Video Resumes Help you to Get Seen, Get Heard and Get Hired
The current economic situation with the crowded job market has prompted many job seekers to become much more creative and proactive in their job search. One method that's increasing in popularity is the video resume. Young graduates, media savvy professionals and even baby boomer accountants are turning to the video resume as a personal marketing tool to help them stand out from the competition.
In this article you'll discover:
What a video resume is and what it's not The advantages and disadvantages of a video resume Examples of different types of video resume formats Guidelines for producing your own quality video resume Tips on how to promote your video resume Tools you can use to produce your own video resume.
What is a Video Resume?
A video resume is a short video of the job-seeker selling himself or herself to potential employers. It is a short promotional sales pitch delivered on-camera that answers the question "why should you hire me?" While some job seekers hire professional service others produce their own videos, using a web cam, camcorder, or digital camera, which they upload to websites where potential employers might view them.
A video resume is not your resume on video but a short promo enticing an employer to view your "real" resume online. This mean you will still need a high quality tradiitonal paper resume.
The Advantages of a Video Resume
A quality video resume can act as a great complement to your conventional resume. It can showcase your skills, talents and work experience in ways that your paper based resume simply can't.
Illustrate and Demonstrate A video resume allows you to demonstrate highly valued soft skills such as your creativity, interpersonal, communication and presentation skills. For example, instead of just claiming that you've great presentation skills you can demonstrate your skill through your video resume. Producing a high quality professional video resume can also help you to demonstrate your design and technical skills. For this reason, (although anyone can use them) video resumes are particularly effective for professionals in senior executive roles, arts, design, media, marketing, sales and public relations.
More Memorable Information You can convey a great deal of valuable information in a more memorable way in a short period of time. Recruiters and employers are busy people, they typically spend less than 60 seconds scanning a print resume, if you can give them the information they need fast, then you're one step ahead of the rest. Also, the recall ability of most people for information presented through words alone is around 25-30% however when visuals are incorporated, the recall factor increases by up to 50% because our brain processes visual information more quickly than words.
24/7 Marketing A search optimised video resume posted on a social network, your own website or uploaded with an online recruitment agency broadens your exposure. It's out there working for you 24/7 while you continue to pursue your offline job search strategy.
Reduce the Barrier of Distance Video resumes can be useful if you're an overseas candidates as they can provide the employer with additional information as well as evidence of your fluency in English or other language(s) required for the role..
The Disadvantages of a Video Resume
At the risk of sounding like an old fashioned out of touch (ex) HR manager, after viewing dozens of video resumes from around world, I believe there are some very real disadvantages. Unless you have a well produced product and you're articulate in front of the camera a video resume can work against you.
There are lots of cringe worthy examples of people who did not present well in this medium, and yet I'm sure that off line, in a face to face interview with the guidance of a good interviewer, they would present much more effectively.
Presentation and persuasion skills are not that relevant to some jobs (e.g long haul truck driver) but a candidate may be screened out simply because they didn't project well on video.
Even though recruiters and employers must abide by human rights legislation video resumes highlight a person's appearance. It's a human tendency to connect more easily with people who are attractive and similar to ourselves so there's an increased risk of race, gender, disability or age-based discrimination.
The key to resume writing is to tailor your skills so that your abilities perfectly match the specific needs of the employer. Once a video is shot, however, there is no way to customize it. Unless you have the time, money and technical know-how to shoot multiple, custom-made videos for every job application, it's a one-size-fits-all solution.
Recruiters, HR personnel and hiring managers still require a well written resume. A video resume is only a snapshot of a person so a hiring manager will refer to the resume for more detailed information. Getting a (busy) recruiter or hiring manager to go online to view your video resume is therefore a very real challenge.
When you apply for a position very often you will have to upload a word or pdf copy through a website where it will be scanned and sorted based on key words (in or out). Once the recruiter or HR has your print resume they print it, scan through it and once again sort into yes, no and maybe piles. They write on them, make notes and highlight points that grab our attention so they can follow up. They may even take copies into the interview so the panel can refer to them. They can't do this with a video.
How will you use a Video Resume?
You need to carefully weigh up the pro's and cons of a video resume to determine if it's an appropriate tool to use in your job search strategy. You will be in a much better position to answer four important questions:
How will I use a video resume?
What format will I use with my video resume?
What will I include in my video resume?
When will I, and when won't I, use a video resume?
Two Examples of Outstanding Video Resumes
Graeme Anthony C.V.I.V - Skills
A former Public Relations executive and job-hunter in London, Graeme Anthony, created and uploaded a YouTube video resume. After the first introductory video segment, viewers are given the choice to browse through other segments like ‘skills,’ ‘portfolio’ or ‘contact.’ The interactivity provides a hook for viewers to explore his full resume. He notes on his YouTube channel that he is now permanently employed but his CVIV video has been made public in the hope that it inspires others to demonstrate their natural creativity and secure work.
The Q&A Video Resume Format
This is an example of a video resume where the candidate responds to a number of typical interview questions. Most professional video resume companies use this formula. It's also an excellent example of how a video resume can work for someone who's not a web/graphic designer/social media/marketing expert. If you're thinking of producing your own video the Q&A format would be a good format to follow.
Unlike many videos, Angelica doesn't come across as rehearsed or hard sell, and yet her personality and passion for her profession shines through. Note how relaxed and natural she is. How she smiles and maintains eye contact, and how the video includes photos of her interacting with students.
Too many video resumes are long, rambling "umm" and "ahhh" filled monologues that do little to communicate the skills, talent or value of the job seeker to the employer. You only get one chance to make a positive first impression so use these guidelines to plan and produce your video, and avoid some of the most common mistakes.
Keep the video short and simple Respect the recruiter's and employer's time. Your video should be one to three minutes in length and should not exceed five minutes. Your goal is to capture their attention and curiorsity so they want to learn more about you.
Poor production quality undermines the message. Poor lighting and sound, an inappropriate setting, music and bad editing are distractions that do little to present a candidate in a professional manner. The YouTube creater channel has lots of videos with tips and techniques to improve your production quality. (There is a link below in the tools section)
Gimmicky and aggressive hard sell is not a good strategy There are exceptions of course but very few of us can pull off this type of video convincingly. Executed poorly this approach repels rather than sells you to your audience. Keep your video professional, relevant to your position and dress as if you were attending a first interview.
Plan and draft your script Think of your video resume as a story with a beginning, middle and end. Introduce yourself at the beginning and give the viewer a reason to continue watching. In the body of your video highlight key skills and qualities relevant to the type of position you would be applying for and demonstrate how they would bring value to an employer. Use practical examples, quantifiable results and specific accomplishments where possible.
Rehearse and review Film a few practice runs to build your confidence in delivering your narrative in front of the camera. You want to sound professional without stifling your personality. View and critique your trial runs. Check for distracting hand and body movements, and that the lighting, sound and background are okay.
End with a call to action The point of your video resume is to secure an interview in person so end with an invitation for the employer to learn more about you eg. download your print resume or view your online resume. Remember to thank the viewer for taking the time to watch your video and provide contact details in your closing shot.
Ask for Feedback Once you've produced your final version ask friends and a few trusted colleagues for their feedback - before you post it online.
How will you Promote your Video Resume?
Once your video resume has been created, you will need to promote it to potential employers.
The first step is to upload your video resume online. (There are some hosting suggestions in the tools section below)
You can can identify recruitment and employment sites that offer a video resume feature
You can distribute your video resume to your network of contacts
You can also include a link to your video resume in copies of your traditional resume
You can include a link to your video through your social networking sites - like LinkedIn.
Need a Litle More Inspiration?
There are stories of people who have gone to extraordinary lengths to promote themselves using video and social media - some with great success. Most were social media marketing professionals whose "hire me" campaigns proved their expertise in the roles they were targetting. Here are two examples that went viral.
Braden’s Krispy Kreme “Hire Me” Campaign Braden Young spotted an opening for a sales and marketing manager with Krispy Kreme (a US based company in Philadelphia). He went all-out with an attention-grabbing cover letter, plus Facebook and Twitter pages. His campaign is detailed in this post by Corn on the Job.
GooglePleaseHire.Me: Matthew Epstein Matthew Epstein set his sights on Google with his HireMe campaign. He set up a website, which he called GooglePleaseHire.me, and produced a video resume for YouTube. He was trying to show he could market something - himself - and it paid off. In three weeks the website had 720,000 page views and people clicked on the video more than 450,000 times. He received 80 interview offers and engaged in phone and in-person interviews with Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Salesforce (among others). He didn't get a job with Google but he did land a dream job at a San Francisco startup.
Do It Yourself Promotional Video Resume Tools
You can make your video with a video camera, digital camera, laptop, webcam or even your mobile phone. You can also create a video for free with the following easy to use software programmes:
Once you've made your video you can create a free account at one of these sites and upload your video. If you choose you can set your privacy settings to private only. The site will create a link code that you can share with your audience or an embed code for your facebook, blog or personal website.
YouTube.com Screencast.com Vimeo.com Brainshark mybrainshark is a free software programme that enables individuals to make and deliver online, on-demand presentations. This is an example of how a sales professional used it to produce her video resume.
Too Hard? There are other ways....
Option One: The Professionally Produced Video Resume If producing your own video resume seems too daunting you can always hire a professional company to produce your video for you. The cost varies but be prepared to spend upwards of $NZ200.00 for a 2-3 minute video. You own the copyright, and it's up to you to promote the video however you choose.
Option Two: The Recruiter Agency Video Resume There are recruitment companies that produce and use video resumes with their client companies. However while they offer do-it-yourself video resumes to candidates (produced either via a webcam or at a professional studio) some recruiters retain copyright. The candidate can check the video resume to make sure it's okay, and can see how many times it's been viewed, but they have no control over the clip.
There are exceptions and US based company Talent Rooster is an example. Candidates produce and control their video resumes. They can post them on a recruiter's and Talent Rooster's site to create a digital profile. In 2011 there were almost 12,000 Talent Rooster videos that employers could search. View examples here
Option Three: The Infographic/Visual Resume Alternatively you can skip the video format and make an visual/infographic resume which you can convert to a PDF or post online. There are several formats and different ways of doing this. Check out the Career Smart articleCareer Smart Using Digital Media for High Impact Resumes
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