Reading Time: 7 minutes

This post is part of our series on team storytelling. Job candidates care an awful lot about their possible future team. But even within the same organization, teams vary (sometimes widely) from one to the next. The most effective talent branding efforts use team member stories to showcase the value proposition that the specific hiring team provides a candidate.

“Who will I be working with?”
“Will I fit in and make friends?”
“Will I like my boss?
“Will I feel comfortable inviting my co-workers to my stand-up routine?”
“Will it be a jorts-at-work sort of crowd?”

These are the types of questions candidates ask themselves during the interview process, and they are mostly about the team they’ll be working with. They really want to know: Will my weird quirks be accepted and celebrated here?

Getting to know the team is important—crucial!—for candidates. In reality, candidates don’t meet their potential future team until mid-way through the interview process (if at all). We are holding back valuable insights that would make candidates more excited during the interview process, better equipped to make the right decision for their career, and more engaged once they join the right team. But we don’t have to hold back!

There’s a new way! Through team-centric recruitment marketing content, candidates get to know potential team members at the beginning of their recruiting process. This helps candidates understand the culture of the team so they can decide if the team is right for them. And it improves the candidate experience.

Stories of teams show the candidate valuable information that they wouldn’t get from a job description alone. It’s the best way to promote your talented team in a way that candidates will trust.

We’ll use our Stories Inc. Project Team’s content to show you the impact. You might just want to join us 😉

Stories from leadership

Interviewing with the boss! Sounds scary? Not scary when you learn your hiring manager and his brother were on the jumbotron at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. “Pick a boss, not a job,” is an old adage. When job searching, you want to know that you’ll be working for someone who you’ll connect with and who will have your back.

You learn a lot about our company culture and Scott’s leadership style, even though the video isn’t explicitly about either. Through Scott’s story, we understand that Scott is a creative leader who shares the sandbox with others.

Many candidates—okay, all candidates—are eager to meet their potential boss in an interview.  After hearing Scott’s story, they might feel a personal connection to him (even if they don’t like baseball!). Candidates learn about their potential boss and teammates before they even apply! Cue the sigh of relief.

Team members’ stories

Christian is typically behind the camera (always doing a great job!). From his video, we learn the story of how he got into film and his passion for sports like wakeboarding. For someone interested in joining the Stories Inc. team, meeting Christian in this way provides a glimpse into the personality of a future teammate. In this case: down-to-earth and approachable. This provides specific insight so candidates can decide if this is the type of person they’d like to work with. And if not, they can reevaluate if this is the right team for them.

In this story, Christian also mentions his love for the outdoors. (Did you see that shot of him at 1:11?). We show rather than tell that our culture gives teammates time and balance to pursue their outside of work passions. For Christian, that’s wakeboarding. But the candidate can draw a line to their own hobbies and passions. Knitting, anyone?

Team stories also showcase company values

The Stories Inc. team exudes thoughtfulness. In this example, thoughtfulness involved our co-founders surprising Jamie with an art class they knew he’d love. This story is far more effective than reading a list of values on the company website.

Thoughtfulness

Speaking of hobbies and passions, our Stories Inc. team has a few spinning enthusiasts. We all took a ride together to bond, where we had no choice but to be our real selves. Authenticity is one of our values, after all.

Authenticity

Not every team member would create a bonus video for a client, on their own time. But that’s what Bernadette did for a client’s last day at his company. This story shows that our value of “ownership” is not a platitude on a website but something we live and breathe at Stories Inc.

Ownership

Stories are the best way to share your company values with candidates, in a way that will resonate with them. These examples from our team show our values of Thoughtfulness, Authenticity, and Ownership in action.

Stories that show off the team’s talents

The story of Christian running backwards shows, rather than tells, his passion for his job and his creativity in finding the best solution. It shows that on the project team, ingenuity is welcome. Maybe running shoes, too! It provides a peek into Stories Inc.’s unique culture and what a day on the job looks like.

The team’s strengths also shine through these videos, without hitting the candidate over the head. Scott is a talented team leader, Christian is a passionate videographer, and Anna loves to wordsmith*.

Use stories about your team and leaders to connect with candidates at the beginning stages of their recruiting process. You’ll answer their pressing questions through team storytelling. The earlier in the process, the better. And at that point, you’ll only be getting engaged candidates who opt-in to the culture they’ll be joining. Wakeboarders, welcome.

*Anna wrote this post, and it was weird to write about herself in the third person. It still is. If you felt connected to her/me after watching her video, email her/me. I’d love to connect!!

Consider using a TVP approach for your next team experiencing a recruiting and recruitment marketing challenge. Interested in more learning more about how innovative marketers are using TVPs? Sign up for our webinar on March 7th!