If you’ve ever had the unfortunate experience of excepting a career position that you later regret, you know hard it can be to really understand, ahead of time, what it’s like to work somewhere.
The recruiter talked the place up, Glassdoor gave it four out of five stars, and everyone you met during your initial visit was very positive.
What went so horribly wrong?
Using Testimonials to Attract Talented Staff
Just in case you hadn’t noticed, we live in a post-truth world, folks.
That recruiter makes money every time she fills a position, stories about management forcing or incentivizing employees to leave positive online reviews are rampant, and everyone is familiar with the company Kool-Aid drinkers who are trotted out to tow the company line with potential recruits.
It’s caveat emptor when it comes to accepting a position with a new firm. And, everyone knows it.
So, given that people looking for career opportunities will always have to contend with a certain amount of perceived risk when evaluating new opportunities, what’s a great company like yours to do to attract the employees you want to hire?
Video Is the Most Effective Form of Social Proof
Given a choice between reading an employee testimonial and watching an employee video testimonial, job seekers with almost always choose the latter.
That’s because video testimonials are hard – or at least very expensive – to fake.
Video is the richest of all content types we have at our disposal. It’s extremely revealing and provides job seekers with much more information than a written testimonial ever can.
- How is the employee in this video dressed?
- Does she seem happy/excited about her job?
- Does he seem nervous? Has he been coached, perhaps?
- Is she the sort of person I would normally envision in this role?
These are all things that can’t be perceived from a written review or testimonial. That extra data is hard to fake, and serves as a powerful source of trust for the job seeker.
Your Employees Have a Story to Tell
It’s a mistake to think of employee video testimonials as just a fancy – and more expensive – version of the online review, or written testimonial. Employees should take advantage of the medium’s superior storytelling capabilities to add important context to why an employees likes working for you.
In telling your employees stories, your well advised to follow the time-tested Hero’s Journey story arc, which has been employed throughout time to help readers (or viewers) engage with the story’s central character. Everything from Homer’s Odyssey to Star Wars has effectively employed this technique.
I’ll leave it to you to read more about the use of the Hero’s Journey for creating effective testimonials. What’s important here is to know that job seekers want to hear how current employees ended up at your company, what they think of the culture there, how their career has been furthered, and what they hope to do in the future.
That’s what every job seeker wants to know. Why not provide them with that information?
Video Production for Employee Testimonials
So, how big a deal is it to produce video testimonials? The answer depends on how “professional” you want those testimonials to be.
Using a smart phone to capture your employees’ stories for distribution on social media is a simple, effective and inexpensive way to get their stories out there.
On the other hand, if you want to place employee testimonials on your corporate website, most employers want a more polished look.
Remember, your asking potential job candidates to spend time with your employees online, learning about their ambitions and experiences. That kind of storytelling usually requires a professional approach, and the ability to add production values commensurate with your corporate brand.
For employee video testimonials like this, it’s best to hire a video marketing agency.
Got a talented video marketing person on staff? That will probably work, too.
Regardless of you decide to produce your employee video testimonials, you’ll find that prospective employees will appreciate the effort you made to provide them with honest, contextually rich information on the benefits of working with you.
By reducing the perceived risk of accepting your employment offer, you’ll be more successful in getting the applicants you want to join your team of happy professionals.
