This past Sunday (January 7th), an article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, entitled "Candidates make videos part of resumes," that discussed a new trend in "video resumes." According to the article, these video resumes feature prospective employees highlighting their experience and discussing why they want a career in their particular field. The candidates then either send their clips to prospective employers or send their clips via a link through e-mail. Sounds like some sort of strange version of a video dating service to me, but then again, how many of us spend more time with our employers than at home with our significant others?
Apparently, there has been some success with this method, as the Chicago Tribune illustrates with a few examples (pdf). But others are skeptical and voice concerns about sending video clips to prospective employers, suggesting that some candidates could be turned down "for interviews after seeing what they look and sound like on video," which could also leave some employers "open to discrimination lawsuits."
Another article by NPR points out, in "Job Hunters Seek Winning Edge in Video Resumes," that while these types of resumes have been around for years, the "growth of broadband connections and the proliferation of easy-to-use video-making applications" have created a large increase in the number of people who post or send video resumes to employers. NPR similarly highlights a number of success stories with people that have utilized video resumes and received numerous interviews and job offers. But again, there's a cautionary warning: "pitching yourself on video can backfire." Not only might you turn off a potential employer with your video, but according to Peggy Mastroianni, "as associate legal counsel at the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission," videos can be problematic because they can also "reveal information -- race, religion, disabilities -- that shouldn't figure into who gets an interview and who doesn't."
So our advice? Tread with caution. If you do decide to pursue this route, you might want to get feedback from professionals in your industry before turning the camera on yourself. And then weigh the positive possibilities against the negative. You might hit gold, but then again, your video might become the thing that people send around the office for a good laugh.
What we do encourage is the utilization of technology (audio, visual) and the internet to showcase your talents . . . your actual work. Creating video or audio clips of examples of your work that are easily made available by the click of a mouse has also proven to be quite beneficial, but without many of the accompanying concerns over potential discrimination.
