Firms putting best foot forward in cyberspace

Eve Tahmincioglu • Profile • E-mail

You may not have to wait for a job interview to find out what the people are like at companies you apply to.

How about meeting some employees virtually right now?

Just surf over to the Web site of your prospective employer and you may find a professionally produced but relatively unscripted video of an employee describing their work day or how they maintain work-life balance.

For job seekers wondering what it’s like to work for accounting and consulting giant Ernst & Young, the firm hosts an online video from Anton, an assurance manager for the company, discussing the firm’s gay and lesbian network. Or you can view a video of Sara Lo, a senior consultant in the transaction real estate group, talk about her passion for surfing.

Employee testimonials are the latest online recruiting craze businesses are using to offer you a peek into their world.

It’s a great development for job seekers. Now you don’t have to don a blue suit for a job interview and waste time sitting down for an awkward meeting with potential managers and co-workers before you realize a company just isn’t right for you.

“It’s becoming a powerful recruitment tool,” says Jeff Wittenburg, chief leadership officer with recruiting firm Kaye Bassman International. “Human nature makes us all attracted to anything visual. It gives you a sense of what the people look like (who) work there, how they dress and how they sound.”

With technological advances, the time and cost of producing such videos is declining, so more and more companies are beginning to embrace these online vignettes as a way to separate themselves from the competition.

The firms most likely to have employee cyber snapshots are those that are among the most tech savvy, and they are definitely in growing industries that are in hiring mode.

Ernst & Young hires about 5,500 college graduates every year in the United States and Canada.

“It’s a very competitive recruiting environment,” says Melissa Taylor, recruiting, branding and communication leader for the firm. “Top talent is very much in demand. We need to be on top of our game, speaking and interacting in way that is compelling and in touch with what students want.”

Anne Lac, senior art director with Molecular, the Internet marketing agency that created the Ernst & Young testimonial campaign, says the casual, unscripted videos are what resonated with the students they surveyed. “They really responded to the more authentic portrayal,” she adds.

Some employers like Ernst & Young see these videos as a way to attract the coveted Generation Y workers who feel comfortable doing everything online. But these testimonials give prospective employees of all ages an inside look at what a job is really like and can even diminish preconceived notions about certain professions.

MassMutual Financial Group is looking to grow its U.S. field work force by 1,500 people this year with jobs such as insurance agents and financial planners, and the employee videos are a key component in filling those positions, says Scott Capurso, director of net field force growth with MassMutual.

The company has a unique approach to its videos. The employees featured on their Web site are seen in something called “video walk-ons,” where images of workers seemingly stand in the middle of the Web site talking about their experience at the company.

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