Career Management Alliance Blog

In a March 2007 survey of 309 employers, 89% said they would watch a video resume if it was submitted. The survey, conducted by Vault.com, a leading research firm, showed that while only 17% of the respondents had actually viewed a video resume, the majority are receptive to the concept. A quick search of YouTube turned up 1,100 video resumes; however a recent USA Today article reported the site contained more than 4,000 video resumes.

While YouTube may have spawned the idea, others have been quick to jump into the fray. CareerBuilder, Jobster, WorkBlast, and Vault are offering video resume services, and Monster.com is considering the idea.

My HR background of course had me wondering if it’s legal. Essentially, there is no legislation and little EEOC guidance around the use of video resumes. Employers are warned not to let any information related to race, gender, or disability affect hiring decisions (this law has been on the books as long as I’ve been around). Still, from a policy viewpoint, it should be interesting to see how employers react.

In the meantime, what makes a good video resume? According to CareerBuilder, you should:

- Keep it short: Three minutes or less, so busy hiring managers don’t turn you off before you’ve made yourself memorable.

- Dress for success: This is going to be your first impression, so dress like you’re heading for a job interview.

- Know your audience: Tailor your video for the job and industry that interests you. One-size-fits-all videos aren’t as effective.

- Say “cheese”: This is your chance to go beyond your paper. Rather than simply reading aloud, highlight your personality so hiring managers know you’re a good fit.

Posted by Michele Haffner

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Gaining the attention of the hiring manager through an on-line posting process is similar to trying to get an audience with “the great and powerful” Oz. Sometimes candidates feel like the list of job requirements on postings are of Herculean proportion and that they will only meet the expectations of the hiring manager if they can bring back the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Candidates are more likely to get in front of a hiring manager when they have built a relationship with someone who can advocate for their candidacy. Remember how much help the good witch Glinda was to Dorothy? Over on the Technical Careers at Microsoft blog, there’s a post that discusses what hiring managers look for in Design and Research candidates. I love the fact that this isn’t a standard job posting from some unknown company representative who is not willing to display their contact information. It is an inside scoop on what recruiters at Microsoft look for when filling these positions and the post invites conversation and offers visitors an opportunity to build rapport with a potential decision maker.

If you are in a job search, try to avoid the “man behind the curtain” who is trying to scare you with his overblown job description. Find the real decision maker and build a relationship with him directly. And when you get the interview, don’t forget to wear your ruby red slippers!

Posted by Barbara Safani

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Millions of job seekers and employers alike are using social networks to conduct searches. From an employer’s point-of-view, a social network is an excellent place to recruit qualified candidates that may not be in an active search. For a job seeker (active or not), social networks are a great place to obtain inside advice on companies and careers, as well as a vehicle to promote a personal brand. LinkedIn (LI) the best-known career social network, reported 89% growth in members from 2005-2006 and has more than eight million members.

According to eMarketer younger workers are more likely to view career networks as beneficial: 75% of GenYers said they viewed these networks as very important, compared with 66% of workers age 30-39 and 61% of workers age 40+. Jeffrey Grau, Senior Analyst at eMarketer notes, “The proliferation of social networking sites, blogs and online discussion groups organized around niche topics enables employers to find job candidates with specialized knowledge and skills.”

So, should you be running to LI and setting up a profile? Probably. You might consider at least checking it out. And, if you’re serious about using LinkedIn, join a user’s group such as Yahoo! Groups’ My LinkedIn Power Forum. In fact, Yahoo! Groups currently has 188 LinkedIn specialty groups based on occupation, geography, age, and other interests!

Finally, if you’re still not sure, read this comprehensive article at PC Magazine. It gives a full review including a helpful slideshow.

Posted by Michele Haffner

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My colleagues and I just returned from our annual CMI industry conference in Louisville last week. As usual, the speakers provided us with a wealth of information to share with you. I am always fascinated by statistics, so thought I would share some of the highlights I found most interesting.

–18.7 of 18.9 million new jobs in the next seven years will be service-producing

–Health care will account for 12 of the 20 fastest growing occupations

–85% of recruiters use online resources to uncover “information” about candidates

–35% of recruiters eliminate candidates based on what they find

–Blogs are becoming an executive accessory

–6 degrees of separation is now 5 degrees

–67% of executives believe there is a shortage of qualified talent

–70% of HR Managers believe the War for Talent is more intense than a year ago

What do you find the most interesting, and why?

Posted by Cindy Kraft

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Networking can be a daunting task for many people in career transition. A concern I hear frequently is “I can’t contact some of the people who might be able to help me in my search because I haven’t talked to them in over five years”. The fear is that the conversation will be awkward and the person they are trying to connect with might reject the invitation or be skeptical of the job seeker’s intent. It’s hard to appear authentic if you ignore a relationship for several years and only attempt to reignite it when you need something.

While these obstacles are challenging, they are not insurmountable. A great strategy for reconnecting with people you have lost touch with is to do it through on-line communities and social networking sites. Finding someone you once had a relationship with through these mediums allows you to resurface as someone with an interest in that community as opposed to attempting to reconnect by just calling the person “out of the blue”. Reconnecting on-line allows you to gracefully reintroduce yourself. It’s much easier to email someone and write “Hey, I found you on LinkedIn, how are you?” or “I just joined Classmates.com and was thrilled to see that you are also a member.” This type of correspondence minimizes the awkwardness caused by the previous lapse in communication and eliminates potential skepticism on the receiver’s part. By connecting on-line, you are more likely to renew the rapport and maintain your credibility as a caring and trusting friend or colleague.

On The Virtual Handshake Blog, Scott Allen recently wrote about how LinkedIn has made it easier to reconnect with someone you have lost touch with. Previously you could only invite someone into your network if you knew their email address. But now you can send an invitation without the email address and identify yourself as a colleague, business partner, classmate, or friend. While one of the main reasons this feature was implemented was to better manage unwanted invitations, I think this new option has enormous potential since it will encourage people to reconnect with contacts that they thought were lost forever.

Posted by Barbara Safani

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The 2007 Career Masters Conference (CMI), recently held in Louisville, KY, has set off a flurry of activity in the world of career professionals. The flurry is about personal branding, a concept that Tom Peters fleshed-out in a Fast Company article nearly 10 years ago. Career professionals are adding value to their work with job seekers and those in career transition by facilitating the discovery of personal brand.

Those who attended this gathering are entrepreneurs, writers, and coaches whose mission is to help others realize their goals through employment and business. As with most tools, we don’t invent them, but rather adapt them to suit our needs and abilities. Before embarking on the path to personal branding, borrow a familiar strategic planning tool: perform a S.W.O.T. analysis on yourself, and if relevant, on your business:

Identify the “S” (strengths). What are your personal strengths? What are some of your notable accomplishments? To what do you attribute your success thus far?

Identify the “W” (weaknesses). Are there aspects of your personal style that negatively affect your work performance and business outcomes? With honest self-reflection, can you identify the personal gremlins that may be a barrier to your success?

Identify the “O” (opportunities). What opportunities exist for you? What is the state of the art in your area of expertise? How will upcoming changes in your field affect your career? Explore opportunities through connections with a mentor, work in a related field, through building and nurturing a network

Identify the “T” (threats). What are the external barriers to the achievement of your goals? Consider the state of the economy, technological changes, work-life balance pressures and others.

Once you’ve completed an internal S.W.O.T. analysis, consider looking to your environment for feedback. Assessment tools such as the 360°Reach are designed to give you insight into the perceptions of others.

Once you are clear about the Brand called YOU, Inc., you can apply the S.W.O.T. analysis to your target organizations. The intersection of your brand and a company you’ve vetted through S.W.O.T. is likely to result in what Susan Whitcomb calls, the Master F.I.T.™ Go ahead, S.W.O.T. your brand…

posted by Karen P. Katz

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