Social Media Recruiting: Platforms, Ad Formats and Campaign Workflow

Why this channel

A professional-services role on Facebook rather than LinkedIn, which is the choice most hiring teams get backwards. The audience for an analyst role is not only on the professional network, and this ad went to the feed where more of them are.

The hook

A purple panel wipes down over a yellow band and the line "Join Grant Thornton as Economic Consulting Analyst" is already set at half a second. By two seconds a consultant has appeared in the curved cutout below it, smiling at the lens, with the Grant Thornton mark parked bottom left.

Why it works

Naming the firm and the job in one sentence means the first frame still works for everyone who watches nothing else. The curved cutout is a real brand asset rather than a stock motion template, so this reads as Grant Thornton before you find the logo. Later frames swap the person and move the copy to the role plus two facts, collaborating across audit, tax and advisory, and London hybrid. Sell first, qualify second, in that order.

What we would change

Twelve seconds is generous for a feed placement. We would test an eight second cut with the London line earlier, because location filters candidates faster than a responsibility bullet does.

Why this channel

The clearest case for Instagram feed at 4:5: a courier role, a city, and an hourly rate, aimed at exactly the age band where Instagram out-reaches every platform except YouTube.

The hook

A courier sits on a parked scooter with an Uber Eats box on the back, and the line "word bezorger op de scooter in Rotterdam" is already on screen at half a second. By two seconds the pay, 14,40 to 15,40 per hour, has landed underneath it.

Why it works

The role, the city and the money are all readable before anyone decides whether to keep scrolling. Randstad's navy and green carry the branding without a logo lockup eating the frame, and the Uber Eats box in the shot tells you who you would actually be riding for. A hiring ad in a paid feed gets scanned with the sound off, so putting the hourly rate on screen instead of in the caption is the whole move here.

What we would change

The closing frame swaps the footage for a flat navy end card. Next time we would test holding the rider on screen to the end, logos over the footage, so the ad keeps moving until the last frame.

Why this channel

Vertical, for Reels. The same employer would need a different cut for the feed, which is the whole reason a set of ads beats an ad.

The hook

A mechanic lifts an oversized open-ended spanner off a case in a workshop, and "VACATURE: Monteur Defensievoertuigen" is fading up over him inside the first half second. By two seconds the gross monthly band of €2.500 to €4.000, a line about a family firm in Amersfoort, and a purple Meer informatie button have all arrived.

Why it works

The workshop is the workplace, so the footage qualifies the viewer before a word of copy does. Three bullets is the right ceiling for a reel, and these three answer money, location and team in that order. Ending on the subject turning to camera with the spanner still in his hand is a stronger closing frame than a logo card.

What we would change

The most interesting thing in the ad, building unique military vehicles, sits in the third bullet. We would test it in the headline, where a fast scroller cannot miss it.

Why this channel

Stories is the least forgiving surface in recruitment advertising: one screen, no scroll, and the platform's own interface sitting on top of your frame. Meta publishes a safe zone for it, which is the only reason anyone knows where the interface lands.

The hook

An engineer in a dark red shirt works at a desk in profile, and "Data Platform Engineer" is already set in ilionx crimson across the top left at half a second, with the brand's X mark under it. By two seconds a magenta panel has slid in carrying the salary, €4.000 to €6.500 plus bonus.

Why it works

Vertical is a hostile format for text and this one solves it by keeping copy in the left third and the person in the right, so nothing overlaps. The subject stays in profile for the opening seconds and turns to camera around five, which gives the clip an arc without needing a cut. Leading on the salary rather than the culture bullets is the right order for engineers, who will check the number first anyway.

What we would change

The two lower bullets, "ai gedreven werken" and "altijd werken met de nieuwste stack", are the ones we would iterate on: naming the actual stack would make them pull as hard as the salary line above them.

Why this channel

Square, on LinkedIn, for a cleared engineering role: the case where LinkedIn's higher cost per click is obviously worth paying, because job title and current employer are targetable inputs rather than guesses.

The hook

A woman in an office with a city skyline behind her is mid-sentence at half a second, with "Release Engineer SME, TS/SCI Clearance" stacked beside her and the Dunhill mark in the corner. By two seconds three facts have stacked underneath: three days a week onsite in Arlington, VA, a band of $130k to $200k, and a note about the regulated government setting.

Why it works

Dunhill recruits for cleared federal IT roles where neither the staff nor the sites can be filmed, so the professional on screen is a generated stand-in and their customer story says so plainly. Putting the clearance level in the headline disqualifies most of the feed on purpose, which is what you want when the eligible pool is that small. A salary band arriving at two seconds is rare on LinkedIn, and it is why this gets read rather than scrolled past.

What we would change

The fourth bullet, two lines on CI/CD pipelines, is the one we would trim next time. A shorter card there gives the Apply now button more room to land.

Why this channel

Not a vacancy. An open evening, which is the format most employers forget they can advertise. The ad sells an hour of somebody's Thursday instead of a career decision, and the bar to say yes is far lower.

The hook

Two people talk across a workbench in a Kremer workshop, one holding a clipboard, with a red INLOOPAVOND tag already pinned top right at half a second. By two seconds "INLOOPAVOND BIJ KREMER" is set across the middle and the date and time, 21 mei, 16.30 to 18.30, has arrived in the first green pill.

Why it works

This is an event ad, not a vacancy ad, and it is the version almost nobody makes. There is no role to be rejected from, so the ask is only to turn up, which is a far lower bar than an application form. The two lower pills still filter, listing the disciplines Kremer wants: electrical engineering and industrial automation, then energy, security, ICT and technical management. The ad narrows its audience without naming a single job title.

What we would change

The date is the entire point, and it shares its styling with the two pills below it. We would give it its own visual weight and add the address.

Why this channel

A welder and fabricator role on TikTok. The work is visually interesting and impossible to make sound interesting in a job posting, which is the exact shape of role this channel was made for.

The hook

A welder in a full mask works through a bright blue plume of arc light at half a second, with "Constructeur - lasser" already set over it and the Vytech Industrial Solutions logo boxed top left. The first bullet, on the salary package, is fading in underneath by two seconds.

Why it works

The arc is the hook and it needs no explanation, which is the right bet in a placement where the first frame is the whole audition. White type survives against both the bright plume and the darker frames that follow, because it stays in the left column where the footage keeps out of its way. The benefits named, meal vouchers, bike lease and a bonus system, are the specific Belgian package rather than generic perks, so a welder reading it can price the job.

What we would change

The arc footage is the strongest material in the ad and it ends around four seconds. We would bring it back for the closing frame, so the ad ends as strong as it opens.

Why this channel

Landscape, on YouTube, in Polish. Multilingual hiring is where YouTube stops being a brand channel and starts being the cheapest way to reach a workforce that other channels' targeting cannot see.

The hook

Three fitters install metal stud framing on an unfinished floor, under a blue bar carrying a phone number and [email protected], and nothing else for the first second. By two seconds the Polish headline "Oferta pracy: Monterzy Metal Stud w Rijswijk, Holandia" has landed with a Dutch flag beside it and the orange Haldu Groep badge in the corner.

Why it works

The ad is written in Polish for Polish tradespeople and advertises work in the Netherlands, which is a cross-border employment advertising problem most templates cannot handle at all. Landscape has room to breathe, so holding unedited site footage for a full second before any text is a fair trade here. All four bullets are logistics: weekly pay, free accommodation with a private room, an immediate start, and a category B licence. That is what this audience decides on.

What we would change

The top bar carries a phone number, which is a hard action to take from a video placement. We would test that space on the pay figure and keep the number for the landing page.