The first time I tried to make a video job ad was a disaster. I brought in fancy equipment that I didn’t know how to use, wasted an entire day, and ended up with no usable footage!
But I am glad I did it because now I can tell you what not to do.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, video job ads are a great way to get more candidates interested in your jobs. That is if your video is watchable. We made a video about how to make good video job ads a few weeks back. This week we wanted to list the common pitfalls to watch out for.
- Bad Audio: I’ve talked with a few people in the media business and the first thing they said was it doesn’t matter how crispy your video is if your audio is bad then no one will watch it. The good news is, for video job ads, a cheap lavalier/lapel microphone* is all you need.
- Bad Lighting: I was lucky enough to borrow some lighting equipment so I could shoot multiple videos on the same day, but if you have a window then you have all you need. Just make sure your subject does not have their back to the window. Remember: you’re better off overexposing than underexposing.
- Wrong Employee: First and foremost you want to choose an employee who can articulate the role clearly, but the end result will be more watchable if they have a lot of energy. In my experience, if someone’s energy is a ten in person then it appears as an eight on video. That means if you need someone to have good energy! Pro tip: spend the first ten minutes making the person feel comfortable and save your best questions for last.
- Not Testing: Don’t expect that everything will go perfect the first time. Too many things can go wrong and trust me, they will go wrong! It’s best to run through things a few times before you ask someone to take time out of your day.
- Too Long: It’s amazing how much information you can share in just a matter of seconds. You don’t want to make your videos too long because it’s competing with all sorts of competing for information being thrown at them. Keep it short and sweet!
Video can be uncomfortable at first but if you dedicate some time to learning the process it can make a dramatic impact on the quality and volume of candidates that become interested in your job openings. Go give it a shot, just be sure to avoid these common pitfalls.
Have questions? Want to talk about video job ads? Shoot me an email at [email protected]
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