This article was written by me for Kênh 14, and with their permission, I am reposting it on my website.
You can read the original article here.
Recruitment Livestream
Recruitment livestreaming is a “blue ocean” strategy, allowing companies to easily attract a large number of young and creative talents.
China, the “mecca” of livestreaming, has leveraged this medium for recruitment with great success. According to Meey News, a service called Kwai Recruitment attracted more than 100 million active users monthly in the first quarter. In one day, the channel received over 150,000 job applications.
Another company, Foxconn, which operates the world’s largest iPhone factory, ran a recruitment livestream campaign last month, introducing 880 positions at its Shenzhen complex for disabled applicants. Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory also livestreamed in the same month, attracting over 300,000 viewers.
What about recruitment livestreams in Vietnam?
CEO collaborates with HR to organize a recruitment livestream
“Men build houses, women build homes, Hello everyone from Hang Do!” Hang Do kicked off her company’s recruitment livestream with this playful wordplay.
Do Hang is also a Business Development Specialist at this company, which operates in creative advertising combined with film production. In the recruitment livestream, Hang Do and her company aimed to attract Gen Z viewers to apply for positions like Sales, VFX post-production, 3D graphics, creative/copywriting, SEO marketing, and HR management.
Despite being a recruitment livestream, the company’s two executives, CEO Hoang Dung and Hanoi Branch Director Tran Thu Huong, also participated. They were among the key “guests” of the online recruitment livestream. If Do Hang had been the only one appearing, many people might question the professionalism, credibility, and reliability of the livestream.
The company’s recruitment livestream was organized like a TV talk show rather than a simple live session where someone talks to a phone with a ring light.
Along with the livestream, the company also attached a link to the recruitment page in the video description for those genuinely interested in applying after watching the talk show. When introducing the job openings, the editor displayed a QR code on the screen, allowing applicants to scan and go to the recruitment page within seconds if they were interested in information like company culture, career progression, or benefits mentioned by the leadership during the livestream.
A successful livestream is one with 5-6 suitable candidates
If traditional recruiters are hesitant about livestreaming, thinking that recruiters don’t need live skills to recruit people, then a niche that suits this modern recruitment method is recruiting livestream talents.
The company’s talent search livestream, hosted by Duong Tu Vy, was a very lively session. With her bright, friendly face and outgoing personality, she easily attracted viewers. During the live session, Tu Vy always played energetic music to create a cheerful, friendly, and dynamic atmosphere.
The company Tu Vy works for specializes in TikTok livestreams, short films, music videos, and similar fields. Vy shared that the company has created a TikTok channel dedicated to recruiting positions related to livestreaming, such as MCs, talents, KOC/KOL partners, and livestream operation staff.
After singing a snippet of a love song to set the mood, Tu Vy moved on to explore the TikTok channel. Views increased from 50 to nearly 200, and comments flowed in with applications for livestream talent positions. Initially, Vy mentioned that anyone interested in applying could follow the channel, send pictures, CVs, and work experience. The company would have a department to check all applications since Vy couldn’t check them all during the livestream. She outlined the talent requirements: a bright appearance, unique skills, and the ability to speak confidently in front of a camera. She then checked each TikTok profile to find suitable candidates for interviews.
For profiles that didn’t meet the criteria, lacked posts, or didn’t show their faces, she tactfully said, “Thank you [TikTok channel name] for participating.” For other profiles with good appearances, she complimented them and sent a heart emoji. Some channels with high views, where the owners could sing, dance, and had a pleasant appearance, were invited to contact for interviews. A TikToker flexing 3 years of live experience and fluency in Chinese was also invited for an interview after Vy reviewed their channel.
To comply with labor laws, Vy tactfully declined channels where users were underage. She also interacted with viewers by asking a numerology channel owner to check her birthdate. Some comments offering to apply as bodyguards or romantic partners were playfully declined by Vy with a bright smile.
She also shared more about the livestreaming profession: It’s not a simple job and is not suitable for those without experience because livestreamers must talk continuously, be confident, and articulate to attract viewers.
Nevertheless, in a short one-hour livestream, Vy managed to attract around 5-6 talents to submit applications for interviews, which was highly effective.
What do candidates think when “the bosses” go live for recruitment?
Recruitment livestreaming is a “blue ocean,” with relatively low competition, making it easier for companies to attract a large number of young and creative candidates.
Regarding this, Duc Nguyen, a senior IT professional, 28, shared his perspective: “Since this is a new recruitment channel, the most important thing is that employers must show authenticity to build trust with candidates.”
Manh Tuan, a 28-year-old Document Operations staff, also supported this idea. Tuan believes this creative method is accessible for both companies and workers.
Ms. Thanh Nguyen, 27, owner of a TikTok channel with 96.3K followers, shared that livestreaming helps employers directly interact with candidates without being restricted by time, space, and location.
Any new method will have its challenges initially, so the role of recruiters is to guide users, change their behavior, and help candidates get used to this new recruitment model.
According to global statistics, TikTok was the most downloaded app by Gen Z, with 3.5 billion downloads in 2023. On average, each user spends nearly an hour on this platform. Therefore, it would be a waste if companies did not use TikTok for recruitment.
Companies with existing TikTok channels with many followers could post to gather frequently asked questions and then host a livestream to answer them. HR departments can utilize outgoing, humorous employees to host the live sessions.
A good idea is for team leaders to directly participate in the recruitment livestreams instead of hiring external hosts or letting HR handle it alone. After all, they are the ones who understand the company culture, the relationship between bosses and subordinates, and can share benefits and salaries to attract candidates’ attention and enhance authenticity.
Check out my other articles on Stories about Workplace.
Be Real in a Fake World,
Narcy Nguyen
