Recruiting Meets Digital Storytelling

When it comes to recruiting and hiring, we know one thing to be true: interviewing can make or break a candidate. Maybe there really is a lack of experience, skill-related issue not easily determined by scanning a resume or simply heavy competition, but typically, if they’re good enough to be brought in, the job is theirs to win – or lose. Enter the valuable skill of storytelling especially storytelling that’s digital.  You know, online.

Of course, storytelling is not just for job seekers, but for individual recruiters and entire companies, too. Just as a candidate must be able to tell his/her story to prove value and worth to an organization, companies must do the same to attract job seekers and recruiters to connect with target talent during the initial screening process. So how can you tell your company stories without droning on through heavy blocks of text or drawn out interviews? Technology makes it easy.

4 Outlets for Telling Your Company Stories and Showcasing Employer Brand

1. Eye-Catching Images. If a picture is worth a thousand words, consider the value of a full album on Facebook or a platform dedicated entirely to photos, like Instagram. Using visuals to tell your company stories is not only a great way to attract candidates up front, it’s also a perfect opportunity to engage them on a regular basis without taking up too much of their time with chunks of text. Additionally, the popularity of image-based tools and platforms makes it possible to incorporate user-generated content into your own campaigns – whether from current employees or hopeful job seekers.

2. Recruitment Video. What better way to tell a story than face-to-face with your potential candidates? Unfortunately, that’s not really an option in the attraction stage, but almost just as good (if not better) is an insightful recruitment video that makes it possible to reach job seekers before they’ve even considered applying. Instead of listening to stories about your employer brand and company culture from a single hiring manager, video makes it easy to showcase a variety of things, from your unique office environment to the community service project your team participated in last quarter. And if your careers site is optimized for mobile, job seekers can browse and enjoy on the go with recruitment video.

3. Socially Shared Content. Obviously all of the above-mentioned ideas can (and should) be shared via social recruiting channels, but this includes all other content. Whether it’s a news article featuring insights from one of your top execs or short blurbs from your team members expressing what they love about their jobs, crafting the perfect story that engages readers is key. Don’t spend too much time telling job seekers what you’re about; show them with vivid imagery and concise language that makes them feel like they already work there.

4. Job Advertisements and Branding. Many recruitment ads are moving away from direct-response and toward employer branding and company story telling. Whether it’s a posting on a job board or purchasing a display advertisement on a site relevant to your target candidates, use the space to get creative. This outlet is listed last because it’s a perfect space to make use of all three options above. It’s now easier than ever to host your recruitment video in a variety of places, use images to create banner ads and include interesting copy about your culture and people.

The Art of Corporate Storytelling

While the four options outlined are fantastic for grabbing the attention of active and passive job seekers alike, there are still other aspects you must consider – like which stories you want to highlight, what your employee value proposition is, the tone you’re going to use to convey these messages and so on. Your corporate storytelling and employer branding strategy is not something that can be perfected overnight, but it is a critical piece of your recruitment marketing strategy and worth your time to improve upon.

How do you tell your company’s story, and which outlets have proven most effective? Get the conversation started below.