Video Resumes

Itís always good to continuously pontificate on whatís going to happen in the hiring market because sooner or later you get it right. You can happily forget all the times that you were wrong because they donít count, right?

Sometimes you find supporting material for your assertion because you were right. At other times because your internal radar leads you to material that supports your premise. And sometimes you just canít tell where it all came from.

And so it is that I would like to refer you to this article on a well known magazine called Career Journal. It details how candidates are using simple digital video cameras to create short ëvideo Resumesí. The efforts seem to have paid off for some of the candidates because they got what they wanted; a job offer.

The logic of video seem inescapable to me. Broadband is practically free in many countries and itís always on, always fast. All you have to do is connect a cheap USB camera to the PC and say Action!. No editing is needed because if you donít like the first attempt you just do it again until you get it right. Storage costs have also trended towards free and companies are now in a position to accept Resume videos and not worry about storage costs. Itís even a useful way to model excellence for training, but thatís a story for another day.

Video in the Mix
If you are considering creating a video for yourself, or allowing candidates to submit videos as part of their job application, my suggestion would be to create 4 short segments that run together. Each segment answers one simple question and should last no more than 3-5 minutes. When you do this on a real video you will soon see how long 5 minutes really is. For candidates I would suggest a brief personal introduction, a description of the top project that you have done, an overview of what you want to do and where you want to go, and finally, the logic of your fit with the company you are sending the video to. Anything more and you may lose the attention of the hiring manager.

For hiring managers my suggestion would be to get your questions direct from the horseís mouth. Ask the hiring manager about the profile of the perfect candidate and the questions he would ask that person to confirm the validity of their candidacy. Then structure 4 questions around this analysis. Just using the questions themselves might be a good start. Another option would be to create a corporate video that can be used for hiring. Not the typical kind of ëlook!, we are greatí advertising video that no one trusts any longer. Instead I am thinking of something that takes a look at what it is really like to work in your company. An honest, open look behind the curtain.

This can be placed on any and every page of your hiring website, and itís not that expensive to produce. Itís also a great way to do volume hiring, or for graduate hiring. The video can viewed by multiple parties in multiple locations, and the hiring managers can get an immediate sense of the candidate. At least sufficiently to make a decision to move forward, or not. Video has the affordability and usability issue solved.

Time to take a look?

Tools for Video Resumes: Hirevue ResumeBook.tv JobMatchPro.com Youtube Google Video Stashspace

By Frank Mulligan