Attaching a video of yourself with your job application

I would agree with that statement. At 44, I would rather let my resume and experience speak for itself and then get the interview and present yourself. This morning, I met with someone on Skype, but that's a bit different than sending in something that is set in stone, which you can't take back. The interview process, I believe, should be fluid. If you send something that cements your personality, you could risk blowing the opportunity. Now, I'm not saying that there aren't companies out there who want only a video interview. Maybe they are then new paradigm, but we're probably no where near a tipping point to say that you should just sling one out there, especially if it was not asked for.

On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 3:10 PM, Kevin Fox <kevin@fury.com> wrote:

Having been on a hiring committee for 4 years, I would say attaching a video is of dubious value for several reasons:

1) A lot of US employers are wary of having headshots, marital status, age
  or ethnicity included in a resume for discrimination reasons. It's fairer
  to judge someone based on their accomplishments and experience rather
  than their physical attributes, and explicitly adding information about
  physical attributes when applying for a position where those attributes
  aren't core to the job (such as modeling or acting) forces an employer
  to deliberately block them out.
2) Resumes are looked at in a variety of contexts, including in a big stack
  of other resumes in a resume review meeting or hiring committee meeting.
  This is not a venue where they will pull out laptops or project your
  video, so make sure your resume doesn't need one for full impact.
3) In most cases, the job of the resume is to get you in the door to the
  next level, be it a phone screen or on-site interview. The job of a
  resume is to convince the employer that you're worth meeting in person.
  If you can't convince them to take the next step via a resume, a video
  probably wouldn't (or shouldn't) convince them that you're worth talking
  to, unless they choose to for the wrong reasons. On the flip-side, a
  video could hurt your chances if you have a borderline resume. Without a
  video, the employer will often feel compelled to 'get to the bottom of
  your story' with a phone screen or interview, but if you give them what
  feels like the 'whole picture' by attaching a video they may feel they
  don't need the phone screen or interview to fully understand who you are,
  and you should absolutely value the opportunity to talk with a potential
  employer more than the opportunity to have a one-sided conversation in
  the form of a video presentation.

The exception is in cases where the final decision will be made without an interview in any case. The best example is applying to college. In many cases applicants never get the opportunity to interview with the admissions committee, and a video helps give a better picture of who they are, a lower-fidelity peek in to what the committee could have gleaned from an interview. In that case, a video may be useful. (Also, in that case, a lot more applicants attach videos, so it's not as much trouble for the committee to incorporate it into their process.)

tl;dr: Your job as an applicant is to get the phone screen or interview. Submit a resume that makes them want to ask you questions, not one that tries to answer all of them off the bat.

-Kevin

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