When and how to send a video message to a hiring manager

A hiring manager is the person you would report to if you got the job. Unlike the recruiter, they have a full-time job that is not hiring, and your application is something they look at between meetings.

A video message to them can work well for that reason. It takes a minute of their time and gives them something a form cannot.

It can also land badly if the timing or the tone is off.

Apply first, then send the video

Go through the proper channel before you contact anyone directly. The manager will look for your name in the system, and if it is not there, the video reads as an attempt to skip the queue.

Send the video within a day or two of applying, so the two arrive together in their mind. A video that lands a week after the application looks like a second attempt. One that lands before it looks like a cold pitch.

If the posting says the company only accepts applications through its system and does not want direct contact, believe it. Send the video to the recruiter instead and ask them to pass it on, or put the link in your cover letter.

Keep it under a minute

Forty-five seconds is plenty. The manager wants to know two things. Can this person do the job, and would I want to talk to them every day?

A longer video usually just makes the case slower. If you have a portfolio to walk through, say so and offer to do it on a call rather than doing it unprompted.

How long should an intro video be goes into length in more depth. Under a minute is right for a first contact with someone who did not ask for it.

What to say

Open with their name, your name and the role. Then give one reason you fit, with a detail that only someone who did the work would mention. Then a small ask.

This script fits in about fifty seconds.

Hi Lena, I'm Sam. I applied for the operations analyst role on your team yesterday and wanted to say hello directly rather than only as a line in the applicant list.

I have spent two years doing the reporting for a warehouse network, which mostly meant turning messy pick-and-pack data into something the shift leads would read. The part I liked most was sitting with the leads to find out which numbers they ignored and why, and then taking those off the dashboard.

If that is the kind of work the role involves, I would be glad to talk for fifteen minutes whenever suits you. My email is on the application. Thanks, Lena.

Sam leaves out his degree and his job titles, and he does not claim to be the best candidate. The manager can read the CV. The video shows how he talks about work.

Where to put the link

Put the link in the body of a short email, on its own line. Do not attach a video file. Large attachments get bounced or sit unopened, and some mail systems strip them.

Subject: Operations analyst application, Sam Ortiz

Hi Lena,

I applied for the operations analyst role yesterday. I recorded a short video introduction for you, under a minute, if you have a moment. [link]

The application stands on its own if you would rather read. Thanks for considering it.

Sam

The line about the application standing on its own lowers the cost of ignoring the video, which, oddly, can make people more willing to open it.

Do not send the same video to the recruiter and the manager under different emails. If the manager forwards it and the recruiter has already seen it with a different name on the page, you look like you ran a mail merge.

Record a fresh one for each person. It takes two minutes and they can tell the difference.

There is more about the wording in what to write in the note with your video.

What the hiring manager sees

If you send a hi.video link, Lena taps it on her phone or opens it on her laptop. She does not need an account or an app.

The page shows her name at the top, then your note, then the video, then one button that you chose, usually your email address for job applications. That is the whole page.

She sees her own name before she sees your face, which is why a fresh video per person matters. She sees your note, so the note should say something the video does not, such as the date you applied. And she sees one button, so decide what you want her to do.

hi.video has no uploads and no AI avatars, and the "Recorded in hi.video" label tells her the video was made with our recorder. It does not prove who is on camera, and the trust page explains what it does and does not mean. You, meanwhile, get a view notification when the link is opened, which helps with the "should I follow up" question, though a view does not prove who watched.

The link is unlisted. Anyone who has it can watch, and search engines are told not to index it.

If Lena forwards it to a colleague, that colleague sees the same page with Lena's name on it, which is fine. It is honest about who it was for. More on this in who can see my video link.

Mistakes that get videos deleted

• Sending before applying.
• Opening with "I know you're busy." They already know, and saying it spends five of your sixty seconds.
• Going over a minute without being asked.
• Reading from a script you can visibly see.
• Using the manager's first name when the company's tone clearly does not. Mirror the job posting.
• Attaching a file.
• Following up twice in the same week. Once, after about five working days, is enough.

Recording it

Put the camera at eye level, sit facing a window and keep the script out of sight. You can record your first hi on hi.video in the browser and retake it until you are happy with it. New accounts go through a quick camera check, so you find out about bad lighting before the first take rather than after the third.

The free plan covers five published videos a month, up to a minute each, without a credit card. If a busy application week needs more than that, the Pro limits are on the pricing page.

Then send it and go back to the rest of your applications. Record one video per role and send one email per video, and keep the email plainer than the video.