Media types have always used wacky tactics or "wacktics" to get jobs

Video CVs are, apparently, the the next big thing. I’ve just read an article on Jobs.ac.uk by Catherine Armstrong in which she asks whether such an approach could ever work in academia. But the idea of presenting yourself on video to prospective employers is nothing new. People have been doing something similar for years, just think of actors and broadcast journalists with their show reels. All of this is perfectly normal for media-type jobs where personal appearance is important but it’s a weird prospect for a “normal” job.

Eager to find out whether this really is a daft idea I decided to do a minimal amount of snooping around to see if I could find an example of a video CV. Lo and behold, the first thing I found after typing “Video CV” into Google was a website dedicated to hosting people’s video CVs in a variety of languages. This site will host your video or, for a fee create one for you. There are three examples on their main page which are presumably some of their best examples but as sure as I’m sitting here they’re the best for all the wrong reasons. I’ve included them below for you to enjoy later. Chris Dautremont’s video looks and sounds like a cross between a media student’s over-the-top Big Brother audition tape and one of those public service ads persuading young people to stay at school. Then there’s poor Dilyara Risbayeva’s video which looks more like one of those videos kidnappers send to the cops with a ransom demand. Bless her, she’s so wooden and uptight that you keep expecting to see her holding up a copy of today’s newspaper while the muzzle of an AK-47 pokes out from the side of the screen. Finally we have David Merhi’s video which starts off like an audition tape for MTV’s Real World proclaiming his general “awesomeness” but then degenerates into a dating video. YouTube is littered with more examples -- just search for video CV or video resume.

A still from my never-to-be-released video CV

I know I shouldn’t mock. It’s possible and indeed, quite likely, that I’m simply projecting my own self-consciousness and painful awareness that I am not in the least bit photogenic. I know that if I ever did a video like this, people would either think it was a help the homeless ad or a heavy metal video. But it’s really hard to imagine how videos like these could help you get a job in any industry other than advertising or media. I try to imagine how a video CV for a translator would work: Bob or Mary translator showing off their computer, reading out a translation or even worse, giving a practical demonstration of how they translate. An academic video CV would be even more interesting considering an academic’s CV is often three times longer than a regular CV by the time you add in all the publications, grant applications and teaching details. It could end up being an epic production with a cast of thousands.

But is it really that daft for academics? After all, a key part of the job of a lecturer is being able to stand up in front of a group of people and communicate clearly, effectively and in an engaging manner. All academic recruitment processes involve the inevitable sample lecture where staff and students are rounded up to provide a ready-made audience where candidates can prove that they have this ability. A video CV could provide a glimpse into an academic’s presentation style and it wouldn’t involve as much organisation as a proper sample lecture. Okay there’s no way of recreating an interactive and high-pressure Q&A session but that’s what an interview is for, right? You would, however, have to factor into the equation the “old guard” that can be found in virtually every university. These are the academics who print off emails before they read them, still use transparencies and overhead projectors and generally eschew anything technical that doesn’t have Thomas Edison‘s logo on it. For them wireless means the radio. Can you imagine them buying into this new-fangled technological flim-flammery?  It’s nearly worth the embarrassment of making a video just to see the look on their faces…

Rogues gallery