Video/Podcast Resumes

There is an increasing fervor around video/podcast resumes.  Of course, I have my two cents…

I regularly advise my clients, whether job seekers or hiring companies, to avoid pictures, videos, podcasts, and the like.  Let’s look at it from these two different perspectives.

Job Seekers:  When you opt for a visual format for your resume or decide to attach a picture, you are asking the hiring manager to make a judgment based on your appearance alone.  You’re hoping he will see the professional demeanor, hear the timbre of your voice, and then decide that you are the greatest thing since the microchip.  That’s not going to happen.  At best, the hiring manager will view your document and decide to call you in because your picture enhances your candidacy.  (It’s more likely that you’ll get a call because he/she is sexually attracted, and that’s a dangerous place to be.)  At worst, you’ll get rejected because you remind the reader of a disliked relative.  In fact HR advises hiring managers not to view resumes with pictures, so the chances are good that your visual c.v. will end up in a trash file.

Hiring Companies:  Opening a resume with a picture or a podcast from an applicant places you in the unenviable (and legally dangerous) position of knowing the gender, approximate age, and race of your candidate, and you jeopardize your ability to claim that you rejected the resume solely on its lack of merit.  Make it a firm policy to delete such submissions and you’ll save yourself untold legal fees and headaches.

Be sure to contact me for more information: 973-256-3757 or via email at ed@FullSpectrumHR.com.