We’re going to hear more about video interviews over the next year or two. When I first clicked on this link I thought they were talking about video resumes.
It’s easy to mix the two up. Let me describe the difference so you know which has merit and which is all fluff.
Video Interviews are interviews by recruiters or hiring companies done through internet video. You sit at your desk (or a desk somewhere at a rented office, or a friend who has an office, etc.) and you have a “normal” interview. They ask you questions, you answer them, etc. You try to look good (nice clothes, nice hair, etc.) and not twitch or say “ummmmmm” too many times. You now have to think about your background so it doesn’t distract from the interview.
A friend founded a company called HireVue and they are pioneers in this space. I love what I’ve seen of their product because you can do the interview and the company can send parts of the interview to various hiring managers or decision-makers.
The technology is only going to get better. On the high end you have HireVue. On the low end you have Skype (no cost to anyone, but doesn’t have the cool sophisticated tools that HireVue has).
Video interviews are legitimate and here to stay. They solve problems for the hiring manager (or recruiter) and the job seeker.
Video Resumes are… how shall I say this nicely. They are a joke. I know some people will like them and use them, but here’s my #1 beef with video resumes: I don’t have time to watch your video resume.
You know how they say recruiters give your resume 10 seconds? If your video resume is 2 minutes, or 4 minutes, how do I “skim” that? I have to watch the entire thing?
I’m normally not going to do that. Especially if I get 10 video resumes to watch… that could take an hour of my day, instead of 100 seconds of my day. No way I can squeeze that in.
The message you should get from the “I’m only giving your resume 10 seconds” thing is that you have to make it easy for me to pick out the value that I need when I skim. You don’t skim videos like you skim written documents.
There are other reasons why I don’t see video resumes taking off, including the quality factor. Sure you can shoot video, but will it look good? Will the lighting and sound be right? Will the angles be good? Will you know what to say so the entire time is captivating and powerful?
Most people will fail at at least one of those (or other) things making the overall quality or impression less than stellar.
I think video resumes is a fad that has passed, although I’m sure people will try to revive the fad again and again.
There you go: the difference between video resumes and video interviews!
