Leading research, science and academic job board, www.jobs.ac.uk, is the latest online recruitment site to embed short video clips in its advertisements. Potential candidates can click on an 'employer video' icon next to a job and watch employees within an organisation talk about what it is like to work there.

The movies, which typically last three and a half minutes, can provide insight into the job, the organisation and its culture but could also be used to sell the wider benefits of a position, such as a location, explains Andrew Gordon, director of jobs.ac.uk. Jobs.ac.uk, set up by the Universities Advertising Group and is operated by the University of Warwick, lists 3,000 jobs on the site at any one time. Gordon says the introduction of video is a "customer-led" move as companies strive to find a way of marking themselves out as an employer of choice.

The use of video is gaining momentum in the online recruitment sector. Tim Elkington, managing director of online recruitment agency Enhance Media, reports that most big brands he has been in discussion with have set aside budget for the use of video in the next six to 12 months.

"It wasn't on the radar a year ago but clients now want to talk about it," said Elkington. "Video gives them a chance to interact with candidates and set against the backdrop of the YouTube generation, it represents a great opportunity." Gordon warns that "there is also a danger that it could be over-used".

www.jobs.ac.uk

www.enhancemedia.co.uk