The Loom team incorporates quick video messages into all aspects of talent acquisition through onboarding and day-to-day communication with current team members. Using Loom helps the Talent team stay human, especially as the company changes.
Now that Loom has more than 100 team members and counting, it’s imperative we scale our team without ever losing the human touch. Video messaging has been our not-so-secret tool for supporting a growing company with intention and empathy.
We use Loom in every aspect of Talent — from sourcing, to recruiting, to closing, and through sending exciting (and more mundane) updates out to individuals and the company as a whole. Not only do these quick videos give us a way to support prospective and new team members, but they also help us clarify important Talent details in more efficient and (dare we say) fun ways.
Here’s how asynchronous communication makes us better at helping people every day.
Talent acquisition
1. Cold outreach emails
If you’ve ever received a cold email from a recruiter, you know it usually sounds something like: “We’re interested in speaking to you about x role ...”
At Loom, we send out video messages to a hand-picked list of potential candidates for the jobs. Our looms are personalized and one of a kind. They make an impression and lead to higher engagement scores from the get-go.
2. Job announcements
Hiring managers often leverage looms to announce job openings on Twitter and LinkedIn. These videos are an engaging way to grab people’s attention and walk them through the nuances of each role.
Plus, because you’re sharing the details in such a personal medium (and on personal social media channels), everyone feels more connected to the opportunity from this first point of contact. When people comment, react to, and share the posts, it amplifies the opening and strengthens the pool of candidates who apply.
3. Managing the recruiting process
The recruiting process is complicated, no matter how much you streamline it. We use Loom to educate team members (or Loommates) on our newly revamped recruiting process and to prep interviewers on candidates.
Loom videos also keep us moving forward with fewer real-time meetings. We train Loommates how to use our ATS tool to manage the recruiting funnel and input referrals. We send pre-briefs to interview panelists on why we are hiring, what this new hire will contribute to Loom, and what to prep for and expect during our “Superday” on-sites for our finalist candidates (see example below). We also show hiring managers LinkedIn profiles of the candidates we like best, and we give regular updates over video messages to maintain our progress.
4. Candidate evaluations
At many other companies, candidates receive an assignment that they send back to the recruiter via Google Docs, Sheets, or whatever tool they completed the assignment in.
At Loom, we’ll sometimes ask prospective team members to complete the assignment and send it along with a five-minute loom. This way, we can see each candidate present their project in a way that gives us some insight into their personality and working style. Adding in a “Loom step” enables us to scale the interview process without sacrificing thoughtfulness or insight into the candidate.
5. “Come join us” videos
Imagine that you receive an offer for your dream job. Along with your formal offer, you get a bunch of personalized looms from everyone on your interview panel.
When we get to the stage where we make an offer, we want to share how excited we all are to have our new teammate join us. What better way to do that than through a bunch of ecstatic video messages?
Onboarding and information
6. A warm welcome
We want to be particularly helpful to new hires during the onboarding process. Loom helps us communicate essential information while also giving team members a warm welcome.
When we’re flying someone out to San Francisco for onboarding, we send them a loom to share all the details and walk them through where they’ll be staying, how to get to our office, and even what the weather is going to be like that week. Using maps and visuals makes it easy to ensure that everyone is prepared — not just to join our team, but to enjoy our city, too.
7. Team updates
It’s our job to give Loom teams the information they need, whether we’re explaining new benefits or we're celebrating our launch of Loom for Teams with a fun Cameo video for our Loommates from “Silicon Valley” character Russ Hanneman:
Creating looms gives us a tool to be expressive and intentional without requiring that everyone join us in real time. Instead, we can give everyone the space to absorb the announcements at their own speed and in their own working hours.
Because people work across different time zones, no one’s left out or missing information.
The Talent team’s job is to help team members feel seen, heard, and supported. Bringing opportunities and information to people over video enables us to share authentically, conveying important messages with a fuller range of both verbal and nonverbal communication. Loom empowers us to speak with empathy while prioritizing efficiency on our team and beyond.