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Choose wisely in job video

Who knew that “Legally Blonde” would be a forward-thinking movie when it came to job-hunting — and for more than just “what not to do”?

When main character Elle Woods made her sassy — but hugely inappropriate — video admission essay to Harvard in the 2001 movie, the producers probably didn’t anticipate the success of YouTube, self-video production and the inevitable human resources byproduct, the résumé video.

A recent CareerBuilder.com survey showed that 60 percent of hiring managers and human resource professionals expressed some interest in viewing video résumés of potential candidates.

Nearly half of more than 6,000 workers expressed some willingness to post a video résumé of themselves to capture the attention of prospective employers. This kind of response prompted CareerBuilder.com to be the first mainstream job-search site to add video to its menu of services. (That site is partly owned by Gannett, the parent company of the Military Times newspapers and Gannett News Service.)

But after Yale student Aleksey Vayner’s infamous “Does karate qualify me for a Wall Street job?” video was posted on YouTube, are we really ready to put our “qualifications” on video?

“By some, video résumés are considered a new fad that can be a creative way to market one’s skills — but it’s important to be in touch with the type of company and industry, and know their preferences,” said Paula Henders, public relations chair for the Central Iowa chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.

“For example, if you are applying to a video production company, I say go for it. If you are applying to a hospital, you may want to hold off,” she said.

HR professional Sue Kmet agrees. She saw many video résumés when she helped hire people at a broadcasting firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but doesn’t see them in her current position with PeddicordWharton, a Des Moines law firm.

“It’s almost going to take a change in direction for HR,” she said, because professionals are trained to ignore identifying traits that aren’t immediately obvious from a paper résumé.

“We are going to have to be more careful and give more thought to why we are hiring someone,” she said.

But for an industry such as broadcasting, video résumés can be an important tool. “It is a wonderful way to see your personality,” Kmet said.

Her recommendation: Treat it like a first line interview.

“One suggestion that I would have is to be professional,” she said.

Details are important. Use a clutter-free background. Make sure the lighting and sound are good. Don’t answer your cell phone in the middle or giggle or talk about what happened on “Days of Our Lives” as “Legally Blonde’s” Elle Woods did in her fictional piece.

“If I had one piece of advice, it would be that it needs to be thought of like a paper résumé. It needs to be perfect, but there is so much more to think about,” Kmet said. “If you look at it, or have other people look at it, and something isn’t right, do it again.”

While videos may be expected for fields such as broadcasting or other creative jobs, most industries just aren’t ready to accept this new form of résumé.

“It’s important for candidates to understand that employers may only accept online résumés or applications, and submitting a video résumé may not be an appropriate way to express their interest in a position,” Henders said.

For now it might just be the novelty of something new that drives people to look at video résumés.

Slightly more than half — 58 percent — of employers and hiring managers responding to a Vault survey said they would be prompted by “sheer curiosity” to view a video résumé, the online job research company said.

An additional 9 percent cited “amusement value” as the reason to view a video résumé, and 1 percent said it was a great way to check out a job candidate’s looks.

“Bottom line, recruiters are not interested in the bells and whistles ... although it might catch their attention; they are interested in the content,” Henders said. “It may sound old-fashioned, but it’s true.”

(Write to the WorkBytes column at The Des Moines Register, P.O. Box 957, Des Moines, IA 50304-0957.)