Guide
Employer branding videos: put real employees on camera
Updated
Candidates trust your employees more than your ads. This guide gives the four videos to make, how to film them on a phone, and when a crew is worth paying for.
In short
- Employer branding videos work best when a real employee explains their own work, filmed on a phone.
- Polished montages fail, because candidates see them as advertising.
- The four to make are the role explained, a day in the life, why I stayed, and the team answer.
- Post one every week, filmed in batches. A crew film is worth it about once a year.
- One video costs about 120 credits on Cutroom, and your first video is free with 600 credits.
- The longest clip any of these videos needs
- 3 min
- One vertical file posts to LinkedIn, Reels and Shorts unchanged
- 9:16
- A month on Lite: 1,250 credits, about 10 one-minute videos
- $19.99
What candidates watch before they apply
Before applying, candidates check you out on their own. Your videos are part of that check.
- They read reviews, look up your employees online and watch any video they find.
- An employee explaining their work reads as proof.
- A branded montage with music reads as advertising, and they discount it.
How candidates see the two kinds of video
Who talks
- Employee on camera
- A current employee
- Branded montage
- Nobody, or a voice over music
Seen as
- Employee on camera
- Proof
- Branded montage
- Advertising
Made with
- Employee on camera
- A phone and one question
- Branded montage
- A production budget
| Employee on camera | Branded montage | |
|---|---|---|
| Who talks | A current employee | Nobody, or a voice over music |
| Seen as | Proof | Advertising |
| Made with | A phone and one question | A production budget |
The 4 employer branding videos to make
Each one is one person and one phone clip, so you can make them every week.
Four videos that carry an employer brand
| Video | Who is on camera | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| The role explained | The hiring manager | The person the candidate would report to, explaining the job in 60 seconds |
| A day in the life | One employee | An ordinary day, filmed at their desk. Not a highlight reel. |
| Why I stayed | Someone past year three | One question, and their first answer is the video |
| The team answer | The person who knows | A question candidates keep asking: on-call, reviews, deadlines |
Video: The role explained
- Who is on camera
- The hiring manager
- What it shows
- The person the candidate would report to, explaining the job in 60 seconds
Video: A day in the life
- Who is on camera
- One employee
- What it shows
- An ordinary day, filmed at their desk. Not a highlight reel.
Video: Why I stayed
- Who is on camera
- Someone past year three
- What it shows
- One question, and their first answer is the video
Video: The team answer
- Who is on camera
- The person who knows
- What it shows
- A question candidates keep asking: on-call, reviews, deadlines
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
What to fix and what to leave alone
An employee video works because it is clearly real. Polish takes that away.
- Fix dead air, ums, a slow start and missing captions in the edit.
- Leave the room, the framing and the voice alone.
- Do not light it, do not script it and do not film it four times.
What each production choice does to the video
| Choice | What it does to the video |
|---|---|
| Lighting rig | The employee looks styled |
| Teleprompter | The employee sounds like they are reading a company line |
| Script from communications | The employee becomes an actor |
| Phone video at their own desk | Looks real, and candidates believe it |
Choice: Lighting rig
- What it does to the video
- The employee looks styled
Choice: Teleprompter
- What it does to the video
- The employee sounds like they are reading a company line
Choice: Script from communications
- What it does to the video
- The employee becomes an actor
Choice: Phone video at their own desk
- What it does to the video
- Looks real, and candidates believe it
When a film crew is worth it
One cinematic culture film a year can be worth the invoice. It is a crew job, and no phone-based tool, Cutroom included, makes it.
- A culture film means a crew, several shoot days, a colour grade and leadership on camera.
- The invoice runs into the thousands, and it changes so much with the city and the crew size that the only real number is the quote you get.
- It runs on the homepage and at every event, for years.
- It ages when the office moves or the team doubles, and it cannot answer this week's vacancy.
- Hire a crew about once a year, and use a phone every week.
How often to post, and how to measure it
Post every week. One employee video a quarter is invisible in the feeds where candidates spend their time.
- Give every open role its own video.
- Film in batches. One lunchtime with three people, one question each, gives you three weeks of videos.
What to measure
| Measure | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Applications per role | Whether the vacancy video works |
| Reply rate on outreach | Messages with a video against messages without |
| Offer acceptance | Checked over a quarter |
| View count | Very little on its own |
Measure: Applications per role
- What it tells you
- Whether the vacancy video works
Measure: Reply rate on outreach
- What it tells you
- Messages with a video against messages without
Measure: Offer acceptance
- What it tells you
- Checked over a quarter
Measure: View count
- What it tells you
- Very little on its own
What the editing costs
Editing by hand takes about an hour per video. That is where the weekly plan breaks.
- Cutroom takes the phone clip, up to 3 minutes, and returns a finished 9:16 video with captions in about a minute.
- It writes out every word, drafts an opening headline and adds clips on matching words. On Punch and Native it also shortens the dead air and removes the ums and uhs that show up in your transcript.
- You make changes on the text, not on a timeline, and pick one of 40 caption styles.
- Your first video is free within 7 days, with 600 credits and no card, and it carries a Cutroom mark.
- Lite costs $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, takes the mark off, and you can cancel any time under Settings.
- Basic costs $39.99 a month for 2,500 credits, and adds avatars and generated music.
- Posting a raw clip to LinkedIn costs nothing, which is fine for a story that lives a day.
What one employer branding video costs in credits
Edit plus export. Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits.
- Edit: transcript, first edit, clip search100 credits
- Export one finished minute20 credits
- One finished one-minute videoabout 120 credits
Questions people ask
- What is an employer branding video?
- A video that makes candidates want to work for you before a specific role is on the table. Employee stories, day-in-the-life videos and team answers are the main types.
- How much does an employer branding video cost?
- A crewed culture film is quoted in the thousands, and the only accurate number is the quote you get, because it changes with the city and the crew size. The weekly videos are a phone clip plus an edit: about 120 credits per one-minute video on Cutroom. A raw LinkedIn post is free.
- Employee stories or a culture film: which comes first?
- Employee stories. They cost far less, candidates trust them more, and they keep working while you save for the film.
- Should leadership appear in employer branding videos?
- Rarely. Candidates trust future colleagues far more than executives, because colleagues have less reason to sell. Save the CEO for the yearly film and the offer stage.
- How do we know if the videos work?
- Compare applications per role before and after the video. Compare reply rates on outreach with and without a video. Check offer acceptance over a quarter. Views alone tell you little.
- Can HR do this without a video team?
- Yes. You need a phone and one question per person, and software does the edit. Your first video is free, with 600 credits and no card. A video team is only needed for the yearly culture film.
Ask one employee one question this week and post the answer. Your first video is free.
Try for freeYour first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite at $19.99/month removes it