No Excuse for Not Using Video

I recently read an article by Mark Finn through TLNT called “6 Reasons Why Video Interviewing Will Soon Go Mainstream”. It was a great article with valid points to which many HR professionals can relate so I wanted to address my thoughts on the issues as well.

Culture Fit

Sourcing for job seekers-at a time where unemployment levels have left highly qualified candidates looking for new opportunities-is no longer the issue. The issues of today’s rebounding economy now lie in the selection process and which candidates appear to be the best cultural fit at your company. Social media has enabled hiring managers a glimpse into who these candidates might be, but then again, would you want someone judging you for a new position based off of your social media outlets? Video interviewing provides a fair look at a candidate’s personality that cannot be achieved by social media.

Affordable Out of State Options

Video interviewing technology also provides the opportunity for you to cast a wider net and reach out of state candidates that may be a fit for your company. Many candidates looking for jobs are willing to relocate so don’t limit your candidates to the x-mile radius surrounding your company because there are no travel fees with video! 

Video is the New Norm

Employers should also take notice to the evolving job seeker. This shift towards video also stems from the new generations’ comfort ability with video. Apps such as Facetime, Youtube, and Skype have made the millennials accustomed to being in front of a camera. As the workforce switches to a younger demographic, the use of this technology that doesn’t shock new job seekers only creates a more efficient hiring process.

Effortless Candidate Tracking

Don’t make it hard on yourself to remember every interviewee!  Video interviewing allows documentation of interviews so when you’re trying to remember which face goes to which resume, all you have to do is check the video!

As spring hiring begins and a new batch of recent college grads become job seekers, make your process easier on yourself by embracing TalentRooster technology, an efficient way to help you find the best talent for your company. No excuses!  

What's in a Name?

TalentRooster… We may have picked an unconventional name for our company, but it fits our unconventional technology and how we are trying to transform the hiring process.  Our name may be tricky to remember but our message is quite clear: A better return on talent.

The truth behind the name is that our technology allows candidates to “crow” louder than the rest. When a piece of paper determines a future, who wouldn’t want to be able to stand out among everyone else? There are only so many different ways to describe being a hard worker so our technology allows a candidate’s personality to be seen, something which can’t be transcribed onto paper.

As hiring managers, receiving resumes via job postings leads to a large stack of papers with scribbled notes like “good work history” or “seems personable on the phone” but after a week or two has passed, you’re left unable to distinguish your candidates from one another. Letting your talent “crow” leaves you with an online database of videos to help you put a face to the name and insures that you interview the candidates that would be the best fit for your company. Not everyone can have a name as unique as TalentRooster that stands out in your mind but each candidate is indeed unique. 

Savvy Recruiting Firm Using Video to Market Candidates

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right?  A recruiting firm based in New Jersey is taking full advantage of this adage by using video interviews to market their candidates.  Recruiters interview hundreds of candidates but only find jobs for a select few.  Some estimates state that over 90% of candidates interviewed are never placed! 

A recruiting firm based in New Jersey decided to use TalentRooster technology to their advantage and improve these grim statistics.  Each week their internal recruiting team meets to discuss the best candidates that are still available.  Then they created this powerful marketing piece and send it out to every client and prospect in their database.  The response has been overwhelming as clients can immediately identify candidates that might be a fit for their needs.  What a powerful tool to help job seekers find employment and ensure your business is maximizing every candidates opportunity for employment. 

Robert Half Survey - More Job Interviews Going Video

Office Team, a division of Robert Half International surveyed over 500 HR professionals to learn more about their use of video and recruitng - the results are not surprising...  (Click here to read survey). 

The top three reasons why first interviews are a waste of time?  Professionalism, Communication and Image.  All three can be readily identified in a 60 second video, before a recruiter / HR professional invests any of their valuable time. Move the paradigm within your hiring process by adding TalentRooster video technology, today!

Skype Changing The Job Interview Process

This week Time magazine published an article touting the virtues of video interviewing - Yea!!  While we couldn't agree more that video is a phenomenal idea for HR / Recruiting professionals, we think the fine people at Time missed a couple crucial points....  Following are some thoughts to consider before live streaming with a candidate. 

1.  You are trapped!  If you Skype and the candidate isn't a fit - too bad.  There's at least 20 minutes you'll never get back.  With TalentRooster candidates create pre-recorded videos, answering questions specific to your needs.  Video interview can be viewed 24/7 and turned off at any time without hurt feelings.

2.  Time.  With live streaming you have to pick a mutual time that works, which is more complicated than it sounds.  Plus you have to hope that neither party is relying on a wireless network our you'll risk the connection timing out. Video interviews are HD and pre-recorded, which means they are bullet proof.  Watch them at your leisure.

3.  Quality.  Remember Max Headroom from the Pepsi ads?  With live streaming the videos are often not in real time - they lag, have audio visual sync issues and in general are hard to watch.  TalentRooster pre-recorded videos do not have any of these issues. 

Video is a great thing for HR / Recruiting professionals eager to find significant savings within their recruiting budgets.  Contact TalentRooster to learn more about this powerful tool.
Time Article

Major Retailer Revitalizing Recruiting

In the uber competitive retail space, where many companies fade into obsolescence, new technology offers a powerful approach to controlling your recruiting costs. Recently, several national retailers have taken advantage of a potent technology that could become the future of retail recruiting.  With multiple locations throughout the U.S., it would be virtually impossible to interview every applicant. Retailers need a solution and many are finding TalentRooster, a video interview firm that specializes in retail. Using TalentRooster technology, applicants are invited to create a video to show why they are the best candidate. In the video, job seekers answer questions specific to the open position. Managers are able to review the videos at their leisure, rate each one and share comments with other managers. Using this technology allows managers to use their time wisely and find the best employees for the job. The time and money saved by using video technology is immeasurable.
Technology continues to offer efficiencies that companies need to explore. As old paradigms die and millenniums enter the workforce, video will quickly replace the well established interview habits. TalentRooster has built an efficient, scalable solution to help companies identify the right talent, faster. From in store kiosks to web generated links added to your posted positions, TalentRooster offers a solution for your business. Go to www.TalentRooster.comto learn more.

Secure Your Internship With a Video Resume

It's hard to believe but summer is just a few months away, which means competition for internships is in high gear! What's your plan to stand out from the hundreds of other candidates that apply? You could send over the passe' paper resume and end up in a large file OR you could create a digital video resume and answer questions specific to the position! Which do you think will provide a greater chance for hire? Companies like to hire savvy candidates that know what's current so they can learn as well. A video resume will clearly show that you "get it" and excite a hiring manager to move your application to the front of the line. Before you submit your video profile, learn about the organization - find out what will make you stand out. Use social media to connect with others that have previously worked at the company and ask them how they landed the job. Find out what criteria the company uses to make hiring decisions - are there any specific questions they always ask - FIND OUT!! All this information is out there if you take a little initiative and dig - the company will be flattered that you took the time. Take this information and inject it into a professional video resume - it will blow them away!! Your video should be composed of three parts: 1. Introduce yourself and show your personality. 2. Address specific "hot points" you've learned about the company through your research - it will show you took initiative, which few candidates will do. 3. In closing, thank them for watching your video and let them know how eager you are to meet in person to further discuss what you can do for their business! Upon completion, send it over to the hiring manager or leadership within the organization. While most will ignore the "paper" resume, there is something about clicking a link that they can't resist! One last step I forgot to mention - post the completed video profile on your social media sites e.g. FaceBook, LinkedIn etc. You never know who will find you! TalentRooster has standardized this entire process and it's FREE for college students! Take charge of your opportunities and jump to the front of the hiring line - check out TalentRooster.com to learn more.

Professional or Fun Video Resume??

I received an inquiry from a gentleman, who did something very unique with his video resume. He's a "Gen Y" candidate that took his video resume to the next level! Virtually all "Gen Y" candidates are going video in addition to their social media, which means those of us over 30 need to get on board! This video is certainly unique and will provide several good laughs! The question now begs are your chances better with a "funny" or professional video? I'm certainly NOT being critical of this candidate - he's a creative person and clearly demonstrated that!

With TalentRooster technology, you can create a powerful digital video resume - an "intelligent resume" if you will - complete with video, traditional resume, personality profile, test scores, recruiter assessments and much, much more. The "all in" cost with TalentRooster (film from home) is $39.95 and it takes less than 10 minutes! No nickle and dime fees for hosting, uploading, etc - that's it! Plus we've made it entirely user friendly! In additional there are TalentRooster recruiting firms popping up around the U.S. that will help you through this process for FREE. Check out TalentRooster.com to learn more.

Conversely you could do it yourself and spend north of $1,000 and take an entire weekend (or more).....

Personal Branding, Video Resumes - What's Next?

Perusing the blogsphere this morning it occurred to me that generation "Xers" have had to learn more technology, faster than any previous generation! Compounding my frustration is that technology shows no signs of slowing down - it's only going to change faster!! Bloggers continue to stress how important personal branding and video resumes (or "CV's") are becoming. Job candidates that have yet to investigate this technology are putting themselves at a severe disadvantage. So how can this "old dog" continue to learn new tricks? Heck, I never learned how to transfer information from a floppy disk and I'm not entirely clear on iPod technology (don't tell anyone). The point is this - if we want to be considered for an opportunity, we have no choice but to get on the technology bus. You don't have to be in the first or second seat, but get on board! HR and recruiting professionals are very attuned to the evolving technology in this space. If you want to fall to the bottom of their list, send an email with your resume attached as a Word document. Those of us that want to be in the front of the line are taking a hard look at personal branding and video resumes.

Companies ARE Hiring!

So much negative news in the media - layoffs, unemployment, foreclosure - with no end in sight! I on the otherhand decided long ago that if life provides lemons, make lemonaid!! It turns out many companies ARE hiring - you simply have to know where to look! Once you have identified a company that is hiring, get out of the pile and on to the desktop with a video resume! A professional video will increase your chances for hire by 50%! Check out TalentRooster.com to learn more - it's a site created by search, recruiting, staffing professionals who really understand the job search process.

The Awesome Power of Video and Good Writing!

So much has been written about the future of the hiring process and what role video will play. Surfing the net tonight, I stumbled across this piece that I thought was well written and spot on! This blogger feels that video is very powerful and will get you noticed, but must be accompanied by a well written paper resume - I need to direct her to TalentRooster! As this technology becomes more widely accepted, job seekers and hiring managers will recognize that TalentRooster is one of the very few doing it right!