Video Resumes

Video resumes in the past have not been taken seriously. That is until Aleksey Vayner, a Yale Student, submitted his video resume to an investment bank, UBS. The financial world thought it was a joke, but soon it became one of the best video resumes on YouTube.

This woke up recruiters, and now they are scrambling to make this more mainstream.

On Youtube alone there are currently over 1,590 video resumes. So it seems that people are taking this seriously. Not all the video resumes on YouTube are professional, people sing, rap, or do silly things.

Some employers are going onto YouTube and checking out these online videos. This allows an employer to pre-screen candidates before even meeting them. If you do make a video, keep it to the point, present your resume, the facts, show a little personality but don’t go to far. Remember this is for a job, not a popularity contest.

Is this the future of resumes? It’s hard to say. A lot of employers are worried about being sued for discrimination if they do accept video resumes. Photos on resumes aren’t usually accepted for this reason. Employers even black out names on resumes to protect against hiring more “English sounding ones.”

But on the chance that an employer does accept a video resume, you will stand out from the pack. I think that alone is worth the risk of putting together your own video resume. Employers get thousands of resumes, what better way to make yourself stand out than a video resume?

Video Resume

A video resume is a video in which a job seeker can convey his/her career objective, qualifications, experience, and educational background through job search activities. With new technology and popular websites specifically for the sharing of streaming media (such as YouTube or MySpace), the experimentation of video resumes is on the rise.

It is similar to an interview; just without the confrontation. You can edit as much as you want until it is perfected to your liking. It allows your creativity to show through while revealing your personality. It makes an impression and stands out from the crowd. A video resume can serve as a counteraction to the competition of several other sheets of paper.

Keep in mind that with a video resume, employers can discriminate on things such as your race, religion, and/or any disabilities that shouldn’t have any effect on determining whether to allow an interview or not. Be prepared for it to become a possible target of mass ridicule in the case it is made public.

This can be a strongly effective tool depending on what field of work and particular position you’re interested in. (Such as in entry level jobs and creative fields.) With that in mind, if applying for a traditional field such as finance or law, it might be better to stick with paper resumes, since personality isn’t necessarily the determining factor.

A suggestion would be to use a video resume alongside a paper resume, rather than as a replacement. An average video resume should be limited to a length of two to three minutes. Be very careful; you want to be remembered for the right reasons when looking for employment opportunities!