Employer videos, or video job advertisements, are popping up all over the Web from YouTube and Facebook to the company Web sites themselves.  And depending on the type of firm and its willingness to be cutting-edge, these videos are often really entertaining and attract candidates by standing out from a crowd of potential employers with jargon-filled job descriptions that all sound exactly the same.  For example, I just learned of this example from Ben Yoskovitz at the Instigator Blog.  A guy by the name of Austin Hill is looking to hire people for his new startup company, dubbed “Project Ojibwe.” Instead of just boring with you with a laundry list of the qualifications needed for the job, Austin filmed a video job ad to illustrate what he’s looking for.

Video job ads are, of course, way more expensive and time-consuming to produce than the standard online job portal fare.  And because of the messages they deliver, they probably require input not just from the HR department, but from marketing and communications staff as well.  But in the end, they may be much more successful in generating the right sort of applicants because the buzz they generate online secures the attention of top talent – people who aren’t actively looking for a new job and therefore won’t waste their time surfing job portals, but would be motivated to download an amusing or clever video from YouTube.  I imagine that this means of recruiting would be especially effective for the highly desirable group of twenty-something candidates, who view online videos as a matter of everyday practice and are more concerned with learning about the culture of an organization before agreeing to come on board.

If you’ve produced a video job ad recently, I’m curious – what were the results?  If you’ve seen one – what did you think?  Did it effectively provide a flavor for the company and leave you thinking that it would be a really cool place to work?