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Permalink Reply by Will Thomson on January 4, 2013 at 4:37pm

I really don't care for them much.  Marketing is a different beast though, and sometimes their creative minds show up in a resume.  As a recruiter, it makes them confusing and more difficult to read.  I'm sure some hiring managers like them more, but I like it plain and simple.  Just the facts, ma'am.

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany Branch on January 4, 2013 at 4:41pm

I agree. I was in a debate with someone about creative resumes/marketing tools. My point was that is you are in a creative field/environment, great. However, just becuase you "stand out" doesn't mean you stand out in a positive way.

Will Thomson said:

I really don't care for them much.  Marketing is a different beast though, and sometimes their creative minds show up in a resume.  As a recruiter, it makes them confusing and more difficult to read.  I'm sure some hiring managers like them more, but I like it plain and simple.  Just the facts, ma'am.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Harding on January 4, 2013 at 5:06pm

I do not see any issues with a "creative" resume.  I believe if a candidate can make themselves stand out from the crowd, then it is a good thing.  The issue is if the "creative" resume becomes off topic, or is unprofessional.  I think there is a fine line between showing your skills/personality and trying to be too creative with something like this.  As we move into the future, I think we will see more and more of this type of "creative" resume.

I think this is a great example of a good creative resume.  http://www.jonmichaeli.com/resume-video.html

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala on January 4, 2013 at 6:12pm

It depends on the role... when I recruited for video game companies, it was expected that candidates would have a demo reel or online portfolio. Now with web designers & developers, same thing. However, these were in addition to the normal resume... From an Accountant? Not so much. As Tiffany said you run the risk of standing out in a not so good way.

 

Ryan is correct though, in that as these become more mainstream we'll probably see them more often. I still prefer a plain and simple first impression though, at least for now. If it's not for a creative position I just don't think it works - yet.

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Permalink Reply by Tiffany Branch on January 8, 2013 at 10:03am

The creative resume video that Ryan provided was interesting, but here is my problem, I lost interest after 1 minute. He was great at demonstrating accomplishments instead creating a "task" list. However, if those same accomplishments were on paper, it would have been just as effective. Know, clearly he was a marketing candidate so it works.

 

However, it was a 3+ minute video. Going forward, will we really have the time to view 50 resume videos? It's interesting to see if and how the "resume game" will change over the next few years.

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Permalink Reply by Sandra McCartt on January 8, 2013 at 11:29am

I want a word doc resume first. If the job is advertising, web developer, copy writer I need writing samples and or links to web sites. I will normally take a look at at video resume if I get a formal resume first but if I get just a link to a video resume, I will request a word doc resume. If not provided I pass. My clients seem to feel the same way.

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Permalink Reply by Sunil Kumar on January 9, 2013 at 2:12am

Hi Tiffany,

Though it depends on the requirement and organization, but most of the times neither recruiter nor hiring manager has time to check the youtube/video resume and other creative candidate marketing tools which can be used by any candidate.

Again a new tool in offing for the recruiters to assess the candidate on multiple evaluation parameters.

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