Video is a great tool for recruiting top talent. When people are looking for a new job, they are obviously interested in job description, pay, benefits and stuff like that. But they are equally interested in getting a feel for the company, its culture and its employees. Video can give candidates an inside look at a company. And best of all, it’s scalable. You don’t need to conduct a bunch of informational interviews and tours. One good video can serve anyone that’s interested in the company. We just finished a recruiting video for a successful software company that is experiencing tremendous growth. Here are 4 tips we used.

1. Get a variety of perspectives

Getting a variety of perspectives gives candidates a well rounded view of the company. For this video we chose to focus on the company recruiter, new hires and seasoned employees. The recruiter perspective was important because he provided a nice introduction to the company, shared the management philosophy and gave his opinion on how the company fared in the market place. The new hire perspective was critical because it was the closest representation to the actual audience we were going after. Understanding what attracted new hires to the company and how satisfied they were with their decision was of huge value. And finally the seasoned employee gave really good insight into what the culture was like and how the company had served them over time.

2. Keep questions at a high level

You have probably heard this advice time and time again but it’s important to provide the people you are interviewing with broad open ended questions that allow them to provide commentary in a conversational tone. The last thing you want is for people to feel like they are being interrogated and tested. For that reason we used questions like, “What attracted you to the company? How would you describe your community of colleagues? What is your favorite thing about the projects you work on?”

3. Give questions ahead of time

Don’t make the mistake of springing questions on someone at the interview. Make sure people have a chance to see what you are going to ask them ahead of time. I find that the optimal lead time is 3-5 days. The idea is not to make people feel like they have to come prepared with notes but to allow them to sit with the questions. This will will stimulate thinking and reflection before the interview. And that’s really all you are after.

4. Interview more people than you need

If possible, interview more people than you need. Usually you can identify who is going to be good on camera, who is going to be likeable, comfortable and have some heartfelt things to say. However, there are times when the person you think is going to be good for whatever reason doesn’t live up to expectations. It doesn’t happen that often but it’s always a good idea to have some added insurance.