To video CV or not to video CV

If you were eagle eyed, you may have spotted an article in the Evening Standard last night that suggested Video CVs (or Me-Vs as they called them) are heading to a recruitment process near you.

It is certainly becoming increasingly common, along with Skype interviews. At the very least it is one way to that might help you stand out from the crowd.

Speaking personally, I think this is an interesting development but one which has a number of challenges. I certainly can understand that it can show some personality before meeting a person, and that is valuable. However I fear that not all great candidates are naturals in front of a camera and this might actually introduce attractiveness/performing talent bias which may reduces the effectiveness of the recruitment process. A study in Italy last year showed that (at least in Italy) attractive candidates have a higher success rate for getting interviews!

I have sourced some quick guides to help you get started in this brave new world if you want to try something different or your application requires it.

> From Inspiring Interns – an infographic with all you need to know: http://www.inspiringinterns.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-video-cvs

>Another useful resource from Inspiring Interns – a dos and don’ts video (the meat starts at 1:12): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWGOuVdwrbw#t=11

>For a bit of contrast, another quick guide from TotalJobs: http://www.totaljobs.com/careers-advice/cvs-and-applications/how-to-make-a-video-cv

> An online job board with video CVs at its heart. I only encountered them while looking up links for this post, so I don’t know much. But they are certainly intriguing: http://www.videorecruit.com

Some examples:

This is a YouTube interactive CV. It has over 300,000 views which is pretty impressive and the production values are well within the reach of most people!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EzNll1U2N8

Adam Pacitti hit headlines for buying a billboard to ask for a job. He also made a video CV at the same time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGNxic8JG7o

And lastly, one for the innovators out there: Dawn Siff used Vine to create a 6 second CV! https://vine.co/v/b6wxtwrwP7P

Lastly, I just wanted to share the best tip I encountered. Look into your webcam for Skype interviews – don’t make eye contact with the person on the screen! Very easy to get wrong!

Have you found any video CVs that you’d like to share? We’d love to see them!

– Trevor Bibic, Careers Consultant, UCL Careers.