Case Study: Online Video for Job Recruiting
Is finding qualified employees challenging these days? Ever wondered how to use streaming video in recruitment? Then carry on reading and learn how Monster, a provider of online recruitment services with more than 75 million registered users in 56 countries, has turned online video into a recruitment tool.
Monster Finland is 75% owned by Alma Media, one of the largest media companies in Finland, and 25% owned by Monster Worldwide, Inc. The business started in 1998, and in 10 years, the internet has become the most popular channel for recruiting. Monster Finland is now the market leader with a more than 60% share of the total online recruitment business. In 2007, Monster Finland’s turnover grew 47% compared to 2006.
The Project in Depth
GoodMood, founded in 1997, offers a portfolio of online video software products and services for corporate customers. And GoodMoodTV, the company’s internet TV service, has been adopted by thousands of users worldwide.
In 2005, the year in which YouTube first appeared and with the explosion of online video still in the future, Monster Finland and GoodMood created the concept of an online recruitment fair with online videos playing a key role. They hoped to organise the fair by early 2006.
The fair would offer employers a new way to reach young, tech-savvy job seekers, reaching out to those actively and passively seeking jobs. The goal was to create an interesting and accurate image of each employer and to increase the quality and number of recruitment-related contacts for the participating organisations. Furthermore, online video was seen as a powerful tool to strengthen the employer’s brand, driving high levels of cooperation between all the HR and marketing departments of the companies involved in the project.
For 3 years in a row, GoodMood has implemented this virtual recruitment fair with Monster Finland. Delivered over the internet, the most crucial communications element at the fair has been and remains online corporate video. The fair’s purpose is accomplished through diversified fair stands, competitions, and especially company videos produced specifically for the fair.
Three Years of Growth
The fair has grown enormously over the past 3 years. In 2006, 37 early-adopter companies signed up for the project. From February to March of that year, participating companies’ videos were viewed 31,283 times. In 2007, only 35 companies participated, but video viewing still increased to 221,000 unique views by 100,000 fair visitors.
In 2008, the objective was to double both the total level of participation and the associated revenue. In addition, there was a need to widen the target group of visitors from university graduates to vocational school graduates. The larger target group and an additional demand for streaming video brought new challenges for the project.
Seventy-one companies participated in the fair in 2008. The participants represented a wide spectrum of businesses and organisations from the private and public sectors across Finland. There were companies such as Finnair, Ericsson, Accenture, Alko, Kone Corp., Nokian Tyres, and Aker Yards. From the public sector, the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa participated for the first time.
During December 2007 and January 2008, GoodMood produced online videos for more than 50 participating companies; the remaining 20 decided to use existing corporate videos or videos produced for previous fairs. Video production was a challenging task to accomplish. The production, editing, and customer approval process for each of the 50 companies had to be completed in a short time. Often, the clients’ advertising agencies were involved in the design and scripting of the videos, further increasing complexity in the production process.