Video Everywhere: Crafting User-Generated Content to Connect with Talent

How can organizations best leverage video to stand out among job candidates, especially since its use has accelerated during the pandemic?

Yair Leshem, VP Platform Sales at Kaltura, a leading video platform company that provides customers with the tools to create, store, publish and deliver video, joined us on Talent Experience Live to explore what it means to have video literally all around us. Leshem shared insights on how HR and recruiters can optimize their video strategy to attract and engage best-fit talent.

What were the most popular pre-pandemic use cases for video?

All the established use cases for video, such as learning, training, testing, sales, marketing and commerce, are still here, and the pandemic has created a sharp spike in demand.

What is the quality standard for user-generated video content?

A decade ago, quality was a top concern, Leshem said. Production is no longer a challenge. High-quality video capabilities are built right into your mobile phone and laptop.

“People expect to see good quality,” he said, "so that’s no longer the differentiating factor," Leshem said. Now, it’s up to content – and content has to be interesting and relevant to the viewer. “Quality is just the wrapper around the content,” Leshem said.

What really matters? Video that’s authentic rather than over-produced. When it comes to showcasing your organization and employer brand, an overly polished end result may not resonate as well as raw footage that provides a day-in-the-life feel rather than a staged view of your organization and people.

How have the events of 2020 changed the way companies use video?

Going online was the only option for moving forward, Leshem said, so Kaltura saw a sharp increase in clients seeking solutions to help them quickly pivot from face-to-face to video interaction for pretty much everything – meetings, training, events, team collaboration, coaching.

Did this unlock any new features or innovation and creativity in how you saw companies using video?

Companies have turned to video to showcase culture. The pandemic has stripped away the amenities of office life so that the bare bones of a company – its people – are in focus. And that’s really what defines culture in the first place, Leshem pointed out.

So a lot of video right now focuses on personal communications from executives as well as employees across all levels. Executives are sharing thoughts; employees are sharing hobbies and stories with colleagues over video instead of in the office break room.

Companies can take advantage of this new affinity for video to create content that gives candidates a truly authentic experience with their culture.

Have we changed our perception of what makes a good video?

Yes, Leshem said, and this change has been driven as much by shifting user expectations as by technology advances: We have shorter attention spans and want content that matches our immediate needs and interests. “Video has to be short, relevant, and catered to the customer,” he said.

Engagement through video has evolved far beyond moving images and audio, to multiple layers of content and experience. We can add captions, CTA buttons, and various options to let the user tailor the video to individual preferences. “That’s what we need to think about now,” Leshem said.

How can organizations use video throughout the candidate and employee journey?

Recruitment videos: Leshem urges companies to rethink the traditional approach of focusing solely on job position and requirements, and instead spotlight brand and people.

Video interviews: Real-time interviews can take place over video, or by employees taking video of themselves answering pre-recorded questions.

Onboarding/training: Video provides the opportunity for much more effective training, with the option for self-directed, bite-size learning. Day-in-the-life videos can also stand in for job shadowing, a crucial way to train many roles.

Video biographies: In the absence of in-person workplace events, new employees and company veterans alike can use video as a get-to-know-you tool.

Performance reviews: Capturing performance reviews on video adds value by creating a lifecycle – they can be stored and made more actionable.

How has remote work changed the way people create content?

The biggest change? In realizing that being on-screen is essential to communication, people are letting go of the fear of being on camera. People are willing to share more of themselves and their home lives. Companies are embracing this new mindset, Leshem said.

Does video introduce bias, and how can we avoid it?

“Putting a face to the CV can create some sort of bias,” Leshem says, but by putting the right processes in place, we can create the opposite effect. Video allows a much wider and diverse range of people to assess a candidate’s potential to be a good fit.

“If you’re creating the right process around it … you can democratize the process of interviewing,” Leshem said.

But before you go on camera, let candidates know what to expect. Just as in-person interviewees were given a heads-up on office dress code, inform video interviewees what the process will be like and who will be involved.

What does the future of video look like?

We’ll see a huge volume of video being created by both organizations and candidates, and while that’s exciting, it poses specific challenges. We’ll have to work to ensure that candidates receive the most relevant content at exactly the right time.

Meanwhile, how can we help recruiters avoid being bombarded by enormous amounts of video? We’ll have to find a way to help recruiters drill down to the snippets of video content that will be most useful in informing hiring decisions.

How can companies successfully create videos that stand out against the competition?

Video offers the opportunity to authentically showcase an organization’s culture and brand – and as the pandemic continues, more and more employers are catching on.

To avoid falling into the everybody’s-doing-it category, think content rather than fancy tech tricks. “It’s like Legos – all the building blocks are there,” Leshem said. “You don’t have to invent anything new. It’s about taking a few pieces and building something super-cool.”

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