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Rob:

This comment is going to come right from my gut so bare with.

I have to disagree with you a little bit. Let me explain. A resume tells me what you have done, what you are good at, and maybe what you like to do. If a candidate puts together a video on youtube or google that regurgitates what his/her resume says that is of little value (unless all you are looking for is the physical characteristics of a candidate). I know that the reason Careerbuilder has not added a “Video Resume” to their offering is because they feel the same way. Could you imagine instead of sifting through 100 resumes I now how to sift through 100 videos of people telling me what’s on their resume.

Obviously where I see video come in handy is where you give a company the opportunity to gather a list of questions and a broad group of candidates and then have those candidates answer your questions (a lot like the first interview). Then giving your hiring managers an opportunity to view the available candidates whenever or wherever they desire. All done asynchronously (not real time i.e. TiVo). This would allow me to find out what is pertinent to the job and give me a greater chance of finding the best fit for both of us. If I could do this anywhere in the world via webcam then I would be in Heaven. If you are looking for a service like this try www.HireVue.com (yes that is a shameless pitch)

As far as giving employers the chance to create a video about the job/company that is a great idea. I know wetjello allows employers to do that. We at HireVue have been asked to add that to our service by a couple of customers so we are working on it.

So there is my quick 2 cents take it for what it is worth.

Ryan: I am glad to hear you pitch in on the subject. I can see where you're coming from, and I agree how that would be better from a company's perspective.

My question right now is: If I get 99 resumes today, and one resume with a video linked to it--if it's clever--I wonder what the likelyhood is that I would interview that person?

It seems to me that HR people would avoid the video for legal issues.

Russell:
Why would HR people shy away from Video? That is like saying that they are not going to meet the person face to face to avoid legal issues. The problem is not seeing them on video or in person the problem arises when your hiring managers start making hiring decisions based on Race or Gender. It doesnt matter if it is in person or on video its all the same. At least with a asynchornous video interview you can show that you asked every candidate the exact same question.

Ryan