Video Resumes, You Tube Introductions, have been tried but not all have been successful or impressive. For most of us – we need help in this area. Using Video can be great to differentiate yourself, if done the right way.

This article describes – what is the right way? Here are some of my thoughts

Let’s talk about Video first

Go to a professional. And I am not talking just about Videographers, but a company who will guide you through your video creation. The benefits of doing this

They will make you feel at ease – this is very important. You do not want to be a nervous wreck just because of the environment – with cameras and lights.

They will have someone ask you questions – this way you are not looking at a camera but you are talking to a person. This will help you take that stress off.

The best results I have seen are when people do not rehearse. You want to portray your abilities. If you know your domain, the answers will automatically flow. So, let the expert ask you questions and you answer them to the best of your ability. It is like a live interview but being recorded.

There are companies which use computer generated questions. You have 2 minutes to review the question and answer. I personally think that – although this will work, the candidate might not give his or her best. They are looking at their camera. They might be apprehensive about their appearance and setup, thoughts such as – ‘how do I sound?’; how do I look?; etc. A real live interview with a person with some other people helping you with the recording, you leave your worries. Go to the interview as you would and let the professionals handle it.

I have read a lot of articles where people sweat about the EEOC; OFCCP, AA laws when it comes to video. Lots of companies have already started using the video interview as a media. The laws do not prohibit video interviews. We just have to conduct and use the material following all the rules just like you would in a regular interview.

I have also come across people who do not have the time to understand the law but take it to the extreme. And they tend to stay away from the new technology as they do not want to get into trouble. Although this could be a good way of protecting yourself (by not doing video for example), you will be left behind. Your competition will take the trouble of understanding the laws, working with the Gen Y companies, and go ahead of the curve.

For executive candidate – spend time getting references. Recently I read an article in The Ladders – where they said that the best way to let people know that you are looking is to tell them that “Could I list you as a person who could provide a reference if needed”. This will make them at ease and indirectly they will know that you are looking. Great point.

We recently worked on an executive profile – where we did the videos, recommendation gathering, etc. You could go to a company who will help you with this.

Now imagine the same recommendations/references being used in your video. Impressive yeah? We are trying this out. Creating a profile where I want the people to provide video reference and not just text.

Where do you host it? There are several websites but you want one which retains your confidentiality. Solutions that will help you provide secure passwords to your potential clients. I am sure there will be several posts related to this where people will post their websites for you to consider.

You would also want a website that does not let any user to download your video. I don’t think you tube is a viable option.

How about going a step further and actually recording some work that you do? Now this will not be applicable for all positions but for some it might be great. A technical person can definitely show their problem solving skills over a screen recorded programmatic way. This worked very well for us when we did a Suability Engineer profile.

How about using reports and charts to define you? Meaning – people use Business Intelligence every day in some way or the other. How about creating a dashboard for yourself? A picture works much better than text.

Finally – how about gathering all your articles, papers, case studies etc.; that you might have written and publish them in your profile?

You get the idea by now. Create something unique to differentiate yourself. Work on your profile. This is the most important thing in your job search. LinkedIn will help you with the basic profile but take it to the next level.

Note – The FerVID Group is a company that provides process and technology solutions for Recruiting.