Today’s post is brought to us courtesy of Bonnie Ungaro, when she isn’t reading awesome HR blogs she is a recruiter in the greater Chicago area. I’m happy to feature her recruiting advice here about every other month (check out her last post here). You can connect with her on Twitter: @bonnieungaro or LinkedIn.

Does your company have a recruitment video? If not, now is the time. Video is a big part   of our culture and the way we communicate. Showcasing your company through an exceptionally well-done recruitment video will aid in attracting talent to your organization. Below are a couple points to consider when planning your recruitment video project.

Know Your Employer Brand: It starts with understanding the mission, vision, values and culture and then delves deeper into what employees really think about working for your company. What is it like to work for Company ABC on a daily basis? What are the people like? The responsibilities? The leadership? The atmosphere? This information will provide your team with the direction needed to find the right video production company.

Draft a project plan. Meet with the project team; identify your goals and what you’re seeking to accomplishment with the recruitment video. Draft a project plan prior to meeting with video companies to ensure your team knows the right questions to ask in determine the best match video production company. Find recruitment videos online, view as many as you can. This will help you identify what your team likes and does not like. Here is a great post from Blogging4Jobs: 12 Best and Most Ridiculous Employer Brand and Recruitment Videos. 

Research video production companies: Start with your marketing department and/or any other internal business partners that have created videos. Additionally, reach out to your external professional network(s). You’ll want to know their experience with the company and the outcomes. This could be one of the more critical parts of the projects. It’s important to find a trusted company that focuses on quality and their customers.

Meeting with the video production companies: View their work. Ask to speak with their former or current customers. The key here is to find the video production company that understands your business needs and expectations. They should understand the emotional connection you are looking to make with the audience..

 Select the people: Your team will need to scope your company for dynamic, passionate people that have compelling stories to share about their experience with your company. Selecting employee talent from all areas and all levels is also important to consider. When you select the right people the video will come alive and really speak to your audience, which is exactly what you want.

Editing. The video production company you work with should allow you to be involved in the editing process. The product of this process will be something your company will use to attract top talent, so it’s critical the video exceeds your expectations. Your team may want to identify some “outsiders” friends and family for test viewing and feedback. Editing is a very important element in the video production process so don’t think your work is done in this stage of the process.

The ability to showcase your employer brand in different channels is an important element to your recruitment strategy. Selling your company culture through real employees with real stories creates a genuine connection with people. Candidates want an “insiders” view on a company. They want to know “what is it really like to work for Company ABC?” Video is a window into the real life of the company. So start planning your winning recruitment video project today and show potential candidates the stuff they want to see!