Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
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Video Job Description
When it comes to catching and holding attention, there’s no debate: video is king. If your goal is to get an open position in front of the right people, leave plain text in the past and reach further in the most engaging way with a video job description. Here’s where to start.
What Is a Video Job Description?
A video job description is a quick, succinct video that outlines a specific role a company is looking to fill and the mission of the company itself. It can be a valuable and effective recruitment tool if used strategically. A well-rounded video job description covers the same points as a traditional job posting, such as qualification requirements, job responsibilities, company overview, etc.
What Are the Benefits of Video Job Descriptions?
Video job descriptions include everything a traditional job description includes, plus the added benefits of being:
- Attention-grabbing. When comparing video to plain text, there’s no competition. The human eye is drawn to movement, light, and color, while video has the advantage of having all three (plus sound).
- Able to reach a larger audience. According to this study, people are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content, including social media posts, blog posts/articles, and product pages. Your video job description has a better chance of being shared than a traditional plain text job description.
- More memorable. As a person absorbs data, the more senses that are being stimulated, the more areas of the brain become active. In other words, because video utilizes both visual and auditory stimuli, it engages more of the brain, making the information more memorable than if the same information was presented via plain text.
- Effective in conveying the company’s mission and showcasing the workplace. Video has a way of portraying information in a more emotionally engaging and efficient way than text. If a video is done well, it can truly capture the essence of the company vision and show all the perks of the campus. This ultimately drives desire and “sells” the potential candidate, influencing their decision to apply.
Where to Use Video Job Descriptions
Part of what makes video job descriptions so unique is their versatility. A traditional job posting has only a handful of possible places to be posted, but a video can be posted, uploaded, shared, liked, become a paid ad, and so much more.
YouTube
Perhaps the most versatile location of them all, YouTube is a fantastic place to start. Once a video is uploaded to this platform, you are given the option to embed the video on other websites. This saves you the time and effort involved in uploading the video to multiple sites manually. Additionally, YouTube is a well-respected video platform that enables higher-quality uploads in comparison to its competitors, boasting resolutions far higher than most household computers can handle.
Company’s Social Media
For the sake of time and video quality, embedding may be the best option for posting your video on social media. However you choose to share a video, posting it on your company’s social media page is an excellent way to increase its reach in a no-pressure, socially inclusive environment. Even if your ideal candidate is currently employed at a different company and isn’t looking for work, they will watch a video. If it’s an engaging video, it will make an impression. Down the road when they are looking for work, your company will already be a desirable option in their mind. Whoever sees your video, if not a possible candidate themselves, may know someone who is. Utilizing social connections in this way can be a highly effective way to get the job description in front of quality candidates.
Paid Job Posting/Advertisement
On media hosting sites and beyond, many websites offer paid advertisements. Creating an advertisement can be as simple as taking an eye-catching excerpt from your video job description and linking it to your company page with the full video and application information. Strategically speaking, if this is a route you wish to go, think of your dream candidate for the open position. What websites would they spend time on? For example, are you looking for a social media manager? Social media platforms offer paid ads. Web developer? There are many popular coding and web-design forums those with such skills are likely to frequent. Paid intern? Purchasing advertisements on college websites might be a great place to start. It’s also worth noting that doing so through an advertising firm might be most effective for traffic and cost overall, as they can offer to post your ad on multiple sites for one set fee.
Job Boards
Traditional job boards are still effective, as they attract those who are actively and currently seeking employment. You’ll have the motivation of the candidate as your advantage if you go this route. Nothing makes a traditional job posting stand out more than a high-quality video providing all the information a potential applicant needs without having to read a lengthy plain-text description.
Best Practices to Craft Video Job Descriptions
When it comes to this form of job description, there’s not a particularly wrong way to do it, as long as it has all of the needed information and remains professional in demeanor.
Ensure Information Is Complete and Accurate
A quality video job description includes all the information a traditional job posting does. It should cover the mission of the company and give an impression of the culture and work environment.
Avoid Overkill and Underkill
A video job description doesn’t have to include drone footage and professional cinematics. Scale the video quality to the type of position you are hiring for and the number of positions you are looking to fill. Yes, it may be in your best interest to pull out all the stops if you are making this video with the goal of filling a top position or hiring 100 new data entry clerks, but it may be unnecessarily expensive and time-consuming to do so if you’re looking to hire a handful of new employees for entry-level positions. For those smaller-scale hiring needs, it may be more appropriate to make a more intimate video with your smartphone, including some shots of the campus and you in your office discussing the needs of the position and culture of the company. Use your best judgment when deciding what investment makes sense for your hiring needs.
Practice Professionalism
This can differ in level depending on the industry and culture of your company. If your company manufactures surf boards, your job description video will likely look much different than if your company is a homeless outreach. Take care to represent your company accurately and professionally, and remember that production quality counts. Today's audience expects pro-level video.
Be Efficient
If you expect to make video job descriptions regularly, it pays to be strategic in production. Hire a professional to film and edit the company mission, culture, and work environment segments (which are applicable to every position) to use at the start of every video you create. This strategically saves cost overall and increases the quality of every job description video you post.
Capture Company Mission and Personality
The qualifications and responsibilities of a role you’re looking to fill are important aspects of a video job description, but these things are not the hook. The hook is your company. Consider these statistics:
- When searching for a new job, 77% of respondents say they consider a company’s culture before applying.
- American millennials are more likely to care more about work culture than salary (65%) than those age 45 and older (52%).
- 89% of adults polled told researchers that it was important for employers to “have a clear mission and purpose.”
More important than the level of the position, salary, or location, your company’s culture and mission is a critical deciding factor for your potential candidates. Make these points clear and appealing in your video job description.
Topics
Kayla Farber
Kayla is the Chief Innovation Officer at Hero Culture, where the passion is to create company cultures of retention using the power of personality.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
Video Job Description
When it comes to catching and holding attention, there’s no debate: video is king. If your goal is to get an open position in front of the right people, leave plain text in the past and reach further in the most engaging way with a video job description. Here’s where to start.
What Is a Video Job Description?
A video job description is a quick, succinct video that outlines a specific role a company is looking to fill and the mission of the company itself. It can be a valuable and effective recruitment tool if used strategically. A well-rounded video job description covers the same points as a traditional job posting, such as qualification requirements, job responsibilities, company overview, etc.
What Are the Benefits of Video Job Descriptions?
Video job descriptions include everything a traditional job description includes, plus the added benefits of being:
- Attention-grabbing. When comparing video to plain text, there’s no competition. The human eye is drawn to movement, light, and color, while video has the advantage of having all three (plus sound).
- Able to reach a larger audience. According to this study, people are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content, including social media posts, blog posts/articles, and product pages. Your video job description has a better chance of being shared than a traditional plain text job description.
- More memorable. As a person absorbs data, the more senses that are being stimulated, the more areas of the brain become active. In other words, because video utilizes both visual and auditory stimuli, it engages more of the brain, making the information more memorable than if the same information was presented via plain text.
- Effective in conveying the company’s mission and showcasing the workplace. Video has a way of portraying information in a more emotionally engaging and efficient way than text. If a video is done well, it can truly capture the essence of the company vision and show all the perks of the campus. This ultimately drives desire and “sells” the potential candidate, influencing their decision to apply.
Where to Use Video Job Descriptions
Part of what makes video job descriptions so unique is their versatility. A traditional job posting has only a handful of possible places to be posted, but a video can be posted, uploaded, shared, liked, become a paid ad, and so much more.
YouTube
Perhaps the most versatile location of them all, YouTube is a fantastic place to start. Once a video is uploaded to this platform, you are given the option to embed the video on other websites. This saves you the time and effort involved in uploading the video to multiple sites manually. Additionally, YouTube is a well-respected video platform that enables higher-quality uploads in comparison to its competitors, boasting resolutions far higher than most household computers can handle.
Company’s Social Media
For the sake of time and video quality, embedding may be the best option for posting your video on social media. However you choose to share a video, posting it on your company’s social media page is an excellent way to increase its reach in a no-pressure, socially inclusive environment. Even if your ideal candidate is currently employed at a different company and isn’t looking for work, they will watch a video. If it’s an engaging video, it will make an impression. Down the road when they are looking for work, your company will already be a desirable option in their mind. Whoever sees your video, if not a possible candidate themselves, may know someone who is. Utilizing social connections in this way can be a highly effective way to get the job description in front of quality candidates.
Paid Job Posting/Advertisement
On media hosting sites and beyond, many websites offer paid advertisements. Creating an advertisement can be as simple as taking an eye-catching excerpt from your video job description and linking it to your company page with the full video and application information. Strategically speaking, if this is a route you wish to go, think of your dream candidate for the open position. What websites would they spend time on? For example, are you looking for a social media manager? Social media platforms offer paid ads. Web developer? There are many popular coding and web-design forums those with such skills are likely to frequent. Paid intern? Purchasing advertisements on college websites might be a great place to start. It’s also worth noting that doing so through an advertising firm might be most effective for traffic and cost overall, as they can offer to post your ad on multiple sites for one set fee.
Job Boards
Traditional job boards are still effective, as they attract those who are actively and currently seeking employment. You’ll have the motivation of the candidate as your advantage if you go this route. Nothing makes a traditional job posting stand out more than a high-quality video providing all the information a potential applicant needs without having to read a lengthy plain-text description.
Best Practices to Craft Video Job Descriptions
When it comes to this form of job description, there’s not a particularly wrong way to do it, as long as it has all of the needed information and remains professional in demeanor.
Ensure Information Is Complete and Accurate
A quality video job description includes all the information a traditional job posting does. It should cover the mission of the company and give an impression of the culture and work environment.
Avoid Overkill and Underkill
A video job description doesn’t have to include drone footage and professional cinematics. Scale the video quality to the type of position you are hiring for and the number of positions you are looking to fill. Yes, it may be in your best interest to pull out all the stops if you are making this video with the goal of filling a top position or hiring 100 new data entry clerks, but it may be unnecessarily expensive and time-consuming to do so if you’re looking to hire a handful of new employees for entry-level positions. For those smaller-scale hiring needs, it may be more appropriate to make a more intimate video with your smartphone, including some shots of the campus and you in your office discussing the needs of the position and culture of the company. Use your best judgment when deciding what investment makes sense for your hiring needs.
Practice Professionalism
This can differ in level depending on the industry and culture of your company. If your company manufactures surf boards, your job description video will likely look much different than if your company is a homeless outreach. Take care to represent your company accurately and professionally, and remember that production quality counts. Today's audience expects pro-level video.
Be Efficient
If you expect to make video job descriptions regularly, it pays to be strategic in production. Hire a professional to film and edit the company mission, culture, and work environment segments (which are applicable to every position) to use at the start of every video you create. This strategically saves cost overall and increases the quality of every job description video you post.
Capture Company Mission and Personality
The qualifications and responsibilities of a role you’re looking to fill are important aspects of a video job description, but these things are not the hook. The hook is your company. Consider these statistics:
- When searching for a new job, 77% of respondents say they consider a company’s culture before applying.
- American millennials are more likely to care more about work culture than salary (65%) than those age 45 and older (52%).
- 89% of adults polled told researchers that it was important for employers to “have a clear mission and purpose.”
More important than the level of the position, salary, or location, your company’s culture and mission is a critical deciding factor for your potential candidates. Make these points clear and appealing in your video job description.
Topics
Kayla Farber
Kayla is the Chief Innovation Officer at Hero Culture, where the passion is to create company cultures of retention using the power of personality.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
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