The 8 Best Recruitment Videos Ever Made (Statistically)
6 minute read
Posted by Chris Platts on 20 July 2020
There are a ton of great recruitment videos to inspire you. But which ones get the most traction with candidates?
Glad you asked.
We’ve compiled a list of the top 8 recruiting videos ever made by conducting hours of research and analysis into candidate reach, traction and mitigating for company size (see our Methodology below).
How mature is your hiring process?
There are lots of things that determine a successful recruitment strategy. Is it time to figure out where your weak spots are?
First, we researched all the best HR, Recruitment and Employer Branding websites and blog posts on recruitment videos we know of and made a long list of 66 recognised careers videos.
Some came from agency showreels, others from career sites and others from YouTube and Vimeo.
Next, the videos were ranked by view count, which was then aggregated by date created to create a views-per-month average. These “views per month” averages were then adjusted against the company’s employee headcount on LinkedIn to create an overall “video score.”
This helped us to identify not just the companies with the biggest reach but those who were punching above their weight. As you can see by the table below Google and Apple both crush it from a views per month basis, but when adjusted for headcount they fall below smaller companies.
The long list included 66 of the best recruiting videos we could find
The 8 best recruiting videos ever made
1. Hillsboro Police
Our Score: 9.40
Views: 192,599
Date Created: 16/08/2013
This video created by a small police force in Oregon shows that you don’t need a massive employer brand to make a hit hiring video. This humorous and lighthearted take on the day in the life of a police department really makes you stop and think about the people you work with. If you were in the police already, you’d probably want to work with the team at Hillsboro too.
BambooHR shows us what a true culture-related recruitment video is about. They buck the trend of the “results at all cost” zeitgeist of startup life, saying literally “, If you’re still working at 7pm, something is wrong”. It’s this candid, realistic approach to leaving work at work and coming home to loved ones that are felt in this upbeat and happy video.
3. Uship
Our Score: 2.67
Views: 37,678
Date Created: 11/06/2013
UShip gets a customer (Marc) to take you on a guided tour of their office, where humour, a meeting with the CEO, and a cool moustache come along for the journey. This fun and friendly video allows the team at uShip to be creative when they come on screen and oozes both customer and employee-centricity.
4. Insomniac Games
Our Score: 2.30
Views: 111,973
Date Created: 20/02/2008
Music videos are a high-risk strategy but this one (created back in 2008) manages to pull it off. In this video, we are on a guided tour led by Chris, lead guitarist and office coordinator. We like the pop-up facts about the company and their benefits throughout the catchy song.
5. Zappos
Our Score: 1.50
Views: 214838
Date Created: 27/09/2012
Again, another customer-first recruitment video (noticing a trend?).. with Chris from Wistia meeting Zappos employees and asking them about their experiences. Zappos is well known for spending much longer in their hiring process if it means they get the correct culture fit in their new candidate. As you’ll see from the video, culture is highly emphasised, and if you’re not having fun at your desk, something is very wrong.
6. Vimeo
Our Score: 1.46
Views: 118,000
Date Created: 21/08/2011
This unrehearsed (maybe), real-life video from the Vimeo office shows us a glimpse of the vibe on an average day. The whimsical and charming video host makes this video feel warm and inviting. It kind of feels like it’s your first day at work there.
7. Founders Brewing Co.
Our Score: 1.36
Views: 36,384
Date Created: 13/06/2012
It’s the authenticity that makes this video so impactful. They’re honest about their mistakes and vulnerable, which makes the content much more believable than most recruiting videos. The storyline focuses on the philosophy and purpose behind why they exist. Working in the beer industry means there’s “no glamour, but a lot of glory” to appeal to candidates who want to work on something they can be proud of.
8. Quirky
Our Score: 1.33
Views: 5,172
Date Created: 08/01/2014
We see a day in the life of an intern at Quirky. In this clever recruiting video, viewers explore the opportunities to move up the ranks with the goal of increasing their job application completion rates. Again it’s humorous, lighthearted and fun like most of the other videos on our list.
Top 3 most viewed recruitment videos of all time
Although they didn’t make our list of best, here’s an honourable mention to the most viewed recruitment videos of all time.
1. Google – Interns’ first week
Our Score: 0.63
Views: 11,137,983
Date Created: 04/06/2013
Unsurprisingly, Google takes the top spot most viewed by over 11 million views! Wow.
2. Apple – Recruiter Video
Our Score: 0.04
Views: 729,379
Date Created: 10/07/2012
Apple’s generic recruiting video is the 2nd most viewed of all time. Its low score was down to the fact it’s really old and due to its huge company size, of course.
3. Zendesk
Our Score: 0.80
Views: 341,508
Date Created: 16/05/2012
Kudos to Zendesk, they’ve beaten much bigger brands including McDonalds, Starbucks, Ford and KPMG by a country mile with this engaging video.
Employer branding beyond the recruiting video
Creating a recruitment video is a great way to communicate your EVP, attract top talent and enhance your employer brand.
The team at ThriveMap is on a mission to help companies create objective, fair, and effective hiring processes. As part of this, we want to give shout-outs to the companies creating authentic and engaging recruitment videos.
We hope our list was helpful. If you are interested in building real-life assessments to simultaneously communicate your job realities and measure candidate alignment to key role and culture requirements, we’d love to hear from you.
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About ThriveMap
ThriveMap creates customised assessments for high volume roles, which take candidates through an online “day in the life” experience of work in your company. Our assessments have been proven to reduce staff turnover, reduce time to hire, and improve quality of hire.
Not sure what type of assessment is right for your business? Read our guide.
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