Nearly 90% of people now research employers and career opportunities on their phones, and most choose to learn by watching short, engaging videos. So how do you stand out when today’s talent audiences don’t want polish, but proof of who you really are?
The new way people see work
It’s odd how quickly job hunting has changed. Not long ago, we trawled through job boards on laptops, reading descriptions that could have belonged to any company. Now it’s all done on phones, in between WhatsApp messages, scrolling, and streaming. People swipe through jobs the same way they swipe through stories, looking for something that feels real.
That’s exactly why employee video stories have quietly become so essential. They turn a faceless organisation into something living, something human. The “EVP”, that neat and tidy HR term for Employer Value Proposition, comes alive when it’s expressed through real people with real voices.
We know how amazing our company is…
A glossy “Our People” page might look smart, but it rarely moves anyone. Most of us can tell when a message has been approved by ‘committee’. What lands is seeing the person vocalising it, in an unrehearsed way. It doesn’t matter if someone stumbles over their words, or laughs mid-sentence.
A People Director from a major UK hospitality group said it plainly: “We know how amazing our company is to work for, the challenge is how to tell everyone.” There lies the problem.
A good culture needs to be seen and heard. Video helps you feel that warmth. Whether it’s an apprentice describing their first week at work or a chef showing the chaos of a Saturday night service, these fragments of honesty travel further.
The rise of storytelling
It’s easy to forget that short-form video has become the language of the internet. People don’t just watch, they interpret tone and vibe. That’s how trust is built.
Many organisations get tempted by overproduction. They add cinematic music, perfect lighting, and polished scripts. The trouble is, it starts to feel like corporate advertising. The videos that stick, they wobble slightly, they deliver unfiltered truth, they tell a story.
Culture as the real story
This shift has changed the meaning of employer branding. Ten years ago, culture sat quietly on an internet page somewhere. Now it’s the headline act. Candidates don’t just ask, What will I do here? They wonder, Who will I be here?
That’s what a strong EVP communicates. Not perks and policies, but a sense of belonging. People want to see themselves in the workplace. Video does that effortlessly.
When employees speak for themselves, it stops being marketing. It becomes something real.
Where authenticity meets technology
Short videos have become the recruitment world’s new handshake. With the rise of simple phone-based editing tools, every company can tell its story without an agency budget. Technology has democratised storytelling.
These videos aren’t really about jobs at all. They’re about connection. The best ones don’t just inform; they resonate. They make someone somewhere stop scrolling and think, I could be part of that.
Final thought
Work, for all its complexity, still comes down to people finding other people they want, or feel comfortable, to spend their time with. Sometimes, all it takes is a story, expressed simply on camera, to make that connection happen.