When video resumes were first introduced in the West, there was a lot discussion about their pros and cons. Some people hated them and others thought they would revolutionise the recruitment processs. A few years down the line, it became clear that in general, they weren’t of much use for recruiters or candidates.
The concept failed to catch-on and I didn’t hear too much about video resumes for a while.
However, few people recently asked me whether they should spend time preparing one, after seeing advertisements for a new website with video resumes in Singapore/Asia. The website is called Prevview.
My thoughts on the topic are as follows:
- Unless you are in a profession where you can actually showcase talents required for the job, in the video resume, I don’t think they are of much use. So if you are a musician, dancer, creative director or perhaps even a sales person, it can be of use. However, for most jobs it doesn’t really provide the recruiter any relevant information, which is not in your resume or cover letter already.
- The recruitment/selection process is subject to many biases and prejudices. Hiring managers and recruiters can (and often do) make judgements based on factors which are not relevant for doing the job well. Some examples include attractiveness, age, gender, nationality, race, accent and mannerisms. This is why in places like the USA, it can cause legal issues, if prospective employers ask for a picture of you, or information like your nationality/race in your resume. Sure, once you reach the interview stage, biases can still occur. However, with video resumes, I think you are volunteering yourself for such biases, very early in the selection process.
- We all know that recruiters and hiring managers spend very little time reviewing a resume. During this time, with a written resume, they are able to quickly scan through your profile and view information they think is most relevant. With a video resume, they can’t do this and will have to spend time going through the entire video to know what’s in there. Painful and not very efficient for them.
