking with google analytics, we see it was a success. Check that out here.
First, I have a small disclaimer to make. I am in no way associated with Jive Software, and I am taking a moment to profile them in this post simply because I admire the work that they do.
Creating such videos is nothing new. For the past few years, primarily larger companies have been creating similar videos to highlight the company culture. Today, however, it is easy and cheap to create similar videos and have fun with them. However, I would even take it to another level. Why not create a video not just about the company culture, but about a specific job opening.
Here is how it would look:
- 30 second company description
- 30 second description of the job duties
- 1 minute interviewing people who will be working with a new employee about the job
- 1 minute talking to various employees about the company culture
Here is my quick break down of why it is important:
- A one page job description on a company website is not enough to attract passive job seekers. People who are carefully choosing where they will work next want to see the environment, want to talk to potentially new coworkers, and want a peek at the company culture.
- Do not let an HR person or a professional recruiter do the job themselves. Just like selling your products and services, you are selling your company to job-seekers. In order to attract quality candidates you have to work hard on your HR Brand. Happy employees attract new employees.
- It raises employee morale and gets their buy-in. You want your employees to feel engaged and connected.
- It is CHEAP. Do not do it because it is cheap, but do it because it is good for your company, and it will not take a lot of resources. Jive video doesn’t seem to be recorded using high-end equipment, and chances are you could use an iPhone 3Gs or a Flip Video Camcorder. I would recommend keeping such videos under 3 minutes, but you can create videos on various topics – meet our IT Team, meet our Marketing Team and meet our Sales Force.
- You can spread the word about your company using such videos. Do not just place videos on your site; put them on video sharing sites, and please send them to me. I am always interested in profiling companies that are innovative in their approaches.
It wold be interesting if after creating a video job description, companies would ask job seekers to reply with videos rather than with cover letters. This would certainly lower the number of applicants, and perhaps only the ones who are most motivated will apply. In that case, I would recommend that a company distributes applicants’ videos to their employees to get their constructive and objective feedback. This way everyone plays a part in finding the best candidate for the job.
