First let me tell you this is not a paid post or endorsement.  Second, I’ve found something really cool for Free! HR and Talent Acquisition folks love FREE!

I found a company called ZipIntro.com and basically what they do is give anyone a really simple platform to make introductory videos for free.  Check out the one I did on the link below:

http://zipintro.com/v/timsackett/intro

As you can see it’s pretty bare bones, and that’s what is great about it.  As a recruiter I don’t need bells and whistles, I need simple and easy, and this is as easy as product as I’ve found for candidates to begin using video as part of their resume submission.  If I can use this, it’s almost completely idiot proof!

Here’s what I know after working in HR and Talent Acquisition for 20 years:

1. It’s tough to get hiring managers to move on the candidates you’ve presented to them.

2. Many times by the time they do get around to looking at them, the best ones are gone.

3. A quick video intro of a candidate gets hiring managers to react.

Why?

Here’s something about hiring managers they don’t want you to know.  They actually trust that you can find talent for them that will be close to what they need!  So, going through each resume and giving you feedback seems like a waste of time.  Watching 3 videos that are all 90 seconds in length and telling you which ones they want to interview — well, that’s really easy!

I have a classic real-life example of when I working with an executive on trying to fill one of his direct report positions.  I presented resumes of pre-screened candidates of over 20 individuals over a period of months.  Each time I would force myself into his office and get feedback.  Always the final answer was “No”.  I almost gave up when I decided to do one more thing.  I had my best three candidates come into the HR office and I set up a video camera (yeah, this was way before all the cool apps and sites now – VHS baby!).   We went live, I asked each the same three questions, and we let it roll.  Each video was less than five minutes.  I asked the executive for 15 minutes to present three ‘new’ candidates.  I didn’t take any resumes.  He watched the videos and decided to interview all three live.  One of those three eventually got the job.  All three had previously been turned down when looking only at their resume and my feedback.  Video is very persuasive!

What else is useful about ZipIntro?  Well, you can use it to intro yourself!  Think about what happens when you send out those 50 emails per day to potential candidates.  Usually, none of those 50 people have any idea who you are.  All they have is an email telling them you’re interested in them.  But who are you!?  Having a ZipIntro url in your email signature gives them the ability to ‘check’ you out very quickly, and allows you to send a compelling message to potential candidates.  You can be professional, you can be creative, you can be funny.  It’s up to you.

Like I said — ZipIntro isn’t paying me for this, I just wanted to share a free and very easy tool that might help you get a job, and/or land some candidates. Enjoy.