Get Hired.com is a new company with a significant investment that’s pushing towards this, but can it work?
GetHired Nabs $1.75 Million To Launch Its Video-Centric Recruiting Platform & Job Board
Well, it’s certainly not a new concept, as numerous companies over the years have tried to encourage Video CV’s, but there have been so many obstacles I can’t see how this company has overcome these.
In theory, you would think that in the world of social media technology this would’ve worked 10 years ago when the first companies started pushing it. However, there are bigger areas to consider and employers, recruiters and candidates know that videos can open the door to discrimination and challenges for all parties.
Aside from the world of discrimination, good candidates need to tailor their CV to a job. Having a generic video CV for all of the jobs you apply for, is in essence then a step backwards, in terms of the way the world is going and what you as a candidate need to be doing to differentiate yourself.
So are you really going to embrace the cost of making a new or different video every time you apply for a job? Also, what about those of you who are camera shy, are you not going to lose an opportunity just because you are not the best at selling yourself on camera, even though you could be the right match for the job?
There are always positions where a video presentation could add value to the recruitment process, maybe for sales roles, presenters, media/TV careers, but it takes many different kinds of you, to succeed in a multitude of other roles and a video CV will not necessarily do you any justice.
As a concept that’s been repeatedly tried and tested over the last 10 years, recruiters, employers and candidates need to take care. Our screening process takes much longer if we have to watch a video, as opposed to being able to pull out the details we need on a CV in a few seconds. In fact, to gain the same details from a video, a recruiter or company has to keep watching for at least 30 seconds to even come close to what they might be looking for, which is just too long, unless you can create something in that first few seconds that ensures we keep watching! If you think about the sort of content that keeps people watching nowadays, is that really the sort of first impression you want to make for a job interview? The Big Brother or reality TV video comes to mind!
We are sticking with the online CV for now, and remember if you do decide to move forward on this, make sure you know what you are trying to get across about yourself. Getting this wrong, may mean the company or the recruiter will move onto someone else. So as much as recruiters and companies could end up ruling you out and having to justify it, you could also end up ruling yourself out, where if you had used the more traditional CV you might have been moved onto the next stage!
Click below for details of our next workshop where we’ll be talking about this in more detail
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February 2, 2012 at 2:29 pm
It is surprising that this video technology hasn’t come mainstream yet, but I believe it is on it’s way. The discrimination factor is definitely a deterent, but in reality the fact that video is discriminatory is a myth. You can garner the sex, race, and age just as easily from looking at a person’s resume. If you were basing hiring decisions only simply a static picture then you are open to discrimination laws, but a video does not subject an employer/recruiter to that. The EEOC would agree.
What companies who have tried in the past to implement video have struggled with, is an ability to make the entire process standardized and professionalized. The video creation process has to be easy to use by candidates and recruiters. I know a couple companies recently have figured out how to do that, and when partnered with staffing firms or corporations, have been able maximize efficiency and minimize money spent in the hiring process while finding better quality candidates.
February 8, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Anthony.
An interesting take on this and well formulated response. We would be interested to know the companies who have managed to accomplish this? My only concern is the word standardised, as what everybody needs to be doing in today’s market is differentiating so offering a standard cv albeit written or on video doesn’t really allow the candidate to embrace this differentiation.
However it would be good to know the companies who have got this down to a “T” as you are right they can play a part and perhaps even if not at the application stage maybe during the interview process.
Best regards
The Recruitment Queen