Executives have such broad bases of skills and experiences that they are showcased best in a combination of media -- not just resumes and not just videos. The very word "executive" points to the fact that they are multi-skilled and multifaceted, and this is one of the reasons that executive job search candidates want to "just get in front of the hiring manager" in order to display their wide range of talents: speaking skills, thinking style, stories of how they solved problems, confidence, management philosophies, and of course, personality.
Hence, we have the emergence of the “video” tool for getting an executive in front of a hiring manager virtually – particularly in today’s economic recession wherein hundreds or even thousands of candidates are vying for an in-person interview for the same job.
One of the issues with the recent onslaught of "video tools" for job seekers is that many are still centered around a “talking head” sort of video resume where candidates attempt to “talk their resume” into the camera, which is all about chronology of job titles. That does provide the viewer with a gauge of the candidate’s language skills, but that is not using video technology to its fullest. That is the age-old mistake of overlaying technology onto a traditional process, instead of using technology to enhance and upgrade the process.
Another issue with video is the length. Recruiters and hiring managers don’t have the time to watch a full video for every candidate in order to get to the specifics that relate to their needs.
And lastly, the video is only one piece of the vetting process for candidates, and should not be used alone by hiring managers to make screening decisions.
The optimal use of video for executive job search, therefore, is to provide the market with an online tool that:
- Combines a video with the other assets of a candidate all in one place in an elegant “wrapper” for presenting and viewing all data at the same time (e.g. resume, endorsements, assessment results, profile information, salary history data, geographic preferences, video interview, etc.) so that high end candidates can present themselves “in total” and so that more complete and informed decisions can be made quickly by hiring managers.
- Is easy for anyone to use. The online process is still daunting for many, so an easy step-by-step process is key for walking the candidate through the uploading of resumes, and setting up Webcams and microphones, in addition to the recording, erasing, and editing of their own video clips.
- Records and plays short video clip answers to specific questions, instead of one long run-on video that the hiring manager would have to wade through. This allows hiring managers to click on specific questions and answers, and skip around quickly to get to the data they need.
- Provides a library of EEOC-vetted and industry accepted interview questions from which to choose, categorized by industry job function. This ensures legal compliance throughout the process and takes the hassle out of any setup steps by the Employer or Recruiting Firm.
- Captures viewing metrics in Dashboard format for tracking purposes
- Stores all this data in a SaaS or cloud computing environment for security and instant access purposes.
Because of the research we’ve done in this exact area over the past 4 years, we’ve created a product called InterviewStudio which offers an elegant, easy-to-use presentation platform for executives in job search mode, and provides employers with a complete, compliant screening tool that enhances and shortens their recruiting process.
You can view a sample InterviewStudio Showcase here:
http://www.interviewstudio.com/show/Steven/Brister/145 .
Answered By: Colleen Aylward, CEO and Founder, InterviewStudio - 5/24/2010