Video Resume

What is a Video Resume?

What is a video resume? Is it a paper resume captured in a tape or is it a video in which some professional person speaks about your resume? Such silly questions can strike your mind when you first hear this term. But as the word suggests, video resume is a video of your resume which you present by yourself in front of a camera. It is adopted by lot of professionals now-a-days and is accepted worldwide.

Definition of a video resume

A video resume is a short tape captured by an individual for an employment that describes his skills, qualifications and achievements. If any common person asks you what is a video resume, you can explain in simple words saying it is beyond a traditional paper resume that allows an employer to view, hear and know how the candidates present themselves, unlike paper resume in which you simply jot down your details on a piece of a paper . As per my opinion it is a very creative and bold form of presenting yourself in front of a camera and if you can face a camera, you can face anything!

Is a video resume helpful

Video resume can be very helpful if presented rightly. You need to understand that video resume is not going to assure you a job. However, it is definitely going to make you stand out of the crowd carrying the usual traditional resume. Like paper resumes, you have to be presentable while making your video resume. If you are a bit hesitant about it, better switch to paper resume as it can be embarrassing if it's not done in a right way.

Creating your video resume

If you want to give it a try, you should first learn to create a video resume. You have to follow some dos and don'ts for a professional outcome. Following are few tips for the same:

Wear neat and decent outfits, probably the ones which look professional. Casuals, denims, frill skirts are strictly no!
Ease yourself. You need to look confident and perfect, so don't feel conscious, be camera friendly.
Film it short. You are not interviewing yourself, but only introducing yourself, so stick to the time limit of one to three minutes utmost.
Concentrate on the camera, look at it with a positive body language.
Speak simple and understandable language. Slow down your rate of speech with a firm voice. You should be audible and not loud. The background should be quite without any disturbance.
Introduce your first name first followed by the last name. Speak about your professional aspects and not the personal ones.
Practice what you are going to speak before going for a video shoot as this would avoid unnecessary re-takes.
Thank at the end for considering you for the required position.

Uploading and promoting your video resume

Once you are done with creating your video resume, uploading it is not at all a difficult task. You can upload it on some career websites like CareerBuilder, Jobster, YouTube video resumes, etc. Before promoting your video resume, show it to your folks or the ones who can judge it better. You can promote your video resume by sending the link to the networking associates or can mention the link on paper or online resume sites.

Now that you know the answer of the question "what is a video resume?" you can share it with your friends who do not know and help build your and their career in a more classy way.