The End of the "Recruitment Video"
Internet technology and multi-media platforms have changed how film is used in recruitment communications
The End of the “Recruitment Video”
….As we know it.
The recruitment video used to be a wonderful thing. There would be an internal debate as to whose responsibility it is. Marketing would hear the word ‘video production’ and would get onto their contact at the production agency that recently did the TV ad for their latest product launch. They would come back and quote them thousands of pounds, a 40-man TV crew would turn up, Peter Purvis would present the overview to the company and introduce Molly in accounts and at some point down the line the tapes would be ready for distribution. If we were lucky there would have been some view as to who the target audience was – usually it was only graduates worthy of this scale of introduction to the company.
We live in a different world now. Online video has taken over and new channels of distribution have opened up alongside decreasing scale and cost of production. What this means for the future of film in the recruitment world is that we have to stop just talking about recruitment.
Employer branding films are going to thread throughout the employment lifecycle. A one-off recruitment video is not really a recruitment video at all – unless it is a call to action. Which means we will see the introduction and increasing use of filmed pieces that are used with a mix of bite-sized chunks, replacing traditional text pages to complement the higher-production employer branding films that position the organisation as an employer.
To illustrate, we recently worked on a campaign where we filmed extensively over a period of weeks. We wanted to work with the client to embrace film throughout the process from initial ‘touch’ through to application, the ‘keep-warm’ period, on-boarding, induction and internal engagement. Their suite of films now includes some that are used for recruitment campaigns directing the potential applicant to the application page as well more detailed film addressing specific questions as well as a film to demonstrate the ethos of their employer brand. We are also working with another organisation looking at how film is embraced consistently from recruitment to training so that it has the same tone, style and messages as their all their employee engagement work and representing a cost-saving in the process.
The filmed recruitment message is something we are also finding an increased appetite for as recruiters are realising that for the same cost as a bespoke creative advert produced by their agency they can have a short film highlighting the requirements of a particular role as well as showing visually aspects around the location and what the day-to-day involvement may look like. There’s a balance here – and some debate – as to the level of production that should be allowed for this. This is probably closest to the truest sense of a recruitment video in that it is something directly used for recruitment as opposed to a positioning as an employer.
In addition, we are also working on ‘MicroFilms’ which are highly transitory and disposable films that are used to drive traffic to other films and content along the candidate journey. With microblogging and technology that needs to be accessible quickly and easily on-the-move, this is a natural progression to the mix. As with all of these components they need to have the right fit and energy to sit with how the whole employer brand is positioned as a whole to get the desired reaction from the candidate.
Finally, think film rather than video. Video to me is a word routed in the past. Even with ‘online’ in front of it, it still makes me think of VHS tapes and clunky video machines. Films tell a story. If you really want interaction and engagement there has to be a story behind it. If many different people wrote the scenes to a film in isolation without knowing what the others were up to it wouldn’t be a very good story and no one would want to sit through it. When looking at embracing film, think of the big picture. Use the right people and the right tools and don’t forget to consider that a film needs to be viewed so the right level of support is required in this direction to. Treat it as a central way of doing things, not just as a one-off idea. There’s absolutely no reason not to.
http://workingfilms.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/recruitmentvideo/
