plus 3, See me, hear me, hire me: Video resumes can launch a ... - Olympian |
- See me, hear me, hire me: Video resumes can launch a ... - Olympian
- How To Prepare For Media Job Interview - The Business Insider
- Grads face tough job market - Chicago Tribune (blog)
- Fort Stewart civilian job expo draws crowd - Savannah Morning News
| See me, hear me, hire me: Video resumes can launch a ... - Olympian Posted: 06 May 2010 05:02 AM PDT By LAURA CASEY | Contra Costa Times WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – For the company's open sales associate job at Newark, Calif.-based Orbit Baby, president and co-founder Joseph Hei is asking applicants for something no one else on Craigslist is requesting: a video resume. There is a reason behind the unusual application requirement. His company, which designs and manufactures highly engineered baby and toddler products such as car seats and strollers, wants to hire someone who is confident, outgoing and, perhaps most importantly, technology-savvy. The potential sales person has to be comfortable leading demonstrations in groups and using video communication programs such as Skype to talk with clients. "There are two broader objectives here," says Hei, a Stanford grad. "First, are you comfortable enough with media and technology to be able to meet these requirements and, two, can you upload a five-minute video? Implicated, even baked into these requirements, are that we want to see if people are relatively comfortable with the way things work these days." The way things work in business, and even college applications, these days is not the way they worked 10, even five years ago. Though Orbit Baby was the only company specifically requesting video resumes recently on the regional Craigslist, employers report they are seeing them more from job candidates. In addition, more colleges are accepting video resumes with applications. Part of the reason for this is that video-recording cameras are cheap, some costing less than $100, and editing software comes standard on most modern computers, says University of San Francisco professor Ryan Wright, who teaches technology management and strategy classes. He says the new demand is just the beginning of what he believes will be a trend in hiring in the coming years. "Video editing can be done by practically everyone now. A lot of people don't know how easy it is to create a professional video and professional-looking website," he says. "I believe, in the Bay Area, it will absolutely become a requirement. Video resumes give (employers) a greater degree of understanding of the person beyond a traditional paper resume. You can see how they speak, how they tell a story, and in a traditional resume, you don't see that." In fact, Wright required his Internet Business Applications class students to create their own resumes for an assignment. Christian Hernandez, a senior at the University of San Francisco, used the assignment to highlight his resume, travel experience and sports prowess. "It's a pretty neat experience because we were basically doing it to see how easy it is to upload a video and embed it into our websites," Hernandez says. While Hernandez was making a resume on his own for practice - most video resumes today are made by the subject of the video - some people are choosing to have others make the videos for them. San Jose resident Edwina DiSilvestre recently had a video resume made for her at the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to attract customers to her personal assistant business, 28 in 24. Assisted by Silicon Valley micro-biz SanJoseStock.com, DiSilvestre was coached during the process by the company founder Kymberli Brady. DiSilvestre made a commercial-like video in front of a photography backdrop highlighting her organizational and helper skills, even her ability to write personal notes for busy businesspeople. "A video gives another view or picture of my business, which is really a presentation of my personality," she says. "It will give potential employers a sense of who I am." Videomaker Brady says she jumped into the video resume business after losing her job shooting for the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. No one else in the Bay Area that she knows of is helping people make video resumes, and she says she believes a good one can help a candidate land a job, even if they didn't do the video themselves. "If you do a bad one, it can knock you off the potential list for a job, and if you do a good one, it can put you at the top of that list," Brady says. Her company is offering video resume services for $100, a fee that can be paid after a jobseeker lands a position. Potential employers are not the only audiences for a video resume, made personally or professionally. More colleges are asking their students to include one with their applications. One of those schools is Pitzer College, a private Los Angeles-area liberal arts school. The college this year started accepting video applications, which admission director Angel Perez says are "fascinating to watch." "One of the reasons we think this is a good idea for us is (because) we are a bit of a niche school. We want to make sure we are admitting the right students, and fit is really important to us," Perez says. "One of the things the videos have done is allow us to put a face to the name and a personality to the application. We will actually pull up the video in front of the admission committee and let it play." Earlier this year, as reported in the New York Times, Tufts University received about 1,000 videos via YouTube, a controversial move, as the videos could be accessed by anyone on the website by searching the colleges' name - sometimes to that applicant's ridicule. There are organizations out there, such as MyCollegeI.com that offer videos to colleges on private servers so only the college admission experts can see them. Still, there are several video resumes online to learn from and, if the mood strikes you, have a giggle at. Some people use goofy graphics or make hyperbolic claims about their skills. San Francisco resident Dina Boyer, a video professional, does none of that. In her simple, self-made one-minute video on YouTube, she shares her skill set, hoping that it will help her land a job. "My video resume has gotten me work. Nothing permanent, just a few music video and photography gigs," Boyer says. "I don't think video resumes are appropriate for all careers, but I believe it was very necessary for me. I am a broadcaster, videographer, and photographer, and showing the work on video is proof of my accomplishments and automatically gives me more credibility. HOW TO MAKE A GOOD VIDEO RESUME While websites such as Gawker showcase some of the most ridiculous video resumes on the Web (http://tinyurl.com/yhqjcrt), college admissions directors, company presidents and university professors have suggestions on how to make a good video resume. The first rule is to keep it short and sweet - three minutes is a good length. "Beyond three minutes is problematic," says University of San Francisco professor Ryan Wright, noting that employers or college recruiters will lose patience with something longer than a television commercial break. Wright also suggests to his students that they ask a question then answer it. Never pose a question that you neglect to answer, and never ramble on about something off-topic. "Also, focus on some of the more important things in your resume," he says. "This is really more of a highlight reel than a bullet-point list." To stand out for someone like Angel Perez, director of admissions for Pitzer College, students should show their knowledge of the college in their video resume. "These videos are helping us understand that they are doing their research," he says. "Throwing in the institution and why they are a good fit for the institution usually goes a long way." Same goes for employers, says Joseph Hei, president and co-founder of Orbit Baby. He says he likes to see a job candidate that knows the company inside and out. "The kind of irony in this age when anyone can get a Flip video camera for $100 or less is there seems to be less of a consciousness about what they are saying," he says. "This is a forum where you should try to represent yourself in the best light. Treat it as a job interview. Make it look the best that you can and have a decent background and decent lighting. We kind of expect someone who is familiar with these things to know that." While reality television shows may be looking for zaniness from a potential star, employers usually aren't. "Answer our questions and show us a little about yourself," Hei says. "You'll hit what we're looking for." Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| How To Prepare For Media Job Interview - The Business Insider Posted: 06 May 2010 05:59 AM PDT
Media writers are entering one of the toughest job markets since the Depression. Competition is fierce and paying jobs are few and far between. But with confidence in your talent, and some preparation, you can land a media job that will take your career to the next level. Here are a few tips:
And, of course, you should always walk into every interview with an up-to-date and easy-to-read resume, a few clips that best demonstrate your work, and most importantly, a great attitude! You may have just been laid off, but no one wants to be dragged down by a co-worker's negativity. So keep it positive and prove that you have what it takes to make their news organization more successful. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Grads face tough job market - Chicago Tribune (blog) Posted: 06 May 2010 05:59 AM PDT The difference between the recession-challenged Class of 1982 and the fortunate Class of 1989 turned out to be more than $100,000 in earnings over 17 years. Every percentage point increase in the national unemployment rate — now 9.7 percent — costs the typical graduate 6 or 7 percent in wages as they start their careers. Beyond the lack of immediate job opportunities, hard times complicate the efforts of new graduates to get ahead, said Lisa Kahn, the Yale University economist behind the research. Faced with slim pickings, these grads are less likely to find a good first job out of school, she said. They may receive less training or advancement opportunities as employers pinch pennies in response to the downturn. On top of that, they tend to stick with their first jobs rather than leaving for potentially better ones. "When you're young, you should move for better pay and better opportunities," Kahn said. Could be they're risk-averse. Could be their skills weren't developed. Could be better jobs were elusive. But for whatever reason, their timing hurts them, Kahn said: "They're unlucky. It's interesting to the extent that pure, random luck affects your career." Of course, college graduates in general are the lucky ones, with higher earnings and lower unemployment rates than the work force at large. No doubt, some will land their dream jobs straight out of school this year. But for most, a dreaded "jobless recovery" could make it tougher than ever to bounce back from the initial misfortune of graduating in a downturn. During the eight recessions between 1947 and 1982, the job market took 20 months on average to fall, hit bottom, then climb back to pre-recession levels, according to economist Lee McPheters at Arizona State University. In the early 1990s, it took 32 months, and in the dot-com bust earlier this decade, 48 months. This time, the process could take 65 months, McPheters estimates. That means three more years from now to get back all the jobs lost. Although Friday's government report is likely to show meaningful job creation, it's no secret that employers have become better at substituting technology for workers, squeezing more productivity out of existing staff and postponing hiring until they've exhausted all other options. As McPheters put it: "We're trying to get more efficient, and labor bears the brunt of it." MacPhail plans to bear the brunt of it from graduate school in Arizona, specializing in occupational therapy. Her personal research shows "a dire need" for therapists in the state, and relatively high pay that will help her manage student loans running into tens of thousands of dollars, she said. It's a choice that preceding generations have made. Those finishing undergraduate degrees in the recession of the 1980s were considerably more likely to obtain a graduate degree, according to Yale's Kahn. The extra schooling gave their paychecks a boost. While MacPhail understandably laments the plight of her peers facing hard times — "It's not our fault," she declared — McPheters offers a bit of upbeat news. Once the economy has limped its way to a comeback, an aging population and increasingly desperate efforts to limit immigration will translate into demand for American workers, he said. "We are going to get to the point where we have labor shortages," he said. "People have forgotten that." At least it's something for graduating seniors to think about while looking for a job. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Fort Stewart civilian job expo draws crowd - Savannah Morning News Posted: 06 May 2010 01:42 AM PDT FORT STEWART - Job seekers, active-duty soldiers planning for the future and military spouses filled the lobby of Club Stewart and spilled down the hallway Wednesday morning for the Civilian Jobs career expo. Before noontime, more than 250 job seekers had made their way through the ballroom, collecting business cards, dropping off resumes and picking up pens, stress-balls, key rings, note pads and mini-flashlights stamped with company logos. By the end of the day, that number swelled to 435. "When we got here, they were already waiting for the doors to open," said Elmer Marcos, program manager-military services for Military to Medicine, a Falls Church, Va.-based company that trains participants for job placement in the health care workforce. "It's been all walks of life ... and we've been busy, pretty nonstop since we opened." Less than an hour into the four-hour event, Marcos had already collected more than 20 applications. Across the expo floor space, two recruiters for Allstate Insurance were pleased with the numbers attending - especially for an installation where three brigades are currently deployed and a third is away for pre-deployment training. "It's been pretty good so far," said Chuck Whitt, Allstate field sales leader. "If we get one or two new agents, that will make us happy." Whitt's co-recruiter, David Fullwood, attended a similar career expo at Fort Bragg, N.C., two weeks ago, where in the course of four hours almost 700 people attended the event. "With the economy being the way it is, I would have thought there might be more people," Fullwood said. "But I'm not saying I'm disappointed with the turnout, it's been good." Among those seeking employment was Vivian Watts, a graduate student at South University. Although she doesn't graduate until September 2011, Watts wants to explore all her employment options. It's why she decided to attend the installation's career expo, despite not having a military background. The event was open to civilians and retired military alike. "It's never too early to start looking," she said. It was a message Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips echoed. "Soldiers need to learn to build networks and bridges (outside the military)," said Phillips, the 3rd Infantry Division's commanding general-rear. "Some of the best employment opportunities ... I found through people I already knew." At the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center booth, Larry Courtney found a constant supply of curious job seekers. The federal agency hires civilian employees to work in various positions across the installation. "A lot of people feel that, in this current economy, federal jobs extend a layer of security," Courtney said. A few years ago, he said 457 people applied to a single position on an Air Force base where he was working. "I think there is an element of truth that areas with more federal jobs are more buffered from the economy," Courtney said. "And people want that kind of security." Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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