Are we going to see the demise of the traditional paper based CV? Is it best to send your CV via post or email? and are video CVs or resumes going to be the way forward when applying for jobs?
If the question is a comparison between CVs which are in the written format, ie traditional resumes which can be printed out, vs the video CV, then I believe that there will be some sectors which will lean towards the video CV, for instance the creative industries or roles which rely more on personal presentation skills than academic or technical qualifications and experience. In these roles I can envisage how a video CV may be useful as a show reel for personality and presentation skills, and I can see the potential for this medium particularly with the growth of personal use of video. However knowing how many applications are generally received for job adverts and how few seconds are taken up on first sift reading of CVs, I wonder if the video CV might be a second stage CV after the more quickly read “paper” version.
There are many roles where personal presentation skills come secondary to a persons technical skills, qualifications and experience. For instance a senior mechanical design engineer working for an oil and gas producer in an engineering office would be judged almost entirely on his technical ability to fulfill the role. He or she may have two heads (well not literally!) but I am not interested if they have the potential to be a news presenter or look good on a shopping channel. My client will only be interested in seeing CVs from skilled, qualified and experienced mechanical engineers regardless of their personal appearance or ability to have the confidence to front a video.
I suppose the other factor is that like writing CVs, creating an effective video resume is an even taller order for most people, and whereas I can help my candidates to present themselves in the best way on paper, through interview and editing of their CV, it is a far more time consuming and costly process to produce a video. I always recommend that candidates tailor their CV to each application, whilst this is easy using the electronic or paper format, editing different versions of a video would be again more difficult.
If the question relates purely to the comparison between an electronic and paper CV, then in this age most companies and recruiters are geared up to processing any documentation electronically, and so almost instantaneously. A paper CV sent through the post may well have missed the boat, and certainly when being sent via internal post between departments often on remote sites would be at a disadvantage over an electronic copy.
A paper CV arriving through the traditional post will be at an instant disadvantage arriving at a recruitment agency whose clients expect them to present all candidates in electronic format and in a standardised presentation format. A paper CV presents problems in that it would have to be either retyped or scanned and edited using character recognition software. The electronic resume can be dispatched to multiple interested recipients within a company regardless of location, it can be edited quickly and easily, firstly by the recruiters to improve presentation and include extra content derived from initial interview, and it will arrive in perfect condition straight to the desk of the intended hiring manager or HR person. The electronic CV will most likely only be printed out as a paper copy for interview purposes, as interviewers still like to put the old fashioned pen to paper to make notes during interview.
In conclusion my answer is that I believe there is a place for paper CVs, electronic written CVs and video resumes. For more information on how to create a good CV I have prepared written articles and short video presentations which you can view in other sections on this blog. And before you write back and comment on my video presentation skills, I would like to point out that although I know I will never make a TV news presenter or shopping channel sales person, at least I don’t have two heads. (Although the saying does go that 2 heads are better than one!)
