If Barney Stinson Did It, So Can You.

We are beginning to see an incredibly candidate-centric marketplace, meaning quality talent is in abundance and people need to start being creative in order to set themselves apart from the rest.  One way to do this is by creating a short and sweet video resume that could really provide the employer with an extra bit of insight into your abilities.  By doing this you are setting yourself apart from the crowd and taking a step ahead of the competition to get your foot in the door of their company.

Neil Patrick Harris aka Barney Stinson, from the hit TV sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” agrees that we are in tough economic times and in order to get a job you must stand out from your peers.  In a recent episode of the show, Barney lends a helping hand to an out of work friend out by using his witty thinking and coming up with the idea to create a video resume which he is sure will help her land a new job.  By using his own personal video resume as an example he was able to show what a professional video resume should look like.  Along with posting his resume to his personal website he created another video tutorial on resume building.  Both videos are extremely entertaining and a creative way to stand out in the eyes of potential employers.


Barney suggests that in order to have a successful video resume you must:

1. Expand Your Vocabulary – he creates unique and made up words such as connectitude, linkativity, transformitation and possimpable to get his idea across.
2. Dress for Success
3. Appear to be a risk taker
4. Create a catchy theme song or montage

Taking his tips one step further, we have created a list of 5 Do’s and Don’ts for when and if you do decide to create a video resume

Do’s

1. Do include a link to your video resume (maybe hosting it on YouTube or on your own website) in your actual resume meaning always send in both to any potential employer.  Most employers have very specific processes they adhere to when considering candidates and the review and storage of an actual resume is typically a big part of that.  So again you want to make sure to abide by these traditions by having an actual resume sent to the employer but supplementing it with a video resume will go a long way in differentiating yourself from the crowd.
2. Do make it more of a supplement to the resume showcasing aspects like your passion, enthusiasm, ability to communicate, good eye contact, glimpses into your personality, etc.  Again, the purpose of your video resume should be to showcase aspects of your background that an actual resume can’t.
3. Do make the video under 60-seconds so that it serves as more of a high level overview of your background and a deep dive into your passion and interests.  Although this seems short in comparison to what you can convey in an interview or even an actual resume, keep in mind that a savvy employer can scan a resume for interest in less than 10 seconds -- so even spending 60 seconds to watch your video is a big investment from an employer’s perspective.
4. Do dress the same way you would in an actual interview.  Employers will be using the video as an opportunity to get a sense of what you would actually be like to work with so your dress and overall professionalism go a long way here.
5. Do take this opportunity to make it customized for the actual company you are applying to.  Being passionate about and providing insight into why you want to work for a certain company will most definitely go a long way in differentiating you from other candidates. One of the biggest initial questions any employer has is -- does this candidate want to work for my company or does hejust want a job.  They always prefer somebody who specifically wants to work for your company and has good reasons to back that up.

Don’ts

1. Don’t make the video a regurgitation of your actual resume.  That’s boring, redundant, and unnecessary.
2. Don’t send in a video resume instead of an actual resume.  Most companies applicant tracking systems don’t accept videos in place of actual resumes.  Video’s to date aren’t searchable so even if you sent one in to an employer, it’ll never be found later when they are searching for somebody with your skillset.
3. Don’t showcase too much of yourself -- meaning still keep it professional.  You want the video to showcase your personality, passions, interests and other qualities an employer might value as opposed to the way your bedroom looks (posters, roaming pets, messiness) or anything else that might leave a negative impression with the employer.
4. Don’t wing it.  Practice your 60-second pitch until it’s perfect enough to send.  Just like you’d tweak and tune your paper resume, make sure to do the same with this video until it’s perfect enough to submit.  Like the old adage says, you only have one chance to make a first impression.
5. Don’t send the video as an attachment.  It is likely to get caught as spam and filtered out altogether.