What is a recruiting film? Definition, benefits, statistics, and best practices

What is a recruiting film?

‍A recruiting film — also known as a recruiting video — is a short, targeted corporate film that appeals to potential new employees. It provides authentic insights into everyday working life, the team and corporate culture — with the aim of arousing interest and generating applications. Recruiting films are particularly successful when they appeal to the emotional level and not only inform but inspire.

Would you have known? According to a study by CareerBuilder, over 75% of applicants say they are more likely to apply to a company if it offers an appealing video about themselves or the advertised position. According to Wistia, recruiting videos also increase the time spent on career sites by up to 88%. Social media platforms also reward moving images with better reach: Contributions with videos are shared on average 12 times more often than purely text-based content.

Recruiting videos enable companies to show their values, culture, and people in a way that is often hidden from texts and images. The combination of emotion, tone of voice and visual impressions stays in the mind — and ensures real differentiation in the competition for talent.

Difference from employer branding videos:

• Recruiting film: Specific reference to open positions, often with call-to-action (apply now!)
• Employer branding video: General image video showing long-term positioning as an attractive employer — without direct job posting

Typical content of a recruiting film:A successful recruiting film not only shows beautiful pictures of the office, but also tells a story. Employees have their say and explain why they enjoy working for the company. The camera accompanies them to their workplace, showing real scenes from meetings, workshops or break rooms. The corporate culture becomes tangible — not through explanations, but through atmosphere. Short original sounds combined with scenes from everyday life and visual references to benefits, technologies or teamwork are particularly effective.

Benefits of a recruiting film:

• Emotional speech on equal footing
• Quick to consume (1-2 minutes)
• High reach via social media
• Reusable on career sites, trade fairs, job portals
• Creates trust with applicants before they even have an interview

Uses:

• Career and job pages
• Recruiting campaigns (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube shorts)
• Email marketing for passive talent
• Internal communication and onboarding

How long should a recruiting video be?

• Ideal for social media: 30-90 seconds (with clear core message and subtitles)
• For career sites & YouTube: 1:30 to a maximum of 3 minutes
• Rule of thumb: Shorter is better as long as the message remains clear

Checklist for your first recruiting video

1. Define target group
2. Define story & central message
3. Select & prepare interview partners
4. Coordinate shooting period
5. Plan length & format
6. Include editing, sound, subtitles
7. Distribute recruiting film via various channels

Additional tip: A recruiting film does not replace a job advertisement — but it ideally complements it and gives it personality. And: The more authentic the recruiting video, the higher the relevance for your target group.

The nice thing about recruiting videos is that they can and should inspire, make you think or smile. Applicants today don't want empty phrases, but tangible content and real insights. Take a look at a few of our references to get an idea of what your recruiting film could also look like:

Tomra recruiting portraits: Personal stories that inspire and arouse curiosity.

Profi Parts recruiting campaign: Self-deprecating, authentic, without chatter.

Karl Georg recruiting tour: A look at the company directly from an applicant's perspective.