News

Video Resumes

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

August 1, 2007 (WLS) -- Career tapes are the hot tool in job hunting. We'll have the do's and dont's of recording your resume. Joining us this morning is Mike Erwin, Senior Career Advisor with CareerBuilder.com

The new video resume service enables job seekers to enhance their online applications with videos highlighting their qualifications, accomplishments and other key information. The interest in video resumes continues to rise with the pervasive use of broadband Internet and video technologies. In a November-December 2006 CareerBuilder.com survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, 60 percent of over 2,200 hiring managers and human resource professionals expressed some interest in viewing video resumes of potential candidates. Nearly half (49 percent) of over 6,000 workers expressed some willingness to post a video resume of themselves to capture the attention of prospective employers

Do's

Dress professional; treat this video resume like you would a first job interview.

Introduce yourself; let the employer know who you are.

Be concise; rule of thumb: keep your video between 1-3 minutes long. Time flies by when you are taping it, but not when an employer is watching.

Make eye contact and be enthusiastic; show off your personality and let the employer see how excited you are not in just words, but your tone and body language.

Focus on results; tell employers what quantifiable results you've delivered for other companies and what you can do for them.

Be thankful; don't forget to end your video by thanking the employer for their time.

Practice runs; get used to talking in front of the camera. Try writing down your thoughts and practicing it in front of a mirror to get a feel for your facial expressions.

Use a Tripod; keep the camera on a level area to avoid bouncing and image streaking.

Tape a few seconds; then check it out to make sure the lighting, background and sound are ok.

Don'ts

Dress in casual clothes; this is your first impression - make it a good one.

Just start right in; take a moment to establish who you are and why they should continue to watch.

Tell your life story; keep the information relevant to the job and industry you are applying for.

Read from a script; no one wants to watch you read from a script behind the camera.

Just read your resume; employers want to know more about than what is on your resume - here's your chance.

Go overboard; if you are running long on time, take a 2nd look to see what you can leave out. Don't just cut it off without saying a quick summary or thanks.

Forget to review; take a look at what you've taped to make sure its good on time, sounds and background. We want to see & hear you clearly!

Hold the camera; no tripod? Get creative with a stack books or boxes.

Waste your time; Be sure to do a test tape and verify we can see and hear you clearly.

This is your chance to show an employer the things they can't see in your resume - Make It Count!

Check List

Wear a professional outfit

Check your environment:

Lighting - Make sure you don't have any shadows

Background - Solid colors work best; just make sure you don't blend in.

Windows - Avoid sitting in front of if possible. If you can't, make sure no light is coming (try hanging a something with a solid color over it).

Noise - Check for background noises: coughing, doors opening/closing; talking; car horns, etc.

Distance - make sure you are centered in the camera frame from the waist up.