Save Time Recruiting Employees Through Content Recruiting

Recruiting can be time-consuming and inefficient – but what if you could streamline the process and attract better-fit candidates just by sharing helpful content upfront?

As the Senior Marketing Manager here at Berry Insurance, I’ve had to recruit for several roles on my team over the last several years and know how daunting it can sometimes be. But there is one practice I’ve implemented that has completely changed the recruiting process for me, saving me hours in email and phone communications with misaligned applicants. I like to call it content recruiting. 

Sure, we’ve all heard of content marketing, but did you know the same strategy can apply to recruiting? Well, I’ve tried it and it works.

In this article, I’ll let you in on the secret to content recruiting by explaining how to create recruiting content, when and how to use it, and which types of content you should have on-hand.

How to create recruiting content:

As I mentioned, content recruiting follows the same principles as content marketing which is a strategy where businesses create and share useful, relevant content – like blogs, videos, or guides – to attract and engage their target audience.

It works because instead of pushing a product, it builds trust and credibility by helping people solve problems or learn something, which makes them more likely to choose that business when they're ready to buy.

So with content recruiting, you’re both building trust with the candidate and empowering them to choose if your company is right for them based on what they’ve learned.

If you’ve never done something like this, you may be overwhelmed and wondering where to begin. You’ll want to create a strategy that works for you in terms of planning and executing your content. Again, this process can be customizable to you and your company, but here are some tips:

Plan your content: 

You probably know your company’s buyer’s journey pretty well – depending on your industry, it’s probably some variation of this: your buyer considers buying a product or service, researches the product or service, researches and considers which company to buy from, reaches out to you to gather information, then decides whether or not to buy from you. 

Well, the journey candidates experience when deciding whether to apply and work for your company isn’t much different – they consider making a career change, research companies to apply for, interview and gather information from you, then decide whether they would like to work for you. 

So to strategize creating content, you should start by thinking of that candidate's journey. What are they thinking and feeling during each of those stages? What questions are they asking themselves? It’s your job to identify and answer those questions through written and/or video content.

Brainstorm some topics, create a list, and prioritize them based on importance.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out the content we’ve made in our Career Resources Center, which I will tell you more about shortly.. 

Create the content:

Once you have your ideas, it’s time to get to work on creating the content.

For our team here at Berry Insurance, that is easy because we have a full-time Content Writer and a full-time Video Producer on staff, but even if you do not have the appropriate staffing, this is still something you can do on your own with the resources you have. Sure, it may not be the most polished content, but the main objective here is to be transparent and answer questions, not to show off our skills.

Which brings me to my next point: when creating content you need to be transparent. Focus on truly answering the questions you're addressing honestly and thoroughly. Don’t claim you have a fun and laid back office environment if your employees truly just keep to themselves and get their work done. Don’t say you have a generous time off policy if you really just provide the bare minimum. If you aren’t honest with yourself and your candidates, the content will not effectively do its job in finding the right candidates for you. 

If you’re putting yourself in the candidate’s shoes when you create the content and being thorough and honest with the information you’re sharing, that’s really all there is to it. 

When and how to use recruiting content:

You may have the content, but if you aren’t utilizing it correctly, you won’t be getting the most out of it. There are a few ways we use our content, which I’ll share in this section, but you may find other ways work for you depending on your industry, strategy, and current recruiting process.

Have content available on your website:

Every time we create a new piece of recruiting content, the first thing we do is publish it to our Career Resources Center – our content hub linked from the Career Page—where candidates can browse by topic or filter by role.

If you don’t want a dedicated center for your recruiting content, you can simply upload it to your company blog, if you have one. 

Having this content online will help candidates come across it on your website or based on their Google searches, which could potentially bring in some great candidates who may not have otherwise found you.

Introduce yourself with information:

One of the biggest game changers in my recruiting process has been sending content to candidates before ever speaking with them.

When a handful (or even hundreds) of resumes are coming in from a job posting, it can be difficult to judge which candidates are good fits. You don’t want to disqualify someone who potentially could be an all-star employee, but you also don’t want your full-time job to be conducting phone screenings.

That’s where the recruiting content comes in! 

When reviewing candidates, I identify those who seem like a potential fit but, instead of immediately scheduling a phone screening, I share key details about the role along with a couple of articles, asking them to review them before deciding if they want to proceed with a phone screening. 

Since implementing this, I’ve been surprised by how many candidates self-eliminate before an interview. While it might seem negative, it’s actually a time-saver. Think about it: you avoid interviewing candidates who aren't a good fit and would have eventually dropped out anyway.

For reference, here is an example of the email I send to to potential candidates:

“Hi Name, 

Thank you for applying to the Digital Content Writer position here at Berry Insurance. 

I would love to schedule an initial 15 minute phone call to discuss the position, but before you decide if you want to move forward with this interview process, please note this job is 8-4 and is located in our Franklin MA office, with the option of two remote days per week. 

Also, please read these two articles, which will help you get a better idea of what the position entails so you can gauge if you are interested: 

Digital Content Writer FAQs: What to Consider when Applying

A Week in the Life of a Digital Content Writer at Berry Insurance

I’m looking forward to hearing from you, 

Corin Cook”

Had I used this method sooner, I would have saved the hour I spent interviewing a candidate who asked, “Can this be fully remote? I’m really looking for a remote position,” at the end of the interview(yes, that really happened). Just listing details like hours and in-office expectations in the job description isn’t enough—providing clear, detailed content upfront helps candidates better understand what to expect.

Another benefit of providing this content is that if the candidate moves forward, they’ll be well-informed about the position and company. This allows you to skip basic questions and focus on deeper conversations to assess if the candidate and the role are a good match.

Provide other articles as questions come up:

An interview process can be long, especially if you’re being thorough (which we always recommend.) That means there will likely be other questions that come up during the process that you can provide content around. 

Let’s say a candidate asks about what the onboarding process will look like. Rather than trying to answer on the spot and risk forgetting an important detail, you can answer as best you can then offer to send them a more in-depth resource like this later: What does the Berry Insurance Onboarding Process Look Like? 

A candidate asks about benefits? An article like this: What Employee Benefits does Berry Insurance Offer? can provide additional insights and details that you may not think to include when answering during the interview.

This strategy can be especially helpful if a candidate thinks of a question after the interview or is deciding whether they will accept an offer with you. Rather than attempting to type a long email response, you already have a well-thought-out resource you can send.

The long-term payoff of content recruiting

Content recruiting isn’t just a time-saver – it’s a smarter, more strategic way to hire. By proactively answering candidates’ questions through honest, well-crafted content, you empower them to self-assess their fit and come to the table informed and prepared. The result? Fewer wasted interviews, more meaningful conversations, and a better chance of finding the right person for the role. If you’re not already using content in your recruiting process, now’s the time to start.

Ready to try it yourself?

Pick one current or upcoming job opening and build a small library of supporting content—think a day-in-the-life article, a list of FAQs, or a behind-the-scenes video. Test it in your next round of hiring and see how it changes the quality of your conversations. You might be surprised how much time (and frustration) you save.