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Video resumes are gaining popularity in 2022

By | Rebecca Tay

Video resumes — less than 90-second clips that introduce a job candidate’s background — are becoming more widely accepted among hiring managers. While these videos are called “resumes,” they’re better thought of as virtual elevator pitches or a combination of a resume and cover letter. A 2021 LinkedIn survey of ~1000 hiring managers showed that 61% believe video resumes could become the next version of a candidate’s cover letter, and 76% think video resumes would be helpful in the hiring process.

Video resumes are increasingly popular in customer-facing and creative industries, such as sales, food service, journalism, marketing, and design. In July 2021, companies such as Chipotle, Target, and Alo Yoga partnered with TikTok to allow applicants to apply directly on the entertainment site with their TikTok resumes. And recruiters for the science industry and other sectors recommend applicants make and polish their video resumes.

TikTok’s huge user base and push into the career industry shows that video resumes have the potential to be widely adopted, especially as social media savvy Gen Zers start entering the workforce. Additionally, an increasingly competitive job climate due to COVID-19 is pushing job seekers to make video resumes. LinkedIn’s survey reports that 79% of job seekers believe submitting a video resume is a good way to stand out in the post-COVID job market.

However, some hiring managers predict that video resumes will not be widely used, stating that video resumes further open up the hiring process to bias based on age and race. And others believe requiring video resumes automatically disadvantages the shy or technologically challenged.

Whether or not the video resume trend continues, in 2022 many job seekers are taking advantage of these four unchanging benefits of video resumes to help their job search:

1. Video is more engaging than text

People better understand information conveyed through video compared to information communicated via text. Human brains are wired to process visual information, with nearly 90% of the information processed by our brains being visual. By registering images all at once and text in a linear fashion, our brains process video 60,000 times faster than they process text. Additionally, humans more easily remember visual information, which is sent to long-term memory directly, compared to text, which is first stored in short-term memory. 

2. You can better demonstrate skills on a video resume

Although writing a clear, descriptive resume demonstrates communication skills, you can highlight a greater variety of skills through a video resume. Along with your personality, your soft skills, including creativity, communication style, and attention to detail are showcased in a video resume. The quality of your final video can also speak to your technical skills, such as video editing. A video resume is also a good place to show quick reels of the results your skills have produced — like completed graphic design projects — or footage of you performing a certain hard skill, such as managing point-of-sale systems as a server. 

3. Video resumes let you tell your story

Rather than let employers form a story about you from your resume and cover letter, you can control your narrative in a video resume. By providing context, you can address points that hiring managers typically interpret unfavorably on traditional resumes, such as:

  • gaps in work history
  • career changes
  • lack of experience 

For instance, you can use a short sentence or two to explain how the COVID-19 pandemic caused you to switch from working in finance to nursing, or how having to take care of an elderly parent prevented you from working for a year. 

4. Video resumes can speed up the hiring process 

In the future, watching a short video resume may completely replace reading a candidate’s resume and cover letter, which can take up to 5 minutes for the most thorough hiring managers. Because video resumes are under 2 minutes long, they help employers screen applicants in less than half the time. Hiring managers can also save time scheduling and holding interviews with applicants who, while good candidates on paper, aren’t viewed as a good fit based on their video resume. 

Conclusion

Video resumes are not a substitute for traditional application materials, so be sure you know how to write a cover letter and resume. The widespread adoption of the video resume depends on both employers and employees. Hiring managers will need to enact measures to mitigate bias while reviewing video resumes. Simultaneously, employees will need to view the video resume like an interview, a step not just for outgoing and creative people but all job seekers. Through preparation and practice, employers and employees alike can embrace the video resume trend to create a smoother hiring process. 

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