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.

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 the 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

[AjiNIMC]

I won't agree. Sometimes when a talking person can add few more dimensions helping you make a better decision.

>> You're not George Clooney or Jennifer Anniston.
I guess, no one is expecting you to be either.

Video resumes >> Overall there are no books/rules on video resumes as there are no mistakes. When people will start using it on a regular basis there will be a phase of optimization which will fine tune it. Calling it useless with be a too early call.

How about writing a book together on video resumes. I already added it as an open idea at almost9months.com :)

[Chelsea Duran]

First - Fantastic find on the great snapshot of Tom Brady. I probably wouldn't make him my first round draft pick based on looks alone.

I think that we're going to be seeing an overwhelming amount of video resumes in our inboxes in the next few years. With the latest batch of GenY internet babies starting to work at our companies, it's only natural.

I don't think the method should be thrown out completely, just don't let one video resume back your decision to hire someone. I think they're best used along side of an old-fashioned paper resume.