Employers OK with Video Resume – But Make it Quick

A whopping 89% of employer respondents to the aptly named 2007 Video Resume Survey by career publisher Vault Inc. said they would watch a video resume if it were submitted to them. It’s early yet, of course – just 17% have actually viewed a video resume, according to the survey, but more than half (56%) expect this will be a common addition to future job applications.

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The primary reason why employers would value video resumes is the ability to assess a candidate’s professional presentation and demeanor (52%). Fourteen percent of respondents would use video resumes to get a better sense of candidate’s job experience and nine percent would use them to gauge a candidate’s speaking manner.

However, that sense of demeanor had better come across quickly. More than three-quarters of employers (76%) advise candidates to keep their video resume under two minutes and 47% recommend being even more succinct (less than a minute).

There is, of course, that “unplanned” video peek opportunity at personality – facebook, myspace and/or YouTube.

Vault is currently running a “Big Break via Video” resume contest for job-seekers to submit video resumes for various industries. You can find out more at http://www.vault.com/membership/video-resume.jsp