Video résumé – (not such) a good idea?

Video résumé, also called Visumé or Video CV is a short video in which the jobseeker presents his/her professional profile. It is best to publish it in Internet (YouTube, Google Video etc.) where it can be easily found by companies and headhunters. It does not replace the usual written CV, though. It can only function as an additional tool in the whole selection process.

A visumé shouldn´t last longer than 3 minutes and it should contain all the most important information about a candidate´s education and work experience. The video quality should be at least good and the candidate should wear smart clothes as if s/he were going to an in-person interview. S/he should sound natural; not too serious but not too relaxed, either. At the end the candidate should provide the viewer with some way of contacting him/her (e.g. an e-mail address).

What are the advantages of a video CV? Well, it shows the person´s communication skills and knowledge of languages. It can be used to show other skills that could not be possibly shown in a written CV, e.g. by graphic artists, singers, actors, and it generally puts the candidate in a situation that requires creativity. In general, some argue that it improves the whole selection process by giving the recruiters access to some key information in human communication (voice, image, gestures etc.).

But this could also constitute a disadvantage. Since a visumé reveals the candidate´s race, age, sex and

possible disabilities, it leads to (conscious or not) discrimination on the part of the recruiter, which in turn might lead to lawsuits. It means walking on the thin ice for the HR departments and therefore is one of the reasons a lot of recruiters do not watch video CV´s. Others admit they do but only after the initial screening of written résumés, e.g. just to check the jobseeker´s language skills. It also presents some disadvantages for the candidate; if you publish your visumé online, you basically make your private information public. It might go viral if somebody finds you funny/ugly/pathetic or if it is not prepared very professionally (disturbing details in the background etc.). Moreover, it requires a lot of work to ¨move it around¨ in order to make it seen by as many recruiters as possible.