Jobseekers turn to video resumés

Thousands of young Filipino jobseekers have chucked their shyness and used the web camera to make video resumés or “vidres” to be posted on the newly launched job search website Vidres.net.

Florante Cruz, managing director of Vidres.net, said that less than a month after launching their website which allows the uploading of 30-seconder video resumés by jobseekers for viewing by employers, about 5,000 “vidres” have been submitted for posting from Filipino jobseekers.

Cruz said the 5,000 video resumés as of last Wednesday represented more than half of some 8,000 resumes submitted by jobseekers since late June.

“It’s really phenomenal. We did not expect this many ‘vidres’ to be submitted immediately. Initially, we thought that a majority of the resumes would still be the traditional resumes and ‘vidres’ to only become popular gradually,” Cruz told The STAR in an interview.

Cruz said that interestingly, most of the jobseekers are even excited about preparing their video resumes despite some being camera-shy or relatively unfamiliar with the process of using a web camera and microphone.

A video resume runs for a maximum 30 seconds, and can be made at Internet cafes or at job fairs. In one job fair last week Vidres.net set up booths complete with computers, Internet access and web camera and microphones where jobseekers were allowed to record their “vidres” for free.

Cruz said the popularity of their website, particularly its “video resume” feature, has spurred them to rush “tie-ups” with operators of Internet café chains.

“We want to arrange a tie-up with Internet cafes... so they can easily (assist) their customers who want to upload their resumes,” he said.

Cruz shared that their fast-growing database of resumes, whether traditional or video, has also drawn the interest of more employers to their website.

Cruz shared that the large number of video resume submissions was evidence that young Filipinos are Internet savvy and not shy about introducing themselves on video.

“They had no hesitation about going on camera to make their video resumes. I think it shows that Filipino jobseekers are not that camera-shy” Cruz said.

Vidres.net, reportedly Asia’s first video resume website, has been trumpeted as a convenient website for employers who can readily view the video of prospective applicants and eliminate first job interviews that take much time and effort of recruitment personnel.

At the same time, Cruz said the elimination of the first job interview phase was also convenient for job hunters since they also avoid the hassles of going to the interview in busy office districts.

“The Internet is rapidly changing today’s competitive job market. With the growth of Internet recruiting, more and more companies are becoming adept in using today’s technology. Very soon, video resumes are going to be as ubiquitous as PDAs or iPods,” Rosanna Llenado, Vidres managing partner, said.

Cruz said they are now accepting video resume submissions for free while building their database but they will be charging the P100 subscription fee by this month or September.

Cruz said several companies have also expressed interest in posting job vacancies on their website which will be available for viewing soon.