The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc with businesses, educational institutions, hospitals….really just about any place that depends on maintaining a large number of employees, students or volunteers. Whether it’s in spite of or because of the pandemic, many of these places now find themselves needing to increase their recruitment efforts. But how do you do that at a time when it’s difficult for your prospects (or recruiters) to travel to another city or country, and large recruitment fairs and annual conferences have all been canceled?
Video has always been a great recruitment tool, but now it has suddenly become the primary means, and perhaps the best. I’m not talking about a video conference call via Zoom or other software (although those are certainly useful tools for long-distance interviews and inquiries). Instead, a short, well-produced video can help you find and capture candidates for your open slots without them ever setting foot in your door!
Here are a few quick tips for planning a successful recruitment video:
- Show them what they can’t otherwise see right now. Take them on a virtual tour to show off the best parts of your facilities. Sure, you could walk around with a smartphone while on a live Zoom call, but is that really how you want a candidate to experience your place for the first time? Better to plan a production that may need to include things like professional lighting and carefully-staged scenes to show your operation at its best. If your building(s) are mostly empty now, focus less on panoramic shots and more on smaller areas where people are present or interesting features (equipment, architecture, furnishings) can pique a viewer’s interest.
- Let them hear from others like them. If your phone conversation or Zoom is one-on-one, it won’t give your candidate much of a sense of what their day-to-day experience would be like among others in your organization. So record on-camera interviews with their would-be colleagues. If you’re recruiting residents for a hospital, let them hear from current or former residents. If you’re trying to persuade parents to enroll their children in your school, they’ll certainly want to see and hear teachers, students, other parents and/or alumni. Seeing/hearing testimonials from their peers and similar “stakeholders” can be much more compelling than hearing the expected rosy remarks from recruiters and executives.
- Take them outside of your “bubble”. Only part of their day will be spent at the workplace or school. What will the rest of their day (and night) be like? They’ll want to know what it’s like to live and play in your city or neighborhood. For many people, that’s equally, if not more, important. So use video to show them what the neighboring surroundings are like. Make sure your production company has pre-pandemic footage of nearby restaurants, attractions, playgrounds, or whatever would make the biggest impression on your target audience.
And don’t forget to show them what may be some of the most vital visuals right now—what you’re doing to prevent the spread of the virus. Is everyone wearing a mask? Can we show shots of areas being cleaned and sanitized? A shot of someone taking another person’s temperature?
A video can make a powerful impact when it comes to recruiting. Get in touch with us today at info@runningpony.com and we’ll show you how!
