5x more job candidates thanks to video
October 1st, 2007
“Just don’t tell anyone about what we’re doing.”
This is how a recent conversation with senior VP Chad Peddycord of MRI Indianapolis almost ended. Fortunately, I was able to get approval to share the following information after a little arm-twisting and pleading.
Earlier this summer, the organization jumped headfirst into video. JobCentral’s Chad Sowash had a post highlighting the initiative and the redesign. As part of the strategy, MRI is aggressively promoting videos in their job board postings.
According to Peddycord, the first thing they did, which he believes is responsible for approximately 25 percent more views of the opportunities, was highlighting the videos in job listings:
Then they add a link to the video for each job in the job description. Apparently, many boards are against embedding a video within the posting, a la YouTube, so a link is necessary. Each video is unique, because it describes each job opening as opposed to giving a general employment branding message. Comments can be added as well.
According to Peddycord, since adding the video text and links to their postings, they’ve received up to five times more applicants when compared to traditional text-only postings. Specifically, this translates into 7 percent vs. 22 percent. Moreover, the applicants are described as being of better quality overall.
In addition to more candidates, the Web site’s overall traffic has increased and time spent on the site has doubled. Another interesting tidbit: The firm uses Blip.tv over services like YouTube, because while the big video sites tend to be blocked by corporate Web properties, the lesser knowns get through. This way, recruiters can reach candidates at work instead of waiting for them to get home to view an employment video.
Clever.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:56 pm
a picture is worth 1k words
how many words is a moving picture worth?
ps. am i going to see you at ere washdc joel?
cheers,
Jer
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Yep, I’ll be at ERE.
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I’ve known Chad for years and if he says something works, you can take it to the bank.
Interesting- who makes the vids and what are the production qualities ? I wonder if Chad’s customers are involved and to what extent ?
October 24th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Sony Ericsson’s job videos have been up for a little over a month now. I have been very happy with the results. We have seen a significant increase in the applicants for our jobs. I have a small budget for posting so I typically only run 5-10 ads at one time. The average yield for the job ads was about 10 applicants a day. Of the 10 usually only one would match the tight scope of criteria for the job. Since I started to use video I am now seeing an average of 30 applicants a day. The quality has been maintained. I now see three good applicants each day instead of 1.
Vcruit is the vendor I used to create the video. Check out our Video Jukebox. http://www.vcruit.com/se/se_player.html
Vcruit was able to give me a few statistics for the videos. The number of applicants I receive is a very close match to the number of viewers of the video. That means if the applicant watches the video they are very likely to apply for the job. This confirms one of the primary research points that led me to try on-line video. People who watch video are more inclined (57%) to take action then other forms of online media. Another point of interest is that most people are watching the video to its completion. Their interest is maintained though the whole clip. We decided to take the advice of Vcruit to keep the videos short and it’s paid off.
Most people who have given me feedback on the videos want to see more of the people side of Sony Ericsson. I’m working on that right now. It’s a bit tricky because I don’t want to drag a production crew through the building.
I am sure job video’s are here to stay and will really become the standard quickly. They are much more engaging and enjoyable then reading the typical job posting you see on-line. This is the very beginning of the candidate experience. The video is helping us start off on the right foot.
Thanks,
Bill Opal
May 16th, 2008 at 4:40 am
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