Video Résumés Grab Attention, But Are They Worth the Effort?

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WSJ Your Money Briefing 13 min 4 speakers 3 chapters transcribed 2 months ago
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ReliaQuest Advertiser 0:00
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J.R. Whalen 0:30
Here's your money briefing for Wednesday, August 25th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Sure, it's a job seeker's market, but getting your resume to stand out among hundreds, maybe even thousands of others can be a challenge. To solve that, more people are creating video resumes.
Alex Janin 0:50
Well, for some applicants, they say that it's more fun, it's creative, it allows them to showcase their skill set in a way that they feel they just wouldn't be able to on a traditional resume. And for brands, they can attract younger, more diverse job candidates.
J.R. Whalen 1:07
But do video resumes actually work? WSJ reporter Alex Janin covers the lives and careers of millennials and Gen Z. Coming up, we'll talk to her about the growing trend of video resumes. And we'll hear from a 26-year-old who set his resume to music and find out how it went. That's after the break.
ReliaQuest Advertiser 1:23
This podcast is brought to you by ReliaQuest. Cyber criminals are constantly attacking. They want your data. They want your identity. They want your innovation. ReliaQuest fortifies your business with agentic defense, AI that detects, contains, and eliminates cyber threats in minutes. It helps your security team move faster at the work that matters most to protect the business now and delivers insights to help them predict what's next. ReliaQuest, agentic defense for the enterprise. Learn more at ReliaQuest.com. That's R-E-L-I-A-Q-U-E-S-T.com.
J.R. Whalen 2:00
Anyone who's applied for a job knows the old routine of preparing a cover letter and resume. But for some in today's generation of job seekers, it's get ready for your close-up. More people are showcasing their skills by producing video resumes to capture the attention of hiring managers. In a moment, we'll meet a 26-year-old who went all out for his video resume. But first, our reporter Alex Janin has been talking to career counselors and hiring managers about this. And she's with us to talk about it. Alex, thanks so much for joining us on the show.

Why are job seekers turning to video résumés instead of traditional résumés?

Alex Janin 2:27
Thank you for having me.
J.R. Whalen 2:28
So Alex, this is a fairly novel approach. So who's actually going out and making these video resumes?
Alex Janin 2:34
Certainly, it's a lot of Gen Z job seekers, millennial job seekers, folks that tend to be the primary audience and the primary users of social media websites like TikTok and Instagram already. So the people who are already there. But I also spoke to job seekers in their 40s. Certainly, it's not just confined to the younger generations, but I would say it's mostly younger job seekers that are taking advantage of these platforms.
J.R. Whalen 3:03
And so what has sparked this trend?
Alex Janin 3:05
Well, this past year, as we've been sort of stuck inside on Zoom and Skype calls and scrolling through social media, spending a lot of time on video, video has become sort of an even more ubiquitous part of the hiring process. Certainly during interviews, certainly during the interview process, but also now as part of the application process. And this past March, LinkedIn launched a feature called Cover Stories, which allows users to upload a short video. And that video appears underneath their profile picture. And it's supposed to allow you to introduce yourself, talk about what you're looking for in a job or what you already do, what you're already good at, and attract recruiters' attention. And then in July, TikTok piloted their own platform called TikTok Resumes.
Alex Janin 3:52
And They sort of partnered with brands from NASCAR to Shopify to the salad company Sweetgreen to host job listings for roles those companies were hiring for on the TikTok resumes website.

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