A newspaper reporter interviewed me recently for a story about vieo resumes. Sparked by a recent incident of a trainee for a Wall Street job, Aleksey Vayner, who sent a video resume called “Impossible is Nothing” that resulted in howls of laughter, ridicule, condemnation and a prominent position on YouTube.
According to Wikipedia, “Aleksey Vayner is a Yale student who became known after sending an 11 page resumé accompanied with a video in which he discusses his philosophy on success and shows off his physical prowess to various Wall Street firms.
In his 11 page resumé, Vayner claims that he: runs a charitable organization, is the CEO of an investment firm and has written a book on the Holocaust, among other things. Independent research has shown many of these claims to be false. His book was at least partially plagiarized, his investment firm's website lists a non-existent address and the charitable organization is using an unauthorized Charity Navigator logo.”
Putting aside the “errors” in his resume and watching the video, it proves the point I made to the reporter:
DON'T DO IT!
Very few people perform well in front of a camera in this context; very few people work with skillful enough interviewers to make you look good. Vayner’s video, including shots of him playing tennis, skiing, lifting weights, dancing and breaking bricks with him speaking over the scenes is symptomatic of how this form fails.
Now, for some fields—acting is the obvious example that comes to mind—the idea of an audition tape is considered normal and acceptable. But for almost all other occupations, it fails—plus it exposes you to the impact of bias in the work place.
For example, for older workers who have learned to disguise age in a resume through the absence of dates and deleting early job history, the video resume exposes you to age-ism. For the foreign born job seeker, it may expose your limitations in oral communications before a company has had a chance to see your real knowledge and get a sense of your ability. For the minority job seeker, it becomes another way racism can be rationalized.
So if you get an email solicitation to do a video for your job search, or if you have a well-meaning friend suggest to you this real cool idea, RUN!
Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com
© 2006 all rights reserved.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.
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If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).
