Ready for takeoff: Menzies Aviation Careers Videos

Menzies Aviation is an aviation company serving more than 200 airports on six continents around the world. Their business supports customers with a broad spectrum of airside services, ranging from ramp and cargo handling to specialist regional activities such as de-icing and container repair. 

The Challenge

Being in aviation services, Menzies faces fierce talent competition with their colleagues in the airline industry. They needed content that clearly defined the opportunities available in ground handling and how those opportunities differ from similar roles in the airline industry.  Mignon Hobbs, Director – Recruitment and Retention, and Christopher Dohne, Integrations Manager – Communications & Brand, knew that Menzies team members would provide meaningful insights into the rewards and challenges that come with their careers. For example, some positions are very physically demanding, including being outside in all types of weather. Ensuring candidates know exactly what a position entails helps reduce turnover, which was a key driver in the desire to produce and share more authentic content.

What we did

Menzies enlisted Stories Inc. to help them develop content to solve these challenges. We went to three different airports Menzies serves, two in Dallas (Dallas Love Field Airport and DFW International Airport) and one in Los Angeles (LAX). We interviewed 14 people and uncovered their stories about the rewarding positions they have at Menzies.

“As a ground handler, you get the opportunity to work with different carriers, different people for those carriers, different nationalities, and I think it just brings a different dimension to your experience in the business,” said Paul Walton, the SVP of Sales and Commercial Operations, Americas for Menzies.

We created six total videos. One was a four-minute overview video of what it’s like to work at Menzies, and the other five were position-specific to give candidates an idea of what each position entails: Fueling Operators, Passenger Service Agents, Ramp Operators, Cabin Cleaning, and Cargo Operators. Each interviewee shared their story about what makes their job unique, and what they find rewarding. “I have been at this job for four years now, and I’ve yet to have a dull day,” said Jaron Thompson, the lead fueler at Dallas Love Field Airport.

Filming at active airports was a first for Stories Inc. Our team was welcomed into a cargo warehouse, an active baggage ramp, and even plane side for fueling. It was exciting for us, and also made outstanding b-roll. At the same time, we tackled challenges with filming interviews in an environment much louder than a typical office. The final products we created are both visually interesting and sound great.

Storytelling with an Impact

One of the drivers to create the videos was a global seminar where the U.S.-based branding team hoped to show their recruiting methods and career growth opportunities to the rest of the organization. The seminar was scheduled for the first week in May and our team started work in April, giving us just three weeks to produce two of the six videos. The remaining videos were completed within another few weeks.

Menzies shared the videos at the global leadership seminar, posted them on their career site, and included links to the job-specific videos into their relevant job descriptions. The videos have received more than 258,000 views on Vimeo.