Video Jobs & CVs?

dirtyghettokid

Has anybody on here ever seen the site VideoJobs.ie?

I only saw this today because a job I was looking at applying for, requires a Video CV.

I kind of find it a bit intimidating at the thought of having to upload a Video CV for a job. Opens up the possibility of being discriminated against - based on appearance/accent. If they don't like the look of you on the video, they won't bother contacting you. Whereas the "old school" way - at least they get to see your CV and possibly an interview before they decide they don't like you!

Thoughts? Experiences?

seamus

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

Opens up the possibility of being discriminated against - based on appearance/accent. If they don't like the look of you on the video, they won't bother contacting you. Whereas the "old school" way - at least they get to see your CV and possibly an interview before they decide they don't like you!

You're slightly answering your own question there though - if they're the type of employer who will discriminate on looks, mannerism or accents, then they're going to refuse you at the interview stage anyway. So you could say that this method avoids wasting everyone's time by getting a "pre-interview" in.

You are right to a certain extent though - in an interview, even if someone appears unappealing initially, the interviewer might ask particular questions which will change their opinion of the candidate. With the video CV, these questions will never come, so the candidate will be dismissed immediately.

I can see these becoming very popular with recruiters - the recruiter sits down with a candidate and records a five-minute interview on a very general basis, and distributes that to potential employers instead of CVs. Most people will not come across well talking about themselves on camera unless they're being incidentally recorded as part of a normal interview, where they will appear more natural.

T-rev

wont waste your time too, i think its a great idea.

Mr. Loverman

I don't like it. It only suits photogenic people or employers looking for models/PR people. I would also be a bit wary of employing someone who made a video about themselves. Seems a bit egotistical!

I hire people btw.

MrDarcy

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

I don't like it. It only suits photogenic people or employers looking for models/PR people. I would also be a bit wary of employing someone who made a video about themselves. Seems a bit egotistical!

I hire people btw.

An even better idea would be to get a video of the employer or your future manager on a site where you can see them before you apply for a job.

I think we can all relate to a a final interview by an MD or CEO of a company, along with your future manager, and you get a funny feeling during the final interview stage that either one or both of them are complete ars*holes, only to take the job and have your gut feeling confirmed in its entirety.

Something like this would let you work out the egomaniacs and the loo-laa's that will wreck your head in the workplace...

Mr. Loverman

MrDarcy wrote: »

An even better idea would be to get a video of the employer or your future manager on a site where you can see them before you apply for a job.

I think we can all relate to a a final interview by an MD or CEO of a company, along with your future manager, and you get a funny feeling during the final interview stage that either one or both of them are complete ars*holes, only to take the job and have your gut feeling confirmed in its entirety.

Something like this would let you work out the egomaniacs and the loo-laa's that will wreck your head in the workplace...

Yeah Jobs.ie trialed that for a while (don't know why they stopped doing it). I thought it was great.

dirtyghettokid

Funny, every job I clicked on - on that site, had no video for the company. If they want video CVs, it's only fair that they provide a video about themselves also!

sonru

Hi all
I've been following your comments and have a few points to make. I'm from Sonru - a video interview company and don't worry I'm not pitching for business here, all I want to do is share our experience of being in the online video interview market for past 2 years. So here are my points:
1) I think video will form an integral part of the recruitment process over the coming years helped by improved broadband and ready access to webcams etc.
2) Recruiters/hiring managers do not use video interviews or video CVs to screen out candidates on appearance/age/ethnicity etc. Video is becoming more popular as they're getting inundated with applications, can't physically meet so many people and don't want to have to rule out so many people based on their CV alone. If you've made it to the video screening you've succeeded in the first stage of the recruitment process so well done.
3) Videos are particularly useful in ascertaining certain skills such as language/technical abilities so again it's not to find better looking people.

Anyway, I'd like to wish VideoJobs.ie best of luck in their new venture as their arrival to the market further demonstrates the demand and future of online video usage in recruitment. There is a slight difference between Video CVs and video interviews. A video CV is something you prepare yourself and upload for potential employers/anyone to see. A video interview is a structured interview conducted online for a particular job in mind so the questions will be focused on the task at hand.
Best of luck in finding work if you're job hunting and if a video is a requirement, I'm afraid if you're interested in the job, you'll probably have to conform to their requirements and go and just do it. It's the next logical step in recruitment online, we never think twice about emailing a CV or filling out an online application form, soon video will be par for the course too and we won't even think twice about it. All the best.

socio

Sorry for renewing an old thread but thought you might be interested.
Today I got a phone call from James at videojobs.ie encouraging me to come into their studios and record a video as they are having a special offer.
Surprised at this (I have never even visted the site) I pressed him as to where he got my details. He said it was via jobs.ie, a part-time admin role (InDublin magazine) I applied for two months ago and never heard a word back from. When I asked him whether there was a genuine position or they were just harvesting for jobseekers details he mumbled something incoherent about being based in the same location as InDublin.

What's going on here?! My CV is not set as searchable by employers and I certainly didn't give jobs.ie or In Dublin magazine permission to give out my phone number for marketing purposes. The jobseeking process is a mindnumbing, depressing and tedious process and I don't expect to be f***ing sold to be some little p***k who can barely string a sentence together.

I personally agree with some of the other posters here that video CVs only suit certain people, specifically those who have had media training. I strongly disagree with James from videojobs.ie that my CV is "just a piece of paper". :mad:

Videojobs can shove their cameras up their arse.

Berty

Yes I agree a CV is not just a piece of paper.

Curriculum Vitae means "course of ones life" so its hardly a piece of paper although it can often be found on a piece of paper.

Some peoples CVs are badly put together although the content may be great whereas some people pad out their CVs because the content is not great.

A great CV and a poor CV can have dramatic influences in the hunt for jobs.

socio

Berty wrote: »

A great CV and a poor CV can have dramatic influences in the hunt for jobs.

You're completely right.

My irritation is over companies posting bogus job offers to harvest people's details. Jobseekers are under enough strain without that rot.

flash harry

Socio

That is a blatant break of data protection laws unless the company you applied to is owned/linked legally to InDublin - personally I would send them a letter asking them how they obtained your private information and see what they come back with.

Sonru person you should justify "Recruiters/hiring managers do not use video interviews or video CVs to screen out candidates on appearance/age/ethnicity etc." - how can you possibly know that? People dicriminate all the time in interviews on many levels - this just makes it even easier as most will not end an interview after 5 mins no matter how 'bad' the interviewee is but will definitely hit stop on a video interview.

To be fair the Sonru product is a bit different but it doesn't justify your point.

Mr. Loverman

The problem with the video CV concept is it ignores the fact that most people are lazy, and most people couldn't even be bothered to write a decent cover letter for every job they apply for.

As a concept it will fail. Sorry.

NickDrake

This website would really want to have good security in place so videos are not stolen etc or put on youtube for example.

BostonB

My 2 cents.

You're not going to go through 200 videos, you'll scan the CV's. It fails as a concept right there, its too time consuming.

Also getting someone in the door face to face is better then Video and is vastly cheaper in resources. No one wants to waste bandwidth on stuff they don't have too.

Compulsion

What's the problem here? I got a phone call from them too asking if i wanted to come in and shoot a VideoJobs.ie. As someone who has been out of work for a while i would like to try new things to try and help me get back into the work place.

My normal CV is very well put together but with the way our lovely little country is at the moment I'm one of 100+ CVs sitting in a pile every time i apply for a role, so what's the big deal in a new job portal site trying to help you find a job by asking you if you want a free video CV made up? Some people really need to chill out a bit, there's no harm being done with a quick phone call really and if that is a major stress in your life then things must be rather sweet for you at the moment.

It's always the same in this country, someone try's something new or try's to better themselves and we have the idiots trying to bring them down.