It’s 2019, and the competition in the job market is fiercer than ever!

And this is true not just for the job seekers! As recruiters, talent acquisition is slowly becoming a humongous challenge, since it’s tougher than ever to find and retain quality talent.

Media resumes are being viewed as a welcome change to the traditional ones since they solve two problems that have been haunting us for years:

• sifting through thousands of words just to find someone who may be the right fit!

• making sure that what’s on paper is, in fact, the truth, and not some make-believe mumbo jumbo!

Video resumes are definitely more popular because they combine both, the visual and audio components, making for an effective way to measure a candidate’s eligibility for a role!

However, video resumes too need to be evaluated thoroughly! Does every video resume submitted deserve to be applauded, just because the candidate took a different route to apply for the job? What are the aspects of a video resume we should consider to know for sure that ‘this is the candidate we’ve been looking for’? Let’s find out!

Here’s How You Can Evaluate A Candidate Based On His/Her Video Resume!

If you’ve received a video resume, here are some ways you can figure out if the candidate is right for the job!

1. Does It Capture Your Attention… And Maintain It?

A traditional resume is likely to hold your gaze for an average of six seconds, whereas a video resume has better chances of holding your attention for about ten times more the same amount of time.

Video resumes have the tendency to literally force your attention initially into it and if the candidate has done a decent job, you are inclined towards watching it right till the end.

This is when you know the difference between a candidate you’d definitely want to hire and one whom you’d take your time considering. You are able to make a better decision based on the fact that you have a visual to connect to the intangibles that may be mentioned in their traditional resume, such as confidence, communication skills etc. In a video resume, the first thing to look for is the candidate’s body language and presentation skills, whether they all match up to the personality characteristics mentioned in their written resume.

2. It’s All About Finding ‘The Right Fit’…

Video resumes should enhance a candidate’s job application. They should reveal things you can’t determine from traditional resumes. You can use them right away to determine whether a candidate could fit into your company, based on more than just their skills.

As a recruiter, you don’t want a candidate simply reciting his paper resume in their video. If a candidate does not express themselves well, or their values do not align with your company, you will know immediately. Think about how much time you have saved when you don’t have to invite that candidate for an interview.

3. The Key Is Creativity!

The fact that a candidate decides to do a video resume, sparks off more interest since it proves that he/she is innovative and creative. But there is a lot to learn about him/her based on how they put the video together. If they’ve got the basics right, and seem to have put significant effort into it, you can get a fair idea if the candidate means business!

This helps to let you gauge the candidate’s attention to detail and whether he/she really cared enough, to record a good quality video and submit. It shows their commitment and adherence to quality.

Video resumes especially done by candidates looking to make a career in creative fields such as advertising and marketing. If their video resume is not as creative as it should be, it can be a good measure to evaluate the candidate’s efficacy.

4. If It Ain’t Professional, It Ain’t Working!

It’s important not to mix creativity with unprofessionalism. If a candidate hides behind inappropriate props, poor humour or weird visuals in the name of creativity, you know you cannot take it ahead with them. Dragging about irrelevant personal stories and anecdotes is a huge turnoff.

Ensure the candidate is dressed in professional attire, in case of small companies who promote casual dressing, a clean, well-groomed attire is what you should look for.

All of this only goes to show whether a candidate is serious about how their personal brand is portrayed to employers because tomorrow you may entrust him/her to uphold your company’s brand image too and you cannot risk him/her letting the company down.

5. What Lasts, Stays…

Lastly, you are looking for that one candidate that leaves a lasting impact on your memory with the help of visuals. If you remember the candidate hours or a couple of days after viewing his video resume, you may want to call him/her in for an interview. If the candidate could hold your attention and impress you with skills that are relevant to the job, it would be great to have them as part of your team.

But, Video Resumes Are Not Faultless

While video resumes can be a great way to pick the right candidate for a role, they can also be an administrative disaster! Imagine trying to download videos sent across by different candidates on your mail, with some of them being in a different format, or being so bad that opening them seems to be a waste of time!

At such times, what comes handy is a tool where you can view all the video resumes in one place, without having to download them!

Round Zero: Simplified Video Resume Evaluation

On iimjobs.com, Round Zero, an easy-to-use, built-in tool enables candidates to record their video resumes, and you to access them all in one place! The tool ensures that all the videos are not longer than 60 seconds. You don’t even have to download them… just click, view, evaluate, and move on to the next!

Video resumes can make or break your decision to let a candidate be a part of your team or say goodbye right there, so it would be right to say that they not only give you a better picture of the candidate, but they can also make your decision so much easier.

Video resumes are the future of hiring… If you vet them right, you get them right!