Video CV conjecture continues to swoop the staffing landscape like a terrifyingly large big swoopy thing. But as marketers, shouldn’t you be the ones trailblazing the ‘next new thing’?

Surely there is no better way to showcase your talents than via the tangible phenomenon that is video technology? Pod-casts and web-casts are testament to the increasing rise in demand for real-time digital information so why is the video CV taking so long to initiate into mainstream corporate recruitment?

A recent muse from the Workthing+ directive offers an insight:

Question:

I work in a creative role and am on the lookout for marketing jobs. I was recently advised to make a video CV, because they show creativity and originality. I don’t know how to make a video CV, and am worried it won’t look professional. Do you know how to go about this?

Answer:

Ignore the hype about video CVs. It’s just a gimmicky fad that succeeds in telling the employer what you look like and how you come across on camera, but not much else. Even worse, the format you use might not viewable on a recruiter’s PC; or they might not find your CV from their database because they use a keyword search to find candidates. Even worse, some recruiters exclude any video applications – because they show the recruiter your age, skin colour and gender – all of which a recruiter cannot take into account on the grounds of discrimination.

Bells and whistles on CVs are generally a bad idea:

• Photos? Not unless you’re applying to be a model
• Word Art and other fancy formatting? Just looks tacky and might not be ‘read’ correctly by the automated tools (parsing) recruiters use to review CVs
• Tables? Avoid – tables may display strangely on different PCs
• Strange document formats? You might well prefer ODF or WPD files. Don’t risk the recruiter not being able to open your CV – use Word or PDF

Basically, it’s the content that should stand out, not the format. And there is one big trap you must avoid regarding CV content: waffle.

• ‘Motivated self-starter’: No recruiter will ever search a CV database for this or similar variants. If it goes without saying, don’t say it!
• ‘Able to work alone or as a member of team’: If you have nothing better to put on your 2-page CV than this, then you should be worried
• ‘Good timekeeper’, ‘dynamic and enthusiastic’, ‘enjoy spending time with my young family,’ and many more,,,
• As a general rule: less adjectives, more facts

So there you have it. Bang! This was the view offered by The Career Insider. What do you think about video CVs? Is it only a matter of time before they are integrated as part of the overall application strategy or is all the hype just that – hype?

We want to hear from you. Please share your views below.

Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs

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