Want a Job in Social Media? Do a Video Resume

July 27th, 2012 → 12:36 pm @ Mark Story // 407One Commenthttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.startingacareerinsocialmedia.com%2F2012%2F07%2F27%2Fwant-a-job-in-social-media-do-a-video-resume%2FWant+a+Job+in+Social+Media%3F++Do+a+Video+Resume2012-07-27+12%3A36%3A45Mark+Storyhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.startingacareerinsocialmedia.com%2F%3Fp%3D407

Many bands and other online personalities have established and earned online fame and cult followings with compelling YouTube videos (think “Annoying Orange“). Why not create one of your own in the form of a video resume? It’s not hard to do, and a quick, ninety-second recitation about you, your accomplishments, and your professional goals is a terrific way to set yourself apart from other candidates. It can be as easy as sitting in front of your computer and recording with the webcam on it, then saving and uploading the video to YouTube.

Keep in mind that behind only Google, YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine.  So if you want to make sure that your career credentials can get in front of the right people, consider creating a brief video resume.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Dress professionally.
• Rehearse what you have to say – and if you are recording your video resume in front of your computer, you can even have bullet points up to talk from.
• Keep your discussion brief and to the point:  what you core skill sets are, what you are qualified to do (or interested in doing), and what you bring to the table.
• Keep it to 90 seconds or less.
• Finally, if you have some basic video editing skills, post the easiest way to contact you as fade out at the end of the video.  When you have convinced people that you are qualified, give them a call to action:  contacting you.

A quick YouTube search for “my video resume” returned 30,500 results. On the first page of search results, I found “My Awesome Video Resume” by Justin McNurdo. He begins his video with a blank screen, providing only his name and phone number, and then, in a very funny way, a narrator talks about Justin’s work attributes (this may well be a parody, but it’s still funny and effective).  It’s worth having a look at even to formulate how you may want yours to be different.

Mark