The role of video in employer branding and recruitment marketing
I heard a really interesting observation recently from Maria Katris, the CEO of Built In. She pointed out that candidates are “shopping” for jobs the same way we shop for hotels, clothes, or pretty much anything else these days. That is, with copious amounts of research.
It made so much sense to me, because when it comes to big purchases, the ones that matter, I don’t just grab the first thing I see. I do my homework. I read reviews. Watch videos. Ask around. That’s exactly what job seekers are doing now when they’re thinking about where to apply. And when you look at it through that lens, the function of the employer branding team starts to look a lot more like the role of the marketing team. That means that video isn’t just nice to have, it’s really one of the most helpful, flexible tools in the kit.
Behind the Tech
At Jump Point, we’ve worked with Built In to produce employer brand videos for over a hundred of the country’s biggest tech companies. And we’ve seen this firsthand: candidates are vetting your company from a bunch of different angles. Maybe they start on your careers page. Then catch a culture post on LinkedIn. Maybe they Google you and find a video of your team talking about what they do. All of that is helping them imagine themselves at your company before they ever click apply.
Video is great for this because it’s visual, it’s immersive, and you can hit a bunch of different angles with it. You can show off the team. You can let someone talk about their journey in their own words. You can give a quick look at the space people are walking into. So as you make more videos, and more types of videos you start to build a picture for candidates that is resonant and three dimensional.
So variety isn’t just a nice-to-have in employer branding—it’s a strategic advantage. Every candidate is coming into their job search from a different place. Some are casually browsing, others are deep in research mode. Some care most about culture, others want to know what kind of people they’ll work with, or how the team’s structured, or what the office is like. When you offer a range of video content, you give yourself more chances to meet them where they are—and more ways to catch their attention.
That’s why the suite of five video styles we’re rolling out for Built In—Behind the Tech, Where We Work, Team Spotlight, United We Tech, and Social Snaps—is so exciting. They each do something a little different, but together they paint a rich, multi-dimensional picture of what it’s like to work at a company.
United We Tech
Behind the Tech is designed to feel like an intro to the company, and we talk to people across the organization. It’s shot in a loose, handheld style, with employees speaking casually from their desks, break rooms, or wherever they actually work. The goal is to make the viewer feel like they’ve just stopped by for a quick chat. You get insight into what people are like, how they approach the work, and what drives them while also getting a look at the space you might actually work.
Where We Work is all about the space, and the feeling of the place. It shows the bigger context—the architecture, the layout, the vibe of the office, and even the city. That kind of video is especially helpful for people weighing hybrid or in-person roles, or someone considering relocating. It’s so important to feel good about the space you’re going to be working before you commit to spending so much of your life there and this style is designed to give you that.
Team Spotlight is about a specific group in the company, engineering, sales, design, etc., but it’s really about the people. At the heart of it is a two-person interview—coworkers, collaborators, or a mentor and mentee—talking together about their work. That dynamic gives the conversation a natural rhythm, and it lets real chemistry come through. For candidates, it’s a chance to get a sense of what it’s actually like to be part of the team and to understand where they might fit in.
United We Tech brings a talk-show vibe to employer branding. It’s a more relaxed, personality-driven format, with two employees chatting remotely with a host. It’s especially effective for companies with distributed teams or strong remote cultures, where people might not get to “see” the team dynamic otherwise. It gives candidates a window into how people connect, collaborate, and think—even when they’re not in the same room.
Social Snaps are all about flexibility and volume. Each shoot delivers a dozen short videos—quick clips that are perfect for social feeds. That kind of scale means you can cover a lot of ground: answer FAQs, highlight perks, showcase specific roles, or just share quick thoughts from across the team. They’re light, authentic, and easy to mix into your content calendar throughout the year. For companies looking to stay visible without having to constantly spin up new production, Social Snaps are a really efficient way to keep the employer brand active and engaging.
Each one of these concepts brings something different to the table. But what really makes them powerful is how they work together. As a candidate, you might see a casual Social Snap in your feed, click through to a Behind the Tech video that makes the company feel more real, and then watch a Team Spotlight to understand what the day-to-day is actually like. That layered experience builds trust. It gives you context. And ultimately, it makes it easier to picture yourself joining that team.
So yeah, candidates are out there shopping. They’re doing their homework. And they’re paying attention to how you show up. If your employer brand is designed to give candidates a multi-dimensional view of your workplace, that makes a huge, huge difference. At Jump Point, that’s what we aim to deliver — videos that not only look great, but that are designed to help people find the perfect workplace for them.