The Advantages and Disadvantages of Video Resumes

Lights, camera, action!! ?? Not a phrase you would normally associate with resume writing.

But this basic written format process could be taken up a notch by giving it the Hollywood treatment.

Job applicants know that the first step to getting hired is crafting the best resume for the position. Resumes are the first thing recruiters see. If they don’t pay attention to your resume, you don’t have a chance of getting in.

While crafting a professional-looking resume, sometimes a long and formal-looking resume may end up at the bottom of the pile, while the more creative ones get noticed.

While traditional resumes are still widely used, video resumes are becoming an increasingly popular way to showcase your skills and personality to potential employers.

A well-made video resume can enable you to promote yourself uniquely while also allowing a hiring manager to fully judge your personality and represent yourself more than you could with a typical CV.

So what is a video resume?

A video resume is a filmed presentation that is used to add appeal to a job application. Though just like a paper resume, they need to cover the essentials:

• Education
• Experience
• Interests

Successful video resumes are usually short and include high-quality editing with a description of how the prospective employee meets the specified job requirements.

Now that we know the basics, let’s read up on the advantages and disadvantages of turning over such a unique format:

Advantages

• They are unique:

Video resumes are very unique. Once a recruiter sees a video in his pile of resumes, his curiosity will definitely be piqued, and he will want to take a look at it. As you are aware, the first stage in the job seeking process is to get their attention. You've undoubtedly succeeded in achieving that goal by using a video resume.

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• They display your skills:

Video resumes help make your personality, skills, and talents evident immediately. It can help you be much more nuanced about conveying your skills and competencies, and this makes it is very easy for your recruiter to immediately appreciate what you can offer to the company.

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• It gives you more control:

A video resume is sort of like your first live interview, wherein you get a chance to answer the types of questions normally asked in your initial interview, but you get to do so in a more controlled and stress-free environment. This helps you appear confident and unfazed, giving the interviewer a great first impression.

Disadvantages:

• Informal

It is still informal. While video resumes may be impressive, they may still come off as an informal execution of an otherwise traditionally written based format. After all, some companies still choose to do the traditional way of hiring employees.

• Unconventional

Viewing your resume may not be as convenient as a printed piece of paper. If your recruiter wants to clarify a certain item on your credentials, he can’t just easily glance at a piece of paper, he has to load your video and go through the whole thing again. This might turn out to be tedious, so it is best to print out a brief summary of your accomplishments and credentials just to provide them with a quick and convenient way to review your “presentation.”

Some important tips from yours truly, a video editor:

• Make sure you shoot your video in a well-lit area
• Ensure your voice is clear in the recording and that there are no distracting background noises (Birds, cars honking, loud Acs etc)
• Write a script in advance and do multiple takes to streamline the flow of your video.
• Keep it short. Recruiters are busy people. They have a lot of resumes to get through and they want to be able to do it as quickly as possible. If you send in a feature-length biopic about your life so far, it’s safe to say that they aren’t going to watch it in its entirety.

Conclusion:

Whether you’re a recent graduate, changing careers, or simply looking to refresh your job search, a video resume that supplements your existing written one, could give you just the edge you need to get noticed by employers.

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