Sunday, April 14, 2013
6 Tips For Creating A Hire-Worthy Video Resume
Lifehack: Unemployment may have dropped below 8 percent in recent months, but as the January 2013 numbers crept back to 7.9 percent, it’s hard to argue the job market isn’t tough. This is especially true for unemployed candidates, 4.8 million of whom have been out of work for 27 weeks or more.
With the market so crowded with job seekers, it can certainly be hard to stand out from the crowd. So it should come as no surprise how little face time your resume is getting with hiring managers and recruiters. In fact, a survey showed the average recruiter is only spending about six seconds glancing over a resume. Not a lot of time to show off what you can do.
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2 weeks ago i had a skype interview for an internship over the summer, to ensure having a quiet place and decent wifi I used the piano practice room in the basement which was great until I had someone ignore that the door was closed and tried to walk into the practice room. Thankfully the person i was interviewing for had a good sense of humor and told he he wouldn't hold it against me only if they popped up behind me and made faces. My point being that setting a do not disturb for making a video of yourself for a potential employer or skyping with a potential employer its best to make sure that you have full privacy.
Nowadays everyone from Grandma to my 7-year-old cousin can record a video of themselves. Every apple computer has a handy photobooth camera that can record a quick video. If you're going to record one of these "Please Hire Me" videos, I recommend finding someone with a decent camera.
For those of you on CMU campus, if you're considering creating a video, you have access to cameras, tripods, etc via the CFA. You can rent any equipment for 24 hours or over a weekend.
I'm not really sure how I feel about creating one of these videos anyways. This trend is an example of how crucial your image and presentation are to your potential employment. You can have the smarts and the skills, but if you can't sell yourself with a script and an outfit, then you should investigate other tactics.
I'm not sure how useful I creating a "video resume" would be. Okay, there's the Skype interview. That's a different animal. That happens after someone has already got their first impression of who you are based on the initial paperwork. But to have someone's initial impression of you be a video (save for actors.....where I can see how this may even be required in some cases) is weird. As an employer, I don't want to watch someone's video, and as someone looking to be employed, I don't want to embarrass myself. It is so easy to leave a bad taste in someone's mouth simply because of differences in style. Someone who might otherwise like you could HATE your video, or the idea of a video, and not hire you. I think it's too risky of a way to make yourself stand apart from the crowd.
I don't think that video resumes are a good idea for any designer, technician or manager working in theater. If you are an actor, it makes sense to have a reel that directors and/or casting agents can view before seeing you in person. I feel like most of the jobs on the other side of theater, however, come from who you know and where you've worked. There's no good way to say in a video all of the places that you've worked at and all of the people whom you've worked with. It's also nice to be able to brand yourself with Carnegie Mellon University when you're applying for jobs. It seems to me that a video resume would need to be coupled with a paper resume in order to be a useful thing. Also, theatrical resumes are so different from normal resumes that a video resume would also have to be completely different. Seems to me that it would be better to find a way to brand yourself on paper than to risk putting together a video that doesn't show off your network as well as you might need it to.
I agree with Jess, video resumes aren't the best in applying for a job in the design/management/technical departments of theatre. I feel like the best impression you can make is one where you're right in front of your future employer. Nonetheless, if worst comes to worse, these tips are pretty great for if you were going to do a Skype interview or the like. You need to make it just as if you were in the room with them as much as possible. You should also send them something tangible ahead of time so you can have more discussion about your work and something that they can take with them to keep you in their mind.
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