Video résumés may seem like the next big thing to hit the job world but many hiring decision makers such as HR chiefs, recruiters and executives would rather hit the eject button than view another one.
Until video presented itself, the pre-interview screening process of comparing one résumé versus another was comfortably black & white and decidedly lacking in color. Consider the fairness of an automated résumé screening process where candidates with the right keywords rise to the top.
Still, it’s tempting to call video résumés a classic example of a disruptive technology that rubs old school managers the wrong way. But it’s really not a technology issue – it’s more a matter of process. The video résumé potentially biases an otherwise black & white talent judgment by recruiters and hiring managers.
Aside from ethical considerations, video résumés lack standards for production, quality or content. Hiring managers complain that they tend to be funky, funny or offensive. The bottom line is that they often don’t reflect well upon the job candidate.
These variables means that managers who review a video résumé don’t know whether they are about to view something promising or a waste of time. Best case, it takes substantially longer to view a video résumé than it does to read one or two pages of job history, education and accomplishments.
On the other hand, video isn’t the only possible visual bias that comes into play. Many job seekers have video links or photos up on their social media sites. “With a video résumé, a candidate’s face is there for everyone to see,” says Steve Guine, NY-based HR consultant and recruiter in the financial services field. “This makes it easy to reject a candidate out of hand.”
Boston Globe columnist Penelope Trunk, author of the book, Brazen Careerist, makes the case against video résumés:
- “Don’t do it unless your biggest selling point is your charisma because it can only hurt you.”
- “Hiring managers spend ten seconds on each résumé. It takes ten seconds just to start up a video résumé. So the hiring manager has to invest more time in checking you out if you submit a résumé via video.”
- Don’t be too authentic! “Corporate hiring managers are used to [viewing] coached video, so authentic video will strike them as sloppy and unprofessional.”
- “But let’s say everyone hands in a video résumé. There are so many nonverbal issues that will matter way more than what is said, that the person who will look best on the video is the one who had the most coaching.”
Guine, the recruiter, recognizes that it’s too late to put the video genie back in the bottle. “There will have to be more oversight in dealing with this as there is potential for abuse,” says Guine. “Metrics should be rigorous and reporting timely in order to spot trends or biases. On the other hand, this may also be the tool we need to ferret out the recruiters that are biased.”
The prospect of viewing video résumés doesn’t thrill all hiring managers either. “I think it’s risky, risky, risky for people to send a résumé talking about themselves,” says Devin Thorpe, CEO, Thorpe Capital, a middle market investment banking firm in Salt Lake City. “Very few of us look like the people in Hollywood and there’s some risk that you will come off wrong – that you can hurt yourself more than help yourself.”
HireVue’s CEO Mark Newman suggests that there are approximately five thousand video résumés in circulation at the moment. These are clearly early days for this technology and even talented videographers should be patient about pursuing them too aggressively. Given the chilly reception that video résumés receive in the job world, the wisest move for now is to carry on without them.
I think you’ve really hit on something here with “video résumés lack standards for production, quality or content. Hiring managers complain that they tend to be funky, funny or offensive.”
This is truly one of the issues with many “new cool” tools on the market when they first come out. They are fresh, fun ideas that play to viewers sense of entertainment. But once the blush is off the rose, those who really depend on hard data to make hiring decisions are seeing that a “talking resume” is only that.
On the other hand, video is here to stay, and the systems that incorporate some business sense will win. In order to offer real value and time savings to employers, a system that incorporates Video resumes or video interviews must also have:
- a copy of the text resume and keywords as well
- a standardized, compliant set of interview questions for the apples-to-apples comparison
- links to other kinds of due diligence about the candidate so that everything is in one place
- test results from assessments or skills tests
- other’s testamonials, references, or endorsements of the worker
- links to any existing social networks
- links to the candidate’s website, blogs, portfolio etc.
When systems that incorporate all these pieces, then and only then will the video piece be seen as the really valuable corporate culture and personality fit screen that has been missing in the automated systems to date.
Video resumes are not here to REPLACE due diligence and screening tools.. They are here to enhance them. Video interviews are progressive tools that should save time and money in the screening process. The bottom line is that saving employers time and money trumps the fun factor all day long.
Check out InterviewStudio at http://www.interviewstudio.com for an example of what a valuable new platform that incorporates video should look like.
Colleen Aylward
CEO
InterviewStudio.com
See us October 10-12 at the HR Technology Conference at Navy Pier in Chicago. Booth #729
I have to agree with Colleen. Video is here to stay and will only grow more with time as both job seekers and hiring managers learn how to best use them. The current hiring processes of so many organizations are very inefficient and need to be improved, and video will definitely help to fix so many areas.
The biggest problem with current hiring practices is the fact that initial decisions on whether to speak with someone regarding their candidacy for a position are strictly based on some “text”. If your “text” looks good, then you get the call. If not, nothing happens.
I can tell you, as a sales recruiter, this is the worst thing that you can do – but is necessary today due to the limited tools available outside of the “traditional” screening process. There have been many times I have brought in “stellar” candidate (based on a great resume)to be interviewed only to be disappointed in person. On the other hand, I have taken chances on several not-so-slick resumes (after a telephone screen) and been pleasantly surprised when I see them “live”.
There have been several examples in our recruitment practice of this second group being hired by clients, and becoming top sales people within the first year of hire.
As a result, using a video screening tool makes a lot of sense if it includes many of the things which Colleen refers to.
Darryn Severyn, MBA, BSP, CCPE, APSC
President and Founder
Severyn Consulting Group
http://www.severynconsulting.com
PharmaCareer
http://www.pharmacareer.ca
[...] Hiring managers say that video resumes tend to be “funny, funky, or offensive” and too time-consuming to watch to be really useful. (see No Jobs for Video Resumes Yet) [...]