The interesting thing about video resumes is that many people are uncomfortable watching themselves on video–so why would you not only make someone ELSE watch you–but base your hopes for employment on the video? Here’s some thoughts as to why video resumes aren’t such a great idea.
I’m noticing that the video resume craze is starting to pick up momentum. On the surface I’m sure that video resumes seem like a good idea to job seekers. Hasn’t everyone at one time or another said to themselves “If they could just SEE me, I know they’d want to hire me. This plain ‘ole resume just ain’t doing me justice!” Understandable, however the video resumes I watched certainly didn’t do anyone justice. Here’s why video resumes are a doomed proposition unless you’re gunning for a job as a news anchor and have a TV production studio to shoot your video. First. The nature of this format makes you a talking head on camera. I’ve made a video like this before, and I actually posted it on YouTube, and it’s very, very hard. The camera is completely, 100% focused on YOU, all the time. It doesn’t blink, it’s mind doesn’t wander, it doesn’t look out the window behind you occasionally, it’s totally on YOU. This means it catches every stupid thing you do. Even something simple like scratching your nose looks incredibly unprofessional when it’s caught for all eternity in a video resume. What about when your mind wanders when you’re giving your pitch and you slide in some ums and ahs? Those will be caught for posterity too. Great huh? If you think for a millisecond that job interviews are nerve-wracking-just try making one of these videos. Unless you have a teleprompter, you have got to know exactly what you’re going to say and can talk about it with some enthusiasm and style. Second. You have GOT to look professional. The few I watched on CareerTV–a place for great videos of career advice and where you can post your video resume–had someone sitting in a rocking chair (talking about how energetic she was), and another person in her medical scrubs, which wasn’t so bad, but unfortunately she didn’t take the time to edit her mistakes out of the video. These videos have got to be the absolute best you can give. It’s your one shot! In an in-person interview you can at least realize that you’ve made some mistakes, and pull it back together toward the end of the interview. Once it’s on tape, employers can watch it repeatedly. It’s harder to erase it from their memory. Think of the funny videos you watch on YouTube. Same premise. Also, you’ve got to watch what you wear! Whatever you would wear to an interview to make a good impression is what you need to wear in the video. You’re trying to use it as a supplement to your resume, so why would you dress in anything other than a suit? Third. Employers cannot not discriminate against you on the basis of your age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion-basically the things that have nothing to do with how well you do the job. By casually chatting on these videos you can inadvertently open up a Pandora’s box of issues that cause you to not be considered. One simple example: In your video, you state that you’re moving to a new city to be closer to your boyfriend/girlfriend. The phrase “to be closer to your boyfriend/girlfriend” is the problem. To you, it seems like you’re explaining about the move. To an employer, it’s too much information. As an employer, I get a vision of you turning down my job offer because you broke up with him or her, or after you move, you break up with him or her and plunge into the depths of despair because the ONLY reason you moved was for the relationship-which is now over. An employer may not want to take a chance on you with your baggage vs. a local candidate with less visible baggage. Stating that you have firm plans to move to the city is fine, if asked in an interview, you can say that you’ve developed an interest in the city and are looking forward to meeting new people. But discussing your personal relationships is just too much information. In an effort to be friendly and casual on the video, you can end up telling employer things that actually take you out of the running. Fourth. Again, based on that employer discrimination concept, as far as I know, the laws have not specifically tackled this issue of video resumes vs. non-video resumes. I know that currently HR departments are overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork they need to regularly submit to some governmental agency to prove that they’re not discriminating. That’s just dealing with the traditional hard copy and emailed resumes they receive from applicants. I know of another company involved in video resumes and they have to keep incredibly detailed records to prove that all applicants’ videos are being viewed for the same amount of time. Think about it. The last thing you want is for an employer to not consider you because you remind them of a relative or former employee that they never liked, and to immediately close your video before hearing you out. You also wouldn’t want a candidate who did a video resume to get preferential treatment over you who did not do a video resume. I know that there are some employers who like the new format, and to be honest, if I was a hiring manger, there are times when I’d wished I could see an applicant before bringing them in-but it’s because I know if I saw them first, I would not have invited them in for the interview. If you are still inspired to give these a shot, remember to keep it professional, dress like it’s an interview, and keep it as error-free as humanly possible. Good luck with that. It will be interesting to see where this idea leads, but for now, I’d recommend sitting on the sidelines to see how it plays out.
Here are some reasons why video resumes are a doomed proposition unless you’re shooting for a job as a news anchor or have a TV production studio shoot your video. First. The nature of this format makes you a talking head on camera. I’ve made a video like this before, and I actually posted it on YouTube, and it’s very, very difficult. The camera is completely, 100% focused on YOU, all the time. It doesn’t blink, it’s mind doesn’t wander, it doesn’t look out the window behind you occasionally, it’s totally on YOU. This means it catches every stupid thing you do. Even something simple like moving a lock of hair out of your eyes can look incredibly unprofessional when it’s caught for all eternity in a video resume.
What about when your mind wanders when you’re giving your pitch and you slide in some ums and ahs? Those will be caught for posterity too. Great huh? If you think for a millisecond that job interviews are nerve-wracking-just try making one of these videos. Unless you have a teleprompter, you have got to know exactly what you’re going to say and can talk about it with some enthusiasm and style.
Second. You have GOT to look professional. I’ve watched a few on some websites, and this one stood out. The few I watched on YouTube and other video sites–had someone sitting in a rocking chair (talking about how energetic she was), and another person in her medical scrubs, which wasn’t so bad, but unfortunately she didn’t take the time to edit her mistakes out of the video.
These videos have got to be the absolute best you can give. It’s your one shot!
In an in-person interview you can at least realize that you’ve made some mistakes, and pull it back together toward the end of the interview. Once it’s taped, it’s permanent–employers can watch it repeatedly. It’s harder to erase it from their memory. Think of the funny videos you watch on YouTube. Same premise.
Also, you’ve got to watch what you wear! Whatever you would wear to an interview to make a good impression is what you need to wear in the video. You’re trying to use it as a supplement to your resume, so why would you dress in anything other than a suit?
Third. Employers cannot discriminate against you on the basis of your age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion-basically the things that have nothing to do with how well you do the job. By casually chatting on these videos you can inadvertently open up a Pandora’s box of issues that cause you to not be considered.
One simple example: In your video, you state that you’re moving to a new city to be closer to your boyfriend/girlfriend. The phrase “to be closer to your boyfriend/girlfriend” is the problem. To you, it seems like you’re explaining about the move. To an employer, it’s too much information. As an employer, I get a vision of you turning down my job offer because you broke up with him or her, or after you move, you break up with him or her and plunge into the depths of despair because the ONLY reason you moved was for the relationship-which is now over. An employer may not want to take a chance on you with your baggage vs. a local candidate with less visible baggage. Stating that you have firm plans to move to the city is fine, if asked in an interview, you can say that you’ve developed an interest in the city and are looking forward to meeting new people. But discussing your personal relationships is just too much information. In an effort to be friendly and casual on the video, you can end up telling employer things that actually take you out of the running.
Fourth. Again, based on that employer discrimination concept, as far as I know, the laws have not specifically tackled this issue of video resumes vs. non-video resumes. I know that currently HR departments are overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork they need to regularly submit to some governmental agency to prove that they’re not discriminating. That’s just dealing with the traditional hard copy and emailed resumes they receive from applicants. I know of another company involved in video resumes and they have to keep incredibly detailed records to prove that all applicants’ videos are being viewed for the same amount of time. Think about it. The last thing you want is for an employer to not consider you because you remind them of a relative or former employee that they never liked, and to immediately close your video before hearing you out. You also wouldn’t want a candidate who did a video resume to get preferential treatment over you who did not do a video resume.
I know that there are some employers who like the new format, and to be honest, if I was a hiring manger, there are times when I’d wished I could see an applicant before bringing them in-but it’s because I know if I saw them first, I would not have invited them in for the interview. If you are still inspired to give these a shot, remember to keep it professional, dress like it’s an interview, and keep it as error-free as humanly possible. Good luck with that. It will be interesting to see where this idea leads, but for now, I’d recommend sitting on the sidelines to see how it plays out.
When republishing this article please include the below paragaph exactly as it appears. Melanie Szlucha has been a hiring manager for 10+ years. She founded Red Inc. to help people become more relaxed and prepared during the job interview process, and help them craft their resumes and cover letters to match what hiring managers are looking for. Find out more about her at Red Inc
Just a few short years ago, had you mentioned the word iPod, very few people would’ve known what you were talking about. Now the technology is in tens of millions of homes and continuing to grow in popularity. Likewise, many feel we are witnessing a shift in the way we communicate and devices unfamiliar to people yesterday will be all the rage in no time. And the device getting all the attention is the video phone.
The video phone’s functionality is made possible by something almost every home already has: the Internet. The high-speed connection we rely on to bring information to our computer screens can also carry our voices over the line. The technology is called VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP is the backbone of the latest breakthrough in telecommunications, digital phone service.
On its own, digital phone service sounds pretty appealing: unlimited calls, cheaper phone bills, great features and more. But combined with a video phone, digital phone service looks amazing. Video phones let users see one another rather than simply hearing each other’s voice on the line. Though it may sound, or look, too good to be true, most analysts agree that video phones will be present in the majority of households in the very near future.
One company is already making strides in bringing this futuristic technology to our everyday lives. ACN, the world’s largest direct selling telecommunications company, is also one of the world’s largest distributor of video phones. The company got started ahead of the curve and is poised to be a pivotal player in the video phone market as these devices become more commonplace.
”Seeing the person you are talking to on the phone is no longer a technology of the future,” said Robert Stevanovski, Chairman and Co-founder of ACN. “The video phone is something consumers are taking advantage of right now and it has become an integral focus of our company over the past few years. We believe that video phones will become just as common in households as we have seen before with other recent technological advancements, such as high-speed internet, mobile phones and iPods.”
As evidence of their commitment to the success of video phones, ACN has built its own VoIP network across the U.S. and Europe to support its video phone and digital phone service.
The product has a “wow factor”, the initial impression the video phone makes on its user when they experience for the first time what it’s like to see the person they’re talking to. In addition, video phones are incredibly easy to use, therefore ensuring users will want to take one home and put it to use long after the excitement has worn off.
The digital phone service, on which the video phone operates, simply runs on your existing Internet connection. To set up a video phone, you simply plug it in to a power source and attach the Internet connection. It’s just that simple. Video phones and digital phone service can be used to call any other type of phones whether traditional, mobile or video. And like a mobile phone, your video phone can accompany you anywhere there’s an Internet connection, so if you have to travel across the country, your video phone can connect you back home to see the ones you love.
It’s futuristic technology, only it’s here now. And if ACN provides any indication of what the future holds for this exciting device, the sky’s the limit. Digital video phones may just be the next wave of technology that truly changes the way we communicate.
Get featured on YouTube: bit.ly another video just to tell you updates such as my site i hope u go on it and enjoy it because it rocks!! thanks to tonythejavaguru and also crazy kyle his youtube account is dietdemon check him out woohoo =D also about my videos in future doing crazy shit for peoples reactions haha i hope u enjoy when they r out check out crazy kyles youtube: www.youtube.com
