Only few of us are fortunate to work in an industry with signing bonuses, unfettered vacations, flex hours and the open encouragement of office flips-flops, but hey welcome to high tech.  These are all standards in the digital workplace.

Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft are forced to battle it out for top coders and smart techies.  To win, companies must take every opportunity to connect with recruits.  Show their culture, workforce and philosophy. Even though we may not all work in tech, we can all learn from their recruiting wars.

The lesson:  woo top talent by connecting with them. “The reality is in today’s marketplace, recruits want to connect to a company,” says Tim Koirtyohan

“The reality is in today’s marketplace, recruits want to connect to an organization,” says Tim Koirtyohann, a 15-year human resources consultant with EbenConcepts.

Connecting with potential recruits can happen in several places on the web, of course but doing it in a way that can convey your company’s personality is key, and video can help.

“It’s not the story our parents told us about getting up and going to work and earning money for your family.  It’s about being part of a community and there’s no better to way communicate that than in video.”

Recruits will obviously research companies under serious consideration for their services.  That means those outfits that offer the most compelling content are going to have an advantage.

“If you’ve got a Monster.com ad, you just can’t connect in the same way you can if you have your employees telling the story of what it’s like to work for your organization (and) how you’re making a difference in the community.”

Check out this recent example from Apple.  It highlights a diverse workforce overcoming challenges on well-known products.  And it works very well.

 How do I showcase my company to recruits?  Here are a few tips:

1. Testimonials  –  Recruits want to see and hear from current employees.  Why did they choose your company?  How will the culture allow them to thrive?  Perhaps most important though, how have they specifically helped your clients succeed?  Think Video Case Story here.
2. Big Projects – Nobody joins your organization to do the monotonous or mundane.  Tell them about your biggest projects.  Show them what you did and how your company used its unique skill set to achieve success.
3. Demonstrate Culture – Over-the-top caricatures of your culture never play well.  And don’t try to rehearse or act out a casual or funny interactions.  You’re not actors.  You’re a business.  However, do try to incorporate open spaces, artwork and the personality of your office in authentic ways.  Challenge your employees to be candid.
4. If you work with a video company–make sure they understand your brand, your personality and what makes your company unique.  Also, embrace the video company’s objective point of view.   They haven’t spent months or years inside your company and neither have your potential new hires.  Make sure your video company knows to be honest with you, even if its brutal honesty.