Lights, CV, Action: How video resumés help you stand out from the crowd

It’s a cliché to say that getting a job is hard in this economy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. During the application process, hopeful applicants must do everything they can to stand out from the rest, and making a video CV is one surefire way to do this. Here are just some of the ways this is true.

Display your skills

If you can make a good video CV, it is clear that you have skills. This is especially useful if you are applying for a job that involves shooting, directing or editing video footage. If anything, it would be strange not to make a video CV if you are applying for a job like this.

Demonstration of practical video skills has the very real possibility of securing you a job offer, as we saw recently when a A-level student Nick Jablonka was offered a job after his attempt at making his own John Lewis Christmas advert went viral.

Even if the job you are applying for does not require any videographic skill, it may well require a presentation element that a video CV could certainly prove you could handle. Lecturer jobs, for example, require strong communication skills, as discussed by further education job site AoC Jobs. A video CV can certainly display your communication skills.

If it seems unlikely that the skills displayed in the making of your video CV will be even tangentially relevant, it is never a bad thing to show wider skills you have outside of the job brief. For example, employers looking to hire graduates place emphasis on extracurricular activities to see which candidates have the most well-rounded personalities and are the most versatile. Demonstrating your video skills will certainly help out in this area.

Show your personality

Video CVs show a lot more than the practical side of an applicant’s skills. Much more effective at this than a written CV or even a cover letter, a video CV can put your personality across squarely and clearly.

An article on video CV pros and cons from corporate video producers TellyJuice expands on this point. They dug out a video CV from an Australian jobseeker named Mark Leruste, who packed his video with sight gags and humour. It would be more difficult to reveal such an unusual taste in comedy within the confines of a non-video CV.

As video CV specialists Hello My Name Is point out, a video CV is a great place to exude confidence. It may be even easier to show this quality on video than it is in person, thus making it easier to be confident if you get called in for an interview.

Make an impact

89% of employers say they would watch a video CV but only 17% have ever received them. Clearly applicants have a captive audience for video CVs in employers, but employers receive nowhere near as many as they would like. This discrepancy in video CV supply and demand means now is the perfect time to film one and send it in. Employers are sure to appreciate it.