How to Sell Your Job Ad with Video
Fifty-three percent of respondents to a recent survey from OfficeTeam and the International Association of Administrative Professionals say having an accurate job description is important, and 55 percent say they do something outside the confines of the description for the job for which they were hired.
It may not be that what you, as an employer, are putting in your job ad is inaccurate, per se — it’s more that the description just doesn’t feel right. The ad tells readers about all of the basic tasks of the job, but it doesn’t capture what the job is like on a day-to-day basis, and it doesn’t capture the company culture. If you want to punch up your job ad, consider making your job description a better reflection of what you want by adding video.
Video Job Ads Capture Your Company Better
Accuracy is one of the most important aspects of a job description, and it’s also one of the most common challenges companies run into in the job market when recruiting talent. Twenty-four percent of marketing and advertising executives say that describing the actual duties of a job is one of the biggest problems in creating a job description. Another 24 percent say they have issues identifying which skills are absolutely required to perform the job and which skills are simply nice to have. Twenty-eight percent say that it’s also difficult to properly convey the necessary interpersonal skills one would need to perform the job well.
A well-crafted video description fixes many of these problems. You want to capture someone’s attention with your description: applicants spend an average of 50 seconds on a job ad, and 72 seconds if they’re actually interested in applying. Most job descriptions are bland and nothing to write home about, but they don’t have to be. Just take a look at this job ad for a hiring manager at NPR. It certainly got people talking.
Instead of writing up a list of what you want from a worker, use a video interview to get more eyes on the job. Interview your employees about what they do at their jobs, what a day is like at your company, and the kinds of projects they’ve worked on in the past. Chances are that all these descriptions straight from your real workers — on top of a lively rundown of the job’s duties — will give potential candidates a better idea of what they’ll be doing at your company. Moreover, making your workers a part of the description will give candidates a better idea of what the culture of your company is like.
Your Job Is a Product — Sell It!
Video job ads are the future, no doubt about it: people are 78 percent more likely to check out a job if there’s a video description for it. In getting more people to look at the job, you have to think of your job as a product you’re selling. The more people see it, the more likely they are to buy it. Not only will more eyes see your job, people will also think better of your brand if there’s a video to see: 52 percent of survey respondents say they’re more confident in a product after watching a video on it; 65 percent of them will visit a website for a product they’ve seen in a video; and 43 percent are more likely to pick the product with the higher video quality.
If you think of your job ad as a product you’re trying to sell, these stats should tell you something: video is fundamental to building your brand, and if your jobs are your brand, that means it’s vital that you get a video description for your job up pronto.