You’ve likely heard some of the inititial buzz on startup VisualCV.
The VisualCV reinvents the resume. Ultimately, it will reinvent the way the Internet is used for recruiting, to the benefit of professionals, employers and recruiters alike.
Reinvent the resume? Pretty lofty goal, huh? But we’ll get to that in a second. My knee-jerk reaction was to think employers wouldn’t touch this with a 10-foot pole considering some of the backlash against video resumes and photos in profiles. So, I talked with the company’s cofounders to find out more on how they’ll tackle this issue and ultimately disarm the EEOC land mines.
(5 mins.)
Subscribe via iTunes for the entire interview.
They’ve done their homework. I especially like their pics in/out feature for extra protection for employers. Whether or not it’s enough to effectively bypass or cure preconceived notions and fears that keep employers away from photos and video is to be seen, but they certainly have an uphill battle.
Perhaps the biggest challenge this newbie has, however, are pre-existing, already-popular solutions. I don’t doubt that what they’re offering is cooler than a traditional resume (although changing that habit may be impossible for the foreseeable future), but is it better than LinkedIn profiles (now with photos) blogs or even job board resumes builders? HotJobs, for example, enables users to create an HTML resume, hosted on a unique URL.
The company also enables employers to set-up their own site, highlighting their organization similarly to how job seekers feature their attributes.
A fine offering, but will employers gravitate toward this more so than, say, a Facebook fan site or even MySpace profile to recruit? I’m not sure.
For now, the service is free to both job seekers and employers. Eventually, there should be an upgrade option for more bells and whistles. Videos uploaded to your visual resume are done through the site, as opposed to YouTube for MySpace – for now at least.
For more, checkout their video:
Popularity: 8% [?]
February 28th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
So what’s the difference between this and say linkedin? Same thing – pretty much a resume snapshot with a photo (option now) as well as recommendations listed at the bottom from colleagues. Only thing missing would be video clip – but will resumes start to become American Idol audition clips? I mean where are we going with this? The resume states your background and you repeat it on a video clip? Or is that the part of the “audition” when you’re supposed to juggle while riding a unicycle to really show them your extra talents???
March 8th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Joel, first off, I’m loving the podcasts. It’s great to take you and your guests with me while I fold laundry or walk the dogs. Second, great interview with the team at VisualCV. I await the day that a start-up in this space captures your imagination and engenders some unabated enthusiasm! Third, keep the podcasts coming, they’re a valuable resource for all of us.
March 12th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Thank you so much for putting together this podcast. I had the same knee jerk reaction as you and had not been steering my resume/branding clients to use the tool. Your podcast answered many of my questions. I really appreciate you being at the forefront of this issue and sorting out the challenges for the rest of us.
June 24th, 2008 at 9:27 am
It is unlikely that this technology will ever “replace” the traditional resume – it’s a bit like suggesting that email will replace the telephone. What it will do is enable people who get very little face time with the executive search community (and recruiters in general) to raise their profiles with a package of information that can all be found and reviewed from within one simple portal – very useful. Many candidates get an exceptionally poor deal from the recruitment community (both client side and consultancy) due to misconceptions bourn out of misleading documents or informal references that don’t come close to showing them in their “true” light. Whether you think of this as potentially risky or not depends on where you are in the supply chain and how pushed you are for time/desperate to find a job/the right candidate without it costing you an arm and a leg. I think that this is a “watch this space” moment and that future developments will disprove the sceptics!