How SEEK Created More Human Connection For Job Seekers
SEEK, the largest and most-established online jobs board in Australia, has a mission and purpose that is defined by two pillars: Help people live more fulfilled and productive working lives, and help organizations succeed. These two pillars help SEEK go far beyond employment listings to provide depth and substance to the millions of Australians who visit SEEK each week. From career advice and inspiration to guidance for small businesses, SEEK continually expands its content and resources as it remains the number one employment marketplace in Australia.
VIDEO BUILDS A STRONGER BRAND CONNECTION
SEEK knew that it had to become more than just a job posting site. “We were very rational and transactional,” said Pip Duncan, Head of Production at SEEK. “It was important to evolve our brand to be more than a jobs board, and create a destination for candidates and hirers to visit for tools and resources on every step of their career journey.” Early on, SEEK began this transformation with a variety of instructional how-to videos for job seekers, but soon realized these were not engaging their intended audience. The reason? Job seeking is private for most people, and they won’t watch those kinds of videos at the office, or share them with other people. So SEEK knew it had to change course, creating videos that were more accessible, more relevant, and more interesting to a broader audience. “We shifted from functional to emotional,” said Duncan. “Telling great stories in a beautiful way is one of the most important attributes of video.” These stories, an evolving collection of 200+ videos, are powered by Brightcove’®s Video Marketing Suite™ and Brightcove Gallery™.
CREATING A MORE HUMAN CONNECTION
As SEEK began exploring a more impactful way to connect with job seekers, it created a video series focused on SEEK Volunteer, their initiative that connected people with worthy organizations. These videos, tapping into human emotions and a sense of purpose, paved the way for new video approaches covering topics such as career advice, creating a SEEK Profile, buying a business, hiring insights and trends, and a multi-episode series called “Dream Jobs” which ran on National TV networks. These were all forming a connection that brought SEEK closer to both applicants and employer. For example, instead of reading an article about dealing with mental health and work during the COVID 19 crisis, viewers could tune in to watch resident SEEK psychologist Sabina Read speak right to camera, addressing this issue with care and concern. Or, instead of wondering if a mid-career change was worth it--or even possible--viewers could watch “Dream Jobs” and see actual people go through the process of switching careers, complete with the highs and lows that showed the reality of this life-changing event.
DON’T MICROWAVE THE FISH
Video has also played a big role in helping SEEK position itself as approachable and fun, which sets just the right tone considering the inherent stress level of the hiring process. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” said Duncan. “Video allows us to bring in more humor to complement the editorial.” This can be seen in “WorkaLOLics,” a series of playful videos that spoof common workplace concerns including the rogues employee who re-heats fish in the company’s microwave. These join the site’s library of over 200+ videos which were all seamlessly consolidated with the help of Brightcove Gallery. “ Brightcove Gallery came at a fantastic time for us. We had a lot of video assets that lived in a lot of different places. Brightcove Gallery gave us a beautiful place to showcase our videos, instead of living on someone else’s platform. That was a turning point for us.” Adds Duncan, “I am constantly updating the videos on the home page of the portal using the Hero and Featured videos playlists. This allows us to be current with information on our website and makes it feel fresh and interesting.”
This partnership with Brightcove enabled SEEK to better manage the end user experience with options to curate videos, create playlists, and boost engagement through autoplay functions, resulting in more control of the SEEK brand experience.
No matter what changes may arrive for the employment market, SEEK’s leadership in this industry will continue as it demonstrates its innate ability to tap into the emotional needs and mindset of both job seekers and hirers. Knowing that the power of video makes this human connection come alive, SEEK looks forward to further collaborating with Brightcove on its mission of fulfilling lives and fostering career success.
The Brightcove Player is templated and very easy to use from a back-end perspective. It has really good analytics. I can jump in, move things around, change them up. We’ve been really happy with it.
