In the modern world, no job starts without a resume. You will need to create one when you begin your career and throughout your career you will need to tweak and update it to include your more recent experience and remove those that you now believe are irrelevant. While paper resumes have been the dominant form of media for this tool, it is not the only way in which you can get your point across.

What is a video resume?

In  the modern world, no job starts without a resume. You will need to create one when you begin your career and throughout your career you will need to tweak and update it to include your more recent experience and remove those that you now believe are irrelevant. While paper resumes have been the dominant form of media for this tool, it is not the only way in which you can get your point across.

As modern technology has developed further, many more tech-savvy applicants are beginning to see the merits of video resumes- essentially a small video highlighting your achievements, answering potential questions, explaining yourself as a candidate and what you can bring to the company you are applying to. 

As we mentioned previously a video resume can be exactly what your profile needs in order to get ahead in the hospitality industry.  It’s important to note that  a video resume should not be a substitute for a traditional resume. You are going to need this as well, because some employers prefer this format and you are also going to want your employment and contact information to be available in a more easily accessible format. However, while it is not a substitute for a traditional resume, it is an extremely valuable supplement to a traditional resume. Overall it’s your chance to show your character and personality to your employer and in service-focused industry such as hospitality this is invaluable exposure. 

So now you understand the concept and value of a video resume, lets get to the specifics, how do you make one?

Step 1:  Get professional

Okay so this first step actually incorporates a lot of things so read closely: You will need to treat the filming of your video resume as a sort of first mini- video call job  interview. Essentially you should make sure to:

• Dress professionally 
• Maintain eye contact with the camera when possible
• Ensure that your background is white ( or a similarly bright colour) blank and not messy.
• Become familiar with the technology that you are planning to use or find someone who is! 
• Keep the tone of the video professionally focussed- do not use slang, don’t curse (I would hope that is obvious!)

Overall, a video resume can be somewhat of a gamble much more so than a traditional written resume. It can either showcase the best aspects of your personality and set you apart from the crowd. Or it can be an instant discouragement for the employer and embarrassing for you if done incorrectly. For this it is important to maintain a constant air of professionalism and ensure the equipment you use is of the top-notch quality.

Step 2: Think outside the box

This is somewhat of a subjective rule, it pays to be creative when creating any type of media, especially with videos. However when forming your video resume, this creativity should be kept in check- if you go overboard with your creation, it is possible that you will lose some of its professionality.

Overall you should aim to add something that your resume cannot cover, perhaps it is a showcase of some of your skills in action? maybe you can add a touch of flair by using a new format all together! Here are some examples to get you started

• The “fake interview”  format: in this example, the applicant was able to show their unique style, sense of humour, technical skills and the important information of her resume all in a short video.
• The “specific company”  While this particular video has a style that would be hard to replicate, the idea of creating an individual video for each job you apply for is a great one! This kind of dedication will show that you have the right kind of passion for whichever job you are applying to
• The “simple and to the point”  In some cases, having a snappy, short, informative video with a strong “Call to action” at the end can be much more effective than a longer flashier complicated video CV, the linked example is testament to this. 

These are just a few creative examples but you really can delve into whichever format you see fit depending on the job you are applying for, while not all jobs require the degree of creativity and tech finesse showed in some of these videos, it never adds a little spark into your work.

Step 3: Write a script but don’t stick to it rigidly!

While ad-libbing your entire video cv may sound like an interesting idea in theory, in practice it will most likely be more trouble than it is worth and will come off as unprofessional.  When creating your video resume you should make sure to write a script for the entire video. This will ensure that you stick to the point and do not ramble on about unrelated topics, It also ensures that you are able to contain all of the information that you want presented. It also allows you to structure the info that makes sense to both yourself and the viewer

 While it is important that you follow a script, anyone who has ever had to do a public presentation will be familiar with the delicate balance between following a script and sounding genuine. On the one hand it is important to structure your content to the utmost extent  but if you follow the script word for word, the end product will sound robotic and impersonal (which is exactly the opposite of the point of a video resume!) . The solution to this is to write a few main talking points that you want to go over, memorize them and let the speech flow! Make sure you do not read directly from the script during filming unless that is strictly necessary.

Step 4: Film it and get another’s opinion

By now you should have the know- how and skills to make the perfect video resume, now it’s time to put those skills to good use! Find a quiet place to film with the aforementioned specifics (e.g. blank background, knowledge of the tech you are using etc) and start your first take! Remember, this isn’t a process that should be rushed, remember that this video will be your first impression to your future employer so make sure you make it a good one!

After you finished, it is important that you make sure you get a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at it.  Once you have spent hours editing something, refilming it and overall making it your own, it’s hard to come up with any objective criticism of it. There may be some small mistakes that you glossed over in your mission to turn the video into your masterpiece (don’t worry it happens to the best of us!) This is especially a problem if the video is created in a language that is not your native tongue.  Also on occasions you will find that maybe a joke or tone of the video isn’t having the effect you wanted on the viewer, and this can be communicated through any particularly honest friends, family or other help.

I hope this guide helped you all to get an idea on creating video resumes, however I know that there is still much more to cover. If you feel that you might need some extra help, then why not get it from the experts? Placement International have been helping students fulfil their employment dreams for over 15 years, and creating video resumes is just one of our many services, take the extra step for your career and contact us at info@placement-int.com