Weddington Way had a problem. As a small business in such a competitive hiring climate (the Bay Area), the problem they encountered was finding new, creative ways to stand out to candidates and attract top talent while also building their business.

Ongig worked directly with Weddington Way and their Head of Marketing & Operations to create video job description content, distribute it, and measure the results.

As a result, we got first-hand answers to key questions about using video job descriptions:

• What is the process for making an effective recruiting video?
• What benefits will be realized by investing time and resources?
• What are the true results one can expect from a recruiting video?

The Evidence: The Video That Helped Close A Top Candidate

Fast facts about the video:

• Length: 2:14 -- Learning: Keep it short, candidates taper off heavily at 90 seconds
• People: 2 featured employees -- Learning: Feature employees in the same department/position as the job opening and also a department leader (manager, director, or VP).
• Styling: Angled "off-camera" during video interview -- Learning: By looking at the interviewer, she felt more natural than looking directly into the camera.
• Time Of Filming: Mid-afternoon -- Learning: maximize proper daylight for natural image capture.
• Production Quality: 3.5/5 -- Learning: Give up a little production value to capture authenticity.

The Process: Filming, Editing, Distributing & Cost of The Video

When people hear video, they immediately think "expensive and difficult". This may have been true a few years back, but now, tools to make a good video are more affordable than ever. Here's the rundown on the time and expenses for the Weddington Way project:

• Time: 3 hours total (1 hour to film, 2 hours to edit)
• Camera: Canon T3i ($600 on Amazon.com)
• Tripod: Sunpak Platinum Plus ($80 at Best Buy)
• Microphone: Nikon ME-1 ($129 on Amazon.com)
• Editing: Final Cut Pro X (iMovie is pre-loaded on Mac for free, and easy to use)
• Training: YouTube (Everything you need to know about editing is there)

Candidates have expressed that they want to see a video that is "authentic" not a "commercial", this lends itself to lower cost in producing. In Weddington Way's case it was 3 hours and $800. This investment will continue to pay off as the tools listed above are a one-time purchase and experience gained making the first few videos will make production more efficient.

If you don\'t want to do it in-house, you should be able to get this work done for well under $1,000 per video. There are plenty of video production companies and/or videographers if you look in places like Craigslist. All of this said, what benefits did Weddington Way experience in doing the recruiting video?

The Benefits: How The Video Performed

There were 4 key benefits outlined by VP of Marketing, and top candidate Kelly Jandro (hired as Marketing Analyst at Weddington Way):

1. Video and pictures made the job description easier to find (SEO Optimization).

Kelly Jandro was a top candidate looking for a new opportunity in a company that would be a departure from previous roles. She wanted something more creative within a startup, a position where she could help shape the direction of a company.

Kelly used traditional job search tools such as LinkedIn and Indeed when searching for these opportunities. She also decided to search Google for companies that might fit the bill. She ran searches on Google such as "Marketing San Francisco Startups" that pointed her in the direction of specific companies that could be a good fit for her. Google search results with images and/or videos tended to attract her attention more than those without, they also tended to rank higher in Google search position. Thus, Weddington Way was one that attracted her attention.

Conclusion: Candidates searching Google for company information are more likely to click on a result featuring an image or video.

2. Engaged Candidates Made Recruiting More Efficient

The VP of Marketing outlined the fact that candidates coming in understood:

• The skills required for the job
• Her management style
• The company culture at Weddington Way

According to her, the end result was that the recruiting video "made my life much easier".

Conclusion: Verified by the VP of Marketing candidates who viewed the recruiting video "knew more than any of the other candidates who came in to interview.”

3. Candidates Used The Video To Better Prepare For The Interview

While the recruiting video helped Kelly during the search phase, it did not stop there. "Once I got contacted for the interview I went back to watch the video again", Kelly told us. She went back because she wanted to be better prepared for the interview. There were a few specific items that she was looking for:

• Knowing the main subjects/skills to focus on
• Getting a sense of what it would be like to work for Weddington Way
• Putting together a list of relevant questions to ask in the interview

Conclusion: Kelly said there were "no surprises" when she came to Weddington Way's office. "It was about what I expected, and that made it a more comfortable situation.”

4. The On-Boarding Process Started When The Top Candidate Applied

In most companies, the on-boarding process is an ad-hoc process. One item we learned during our conversation at Weddington Way is that the on-boarding process was assisted by the recruiting video.

On the employer side she told us that: "Kelly was on-boarded much faster than other candidates because she already understood the culture".

On the candidate side, Kelly adds "Coming here, it's been exactly what I thought it would be". This is an interesting byproduct that we did not expect.

An understanding of the role, responsibilities, and culture made for a more productive team member in a much shorter period of time. This lends credibility to recruiting videos that are honest and authentic, versus the "blow up your competitor" video. They may not be as exciting, but reality and transparency is what candidates are searching for.

The Numbers

Key metrics on the video's impact:

• Views from Google: 231
• Average time on page: 5:14
• Qualified Candidate Rate: 43.4%
• Total number of clicks on apply: 23
• Number of candidates interviewed (from recruiting video): 10

The result that matters most.....Weddington Way hired an A-player for their Marketing team!