Video CVs vs. Video Screening

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a guest blog post for Jim Stroud’s RecruitersLounge outlining what I think are the major flaws with video CVs (VCVs) and why (contrary to popular belief) they would not replace the paper CV. Here it is:

We (Inovaz) have been involved with video in the recruitment process for more than two years now. We’ve built and launched a video-powered job board and a fully automated time-shifted video interviewing platform, we have been keynote speakers in a number of recruitment technology conferences and have been track leaders in quite a few recruitment unconferences. During this time one question has kept on coming up, a question raised by our clients, our users and people at various events we’ve participated in – how does video screening/interviewing1 differ from video CVs?

At first glance video interviewing and video CVs appear to be very similar – they are both recorded at the convenience of the candidate and reviewed at the convenience of the employer. From a jobseeker’s point of view they both do the same thing – they can get you in front of the employer much earlier in the recruitment process and help you stand out from all the other applicants for a particular job, thus significantly improving your chances of progressing further in the recruitment process and eventually being hired. The main difference comes from the actual process flow; In video CVs this is candidate –> employer, whilst in video interviewing it is the opposite way around – employer –> candidate. What I mean by this is the way in which the information flows. With VCVs the candidate decides what sort of information to include in their video, how the information should be presented (narrative, interactive video on YouTube, event a rap song) and how long the actual video should be. This presents a number of challenges for both the candidate and the employer.

Most often than not, VCVs end up being too long and they focus on information that has very little (if anything at all) to do with the job spec. This doesn’t help the employer decide whether you are the right candidate for the job and can therefore often backfire. A classic example is Aleksey Vayner’s longer-than-life VCV named “Impossible Is Nothing”, which not only didn’t help him get the job at UBS he wanted, but turned him into a YouTube “celebrity” (for all the wrong reasons). You can watch Aleksey’s video resumé (as well as the famous Michael Cera parody) here:http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/impossible-is-nothing

In video interviewing this flow is reversed, which means that you can still demonstrate your soft skills (language ability, how you come across, etc.) but this time the employer decides what you talk about – the employer asks you the very questions they want the answers to, questions that are relevant to the role you’ve applied to. This eliminates all the fluff and allows the employer to focus on the stuff that really matters (not on smashing half a dozen bricks with a single blow and bench pressing 495 pounds). With video interviewing, the employer also decides on how long your answer should be (e.g. max 2 minutes), allowing them to reduce screening times, which in the current economic climate (with record-high number of applicants per position) has become absolutely paramount. Just to give you an idea, one of the companies we are engaged with received this year alone 8,000 applications in just 8 weeks! I am sure you can appreciate how important speed and efficiency is for them and why submitting a video resume might backfire.

Having said that, we do appreciate the importance of having an application which is more than just words. In fact, we created OVIA with the belief that every job applicant should be able to get their voice heard. Given the advancement of technology there is no reason why people looking for jobs should still be using the same old antiquated process of dropping a resume off and praying that somehow a company will be able to tell who they are, just from the words on the paper. OVIA (and video interviewing in general) gives the employer the opportunity to see beyond the paper and into the person, the real you! At the same time it allows them to keep candidate screening time and cost to a minimum. Put simply, it’s a win-win situation!