Skip links

The power of the 60 second story in recruitment marketing content

Reading Time: 5 minutes
The 60 second standalone employee story. Where to begin to express our love for it!? When I’m conducting interviews and the storyteller happens upon a story that I just KNOW is perfect, my heart races, a smile flashes across my face, and I happily tell our employee storyteller what a great example that was and ask if they can tell it again. When the interview is over and they leave the room, I pump my fist in the air and high five our team.

Why the dramatics, you may ask? We uncover dozens of stories every interview day, but when you find one that pierces to the core of what it means to work at that organization — so much so that it can stand completely alone in its own right — you’ve found something special.

A standalone story is powerful for many reasons. To name a few:

  • They’re short and to the point. With attention spans shorter than ever, a standalone story quickly grabs attention, builds a connection between team member and candidate, and drives it home. All in under a minute.
  • Very repurpose-able. If the storyteller is a female engineer who started as an intern and is telling a story about an exciting project, use her story to target female engineers, potential interns, and demonstrate meaningful and exciting work. Reuse this story in text and video form and you’ve got exponential value from just one story. 
  • Build strong connections with potential colleagues. A standalone story features a single team member on screen for longer than they would be in a longer compilation-style video. There’s more room for personal context and personality, which makes the viewer relate better to the storyteller.

We’ve put together some of our favorite standalone stories below. Deciding was tough, so we also created a whole eBook of examples just for you!

1. Mission and Purpose: Maryalyce from CVS Health

Sharing personal experiences around mission and purpose are the most powerful pieces of recruitment marketing content. Why? Because if you can connect with a candidate on your organization’s “why,” the rest is easy.

Maryalyce’s emotional reaction to CVS Health’s decision to exit tobacco was her “aha!” moment.

2. A Really Great Day: Nick from BAE Systems

What a “good” day looks like in your organization says a lot about your culture (same goes for a “bad” day)

For Nick, a really great day was working on a tight timeline to prove a never-before-done radar capability. Bonus points to this story for being personal & specific while still respecting the classified nature of the content.

Quick pro tip: what makes this video great isn’t just what he says, but how he says it. It’s worth it to keep in a few long pauses and stutters if it means getting to see the joy on his face as he relives the celebration.

3. Culture Slice: Robert from Frontpoint

When’s the last time your colleague lifted you up and carried you out of the office? Without explicitly describing it, a story can say a lot about a company’s culture.  Robert’s story about winning a sales competition tells you that 1) It’s a casual environment, 2) Collaboration is real, and 3) Frontpoint is a competitive environment.

Always strive for “culture in action” in your content, not describing culture alone. 

4. Empowering Young Professionals: Orlando at Dell 

As young professionals navigate early career decisions, finding a job where they feel challenged, supported, and valued is of the utmost importance. And no matter your age, we trust our peers. Let early career professionals hear the truth straight from your current team members who are living the dream.

Orlando brought the CMO’s idea to life. He’ll tell you how!

5. An Inclusive Workplace: Joanna from BAE Systems, Inc.

Representing diversity is extremely important. Telling inclusion stories that show how your team members support each another on a daily basis? Arguably more important.

In this story, Joanna shares her personal journey of working with a deafness, and how she felt valued and challenged at BAE Systems, Inc. Though not all standalones, our other favorite inclusion stories are here!

To the point, engaging, and versatile, standalone stories are a great addition to any recruitment marketing content strategy.

Want more examples of culture content in 60 seconds or less? See how more progressive companies are using employee short stories by downloading our eBook.