Quintessential Careers:
Are Video Resumes for You?
by Joe Turner
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Video resumes offer a new tool to get your foot in the door with a growing number
of employers today. But are they an advantage for you, the job-seeker?
Also called "visumes", a video resume is a short video of the job-seeker essentially
selling himself or herself to potential employers. Contrary to its name, a video resume is not
your resume on video. It's actually a short promo enticing the employer to take a look at
your “real” resume online.
Typically, these videos consist of a short sales pitch delivered on-camera answering the
question "why should you hire me?" Using a Web cam, camcorder, or digital
camera, most job-seekers film their own video. They then upload it to sites on the Web where
potential employers might view them. You'll still need your conventional paper resume though,
since video resumes are used primarily to attract attention, helping job-seekers stand out
among the rising competition on the Web.
Will it Fly?
For some time now, early-adopting job-seekers have been posting their videos directly to
Web 2.0 sites such as YouTube and MySpace. Now, video resumes are hitting the mainstream
as many of the major job and career sites (CareerBuilder, Vault ) are offering video resume
hosting, and several new companies (WorkBlast) are dedicated solely to hosting both employers'
and job-seekers' videos. In most cases, employers shoulder the costs, and the service is free
to candidates.
Are video resumes worth all this fuss? Considering the huge dollar investments supporting this
new technology by so many corporations, video resumes may be worth considering on that
factor alone. This growth wouldn't happen without the potential for profit and timesavings
for job-search sites and employers. Although some dissenting voices have been raised within the
industry, most notably around possible discrimination concerns, acceptance has been mostly
positive so far.
A Few Pointers
If you are thinking about creating a visume of your own, your main advantage will be increased
exposure. Employers will be more likely to view a short 1-2 minute clip than paw through hundreds
of paper resumes. The video resume also opens up a new visual element that can play to your
advantage. The downside is that you can appear unprepared, or even downright foolish. Last fall
a Yale graduate sent his video to a major Wall Street investment firm and later found his video
posted on YouTube, mocked throughout the Internet for its preposterous, bragging style.
Although all that's required to record your own video is some sort of digital video recording
device that can upload to the Web, it helps to know what you're doing. Think of the video
resume as a short trailer for a new movie. It has all the action elements necessary to entice you
to see the movie itself. Same with your video. It should be brief and to the point.
Free advice is available, but you may wish to invest in some education to guide you through the
scripting and recording process. Some individuals in higher-level executive positions are hiring
producers who charge up to $3,500 for a professionally produced video. Most candidates
won't need such elaborate production, but some forethought in planning and scripting would
be well advised for this new technology, still in the infant stage. No doubt, the format will
evolve considerably in the coming years.
Final thoughts
Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search
terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
Have you taken advantage of all the many free resume tools, articles, samples, and more that we
have in the Resume Resources section
of Quintessential Careers?
It remains to be seen whether this new format will take off with actual employers and recruiters,
or fall flat on its face. Some informal studies claim that considerably more than 80 percent of
respondents replied that they would definitely look at a video resume if given the opportunity.
And why not? Given a low risk on the part of the employer, it's easy to see how this unique
format can add a new perspective to an old face -- the paper resume.
Here is the way it works: As a candidate, you are typically allowed from one to three separate video
uploads to these sites, in addition to uploading your conventional resume. You can link your video
to your full bio, including your "real" resume. Employers can perform the usual keyword search
and view the resulting videos before looking at the resumes. It's an easy click for employers to
view the full bio of candidates they wish to learn more about.
Video resumes are offering a new wrinkle to the job-search process because they offer both
timesavings and a new dimension to candidate evaluation for employers and recruiters. Time will
tell how widespread this acceptance will be within the industry. At this point, though, the added
exposure you may receive could be reason enough to add a video resume to your job-search
approach. The major caveat is to educate yourself to produce as high a quality product as
you can. Remember, your video may easily be viewed by thousands of people across the world.
So put your "best face" forward.
As a recruiter, Joe Turner has spent the past 15 years finding and placing
top candidates in some of the best jobs of their career. He makes it easy for
anyone to find and land the job they really want all on their own in the shortest
time possible. Discover
more insider job-search secrets.
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