Tom Brady - Posterchild For Why Video Resumes Are A Bad Idea...

If you are thinking about doing a video resume as a candidate, stop.  You're not George Clooney or Jennifer Anniston.

If you are thinking about using video resumes as a hiring manager, stop.  You'll limit yourself by seeing what the talent looks like WAAAAAY too early in the process.

As this Workforce Recrutiing article says, video resumes - no, video interviews - maybe...

When you are early on in the recruiting process, it's a stack of resumes.  The possibilities are endless, and you'll carve your 100 resumes down to 15 viable candidates.  You'll get excited about the talent as you pick up the phone to have initial phone screens with the candidates.  Some you'll click with, others you won't.

That's OK.

You'll bring the ones with whom you click in for interviews.  As you go out to your lobby to greet them, at least half will suprise you by not looking like whatever you had in mind.  Here's the cool part - the fact that you have already dug into their resume and heard their communications skills/energy over the phone will allow you to give them a chance, even if they don't look the part.  That's how folks who aren't models get hired and thrive in organizations.

If you started with the video resume, those folks never make it in the door.

Case in point, the picture below of NFL megastar Tom Brady before he was drafted.  If you were recruiting for a NFL star and were presented with this snapshot, would Brady have been called in for a live interview?

I thought not. 

All I'm saying is give every candidate a chance - just say no to video resumes and photographs......

If you are thinking about doing a video resume as a candidate, stop.  You're not George Clooney or Jennifer Anniston.

If you are thinking about using video resumes as a hiring manager, stop.  You'll limit yourself by seeing what the talent looks like WAAAAAY too early in the process.

As this Workforce Recrutiing article says, video resumes - no, video interviews - maybe...

When you are early on in the recruiting process, it's a stack of resumes.  The possibilities are endless, and you'll carve your 100 resumes down to 15 viable candidates.  You'll get excited about the talent as you pick up the phone to have initial phone screens with the candidates.  Some you'll click with, others you won't.

That's OK.

You'll bring the ones with whom you click in for interviews.  As you go out to your lobby to greet them, at least half will suprise you by not looking like whatever you had in mind.  Here's the cool part - the fact that you have already dug into their resume and heard their communications skills/energy over the phone will allow you to give them a chance, even if they don't look the part.  That's how folks who aren't models get hired and thrive in organizations.

If you started with the video resume, those folks never make it in the door.

Case in point, the picture below of NFL megastar Tom Brady before he was drafted.  If you were recruiting for a NFL star and were presented with this snapshot, would Brady have been called in for a live interview?

I thought not. 

All I'm saying is give every candidate a chance - just say no to video resumes and photographs......

If you are thinking about doing a video resume as a candidate, stop.  You're not George Clooney or Jennifer Anniston.

If you are thinking about using video resumes as a hiring manager, stop.  You'll limit yourself by seeing what the talent looks like WAAAAAY too early in the process.

As this Workforce Recrutiing article says, video resumes - no, video interviews - maybe...

When you are early on in the recruiting process, it's a stack of resumes.  The possibilities are endless, and you'll carve your 100 resumes down to 15 viable candidates.  You'll get excited about the talent as you pick up the phone to have initial phone screens with the candidates.  Some you'll click with, others you won't.

That's OK.

You'll bring the ones with whom you click in for interviews.  As you go out to your lobby to greet them, at least half will suprise you by not looking like whatever you had in mind.  Here's the cool part - the fact that you have already dug into their resume and heard their communications skills/energy over the phone will allow you to give them a chance, even if they don't look the part.  That's how folks who aren't models get hired and thrive in organizations.

If you started with the video resume, those folks never make it in the door.

Case in point, the picture below of NFL megastar Tom Brady before he was drafted.  If you were recruiting for a NFL star and were presented with this snapshot, would Brady have been called in for a live interview?

I thought not. 

All I'm saying is give every candidate a chance - just say no to video resumes and photographs......

Comments

[Dave Hardwick]

Totally agree, though I used a positive-proof point in my blog post http://jobhacking.typepad.com/job_hacking/2008/08/good-example-of.html

[Tim]

Great post. As difficult as it is to speak about, we all know that hiring managers "click" with candidates for many of the wrong reasons. I have faced this many times as a candidate myself (much to my dismay - honesty, right?)

One such instance ... I went through a 5 stage interview process (separate events) for an senior HR position that would have resported to the firm's Senior Vice President & General Counsel. The first four visits were wonderful - all the things you hope for as a candidate. After #4 the Sr. V.P. began putting together an package for me and we had significant discussions regarding a transition into the role.

Last visit - CEO to get buy in. Seemed reasonable. I might have well been pouring a cup of water into a desert. Even though I had percisely the experience they were looking for (pre- and post- M&A change management experience that focused on integrating employee cultures, etc. The position also required a high level of technical HRIS knowledge because the IT group was going to be consolidated. I was a technical guy in a previous life.)

The awkwardness? I was too short. Just as I left the conference room he made the statement to the Sr. VP (not realizing that I was still able to hear.)

At the time, I was one of two finalists for the position. They decided to continue the search. They couldn't justify offering the position to the other candidate, but the CEO just wasn't comfortable with me.

[Mary Ellen]

When I was writing my career advice column for The Washington Post, I would get pitches daily for why video resumes would be the next big thing, all workers need them, blah, blah, blah.

But I don't think they will EVER catch on simply because they are too time consuming for both the job seeker and the hiring manager. Especially the latter. How long do you have to scan a resume? 15 seconds? Are you really going to watch a 5 minute video instead? There aren't enough hours in the day to give everyone a fair shot at this. If you *did* have that much time, there are about a thousand ways you could be better spending it.

Oh, and your lawyer will hate it. Or love it, if he or she is on retainer and not staff. Discrimination already creeps into the process based on perceptions of people's NAMES. I have a hard time believing minorities would get a fair shake in a video-resume-required recruiting world.