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Providing an exceptional candidate experience is something PPD Search pride themselves on. Introducing video job ads has set them apart from their competitors and given them a unique edge - a human edge.
Pettit Pharma & Device Search (PPD Search) are a small team who pride themselves on their responsiveness, reliability and service excellence. They are passionate healthcare recruiters, always on the look-out for ways to deliver more value to their customers - both clients and candidates.
So when the opportunity arose for the team to trial video job ads, they jumped! They’ve been using video consistently for over 12 months now, and they’ve got some great advice for other small agencies looking to supplement their traditional recruitment activities with video.
Tip #1 For successful video adoption
We spoke to two of PPD Search’s Recruitment Consultants - Kate Adams and Rachel Tonkin - about their experience learning a new skill. Firstly, they explained that they’ve definitely gained more than one new skill! They are now confident on-camera presenters, video job ad scriptwriters and video editors.
And they are exploring more video marketing as they gain confidence and gather positive feedback for their video job ads. On the horizon are videos for talent pool nurturing, reverse marketing candidates and market updates for employers.
But back to the beginning of their video journey, it wasn’t a straight line to video-wizardry:
“Initially the biggest challenge was time because it’s a new skill learning to speak to the camera. It took a while to write the script, film, not mess up - lots of takes initially - but the more practice we had, the better we became. Now I can just sit down, write the script, and get it in one or two takes!”
- Kate
“Every consultant has a one video per week KPI, which initially sounded really scary - but it really doesn’t take that much time once you’ve had a bit of practice. My first video I was shouting at my phone, swearing, it was hard - and really hard to see myself on film! But once you practice and get a bit more natural, it’s easy, now it takes me 5 minutes.
"Another tip, if you’re new to video, is to get someone else to film with you. It makes you feel a lot more comfortable, you can have that rapport, bounce off someone else, it just eases your nerves if there are two of you!”
- Rachel
Tip #2 For reluctant video stars, start with the why
A lot of people assume that you need to be a digital native to film, edit and share a video job ad, or any other type of video, from your mobile phone. These days everyone is under-resourced and over-worked and no-one has time to master another new tool.
But, successful recruiters don’t necessarily try new things because they’re time efficient, they try new things because they are effective and they drive results, and then they reprioritize other tasks to be more effective.
“I think we get a lot more calls now, from people who are known to us, but they might not necessarily be looking. So even someone we interviewed a few years ago, they weren’t really looking then, but we built a bit of a rapport with them - they see one of our videos on LinkedIn and they give us a call.
These candidates are not usually on SEEK or Indeed or an actual job board, so it's tapping into that passive group of people. We’ve got quite a lot of referrals from video job ads as well, so people calling and suggesting we talk to so-and-so."
- Rachel
Tip #3 Use video to build recognition and trust in your people and your agency
Your recruiters are your business. By simply capturing your consultants on video, you are helping them build their personal brand (which can only benefit your business) and promoting your biggest differentiator - your people.
Recruiters can share their video job ads both on their personal LinkedIn pages (and by default with their own network of candidates, employers and recruiters) and on your company’s LinkedIn page or other social platforms.
“We’ve had a lot of great candidate feedback throughout the process, that they feel a lot more engaged with us as an agency, and they felt like we had more of a personal touch (than other agencies). We often get people calling up and saying ‘Hey I saw you in the video’ ... it really adds a new level of engagement and it’s a great conversation starter.
We’re the only business in our niche that do videos for jobs, so when candidates are on SEEK or Indeed, when our face pops up, it's more engaging and they are more likely to apply to our roles. So great feedback about our personal touch and the great customer experience we provide.”
- Kate
By building personal connections through video, before a job seeker has even set foot in their office, PPD Search have experienced a reduction in ‘ghosting’ and interview no-shows, and an increase in telephone enquiries.
Rachel and Kate believe this is down to candidates ‘meeting’ the recruiter in the video job ad. Not only do candidates feel more invested in the experience through human connection, they are more confident in picking up the phone to ask questions, giving consultants a further opportunity to sell the unique aspects of the role in-person.
“Our candidates have responded really well to our video job ads, it’s created that extra level of engagement when they come in for an interview with us. They know who you are already.
We’ve also had quite a lot of people say to us that from the written job ad they probably wouldn’t have applied, but when they watched the video they thought it was a lot more exciting and engaging and we’ve gained leads from that, from people calling to find out more information, and being able to convert them."
- Rachel
Tip #4 Explore video in other areas of your marketing and communications
PPD Search has had such a positive response to their videos that they have begun to explore ideas for videos outside of video job adverts. They’ve started with a ‘Tips & Tricks’ series focusing on interview advice, to help candidates prepare and demonstrate their skills more effectively in interview situations.
“With the tips & tricks so far, we’ve had a lot of good feedback - candidates taking those tips into their interviews and proving their skills.”
- Rachel
They also have plans to start using video to reverse market great candidates and keep their clients abreast of market trends and compliance issues.
“We have big plans … to help candidates from start to finish in the recruitment journey … one video a week talking about different topics to help them. Everything from what to wear to an interview to specific behavioural questions that we know our clients ask - tips to help them perform better at interviews.”
- Kate
About Pettit Pharma & Device Search
Healthcare recruitment specialists PPD Search have grown their network in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and general healthcare industries over the last 13 years. With over 35 years’ collective recruitment experience and over 20 years in the healthcare field, their expert consultants specialize in Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Life Science and Healthcare.
PPD Search identifies, recruit talent and build teams, including permanent, contract and temporary employees, for healthcare companies to Senior Director level, across Australia and New Zealand.
