Whether you are a recruiter or a job hunter today's job market is a stressful one. Job hunters are hard pressed to stand out in a sea of resumes so that they are the ones selected for an open position.

One recruiting manager informs me that his staff has gone from receiving 2000 resumes a day to 40,000 per day. It is difficult to keep up with the high volume of people seeking employement and using the internet to post their resumes for open positions. It is no wonder then that job hunters have found a novel way to find a job, the YouTube video.

Witness HireMeHeadblade

Eric Romer created a video resume, posted it to YouTube, and sent the link along with his resume to the hiring manager.

He heard about a marketing manager job at razor company HeadBlade via Twitter and decided to set up a blog called “Hire Me, HeadBlade,” where he included a YouTube video of himself shaving his head with the company’s product. “I got a response within 24 hours, and the founder/CEO flew me out to interview less than a week later,” said Romer. He got the job.

Boomers do it too
Louie Bernstein, age 57 created a video resume as well. He wrote the script and had his son play the role of the interviewer.

Louie Bernstein Preliminary Interview

While he has not yet had an interview, his video has been viewed 167 times.

He also posted his resume to YouTube

Still somewhat traditional
One job candidate created a video that included why he wanted to work at the company. The recruiter was impressed by the research and work the candidate had done in preparation of the interview.

What this means for job seekers
In the age of Social Media setting yourself apart from the competition means you must be creative in ways that didn't exist before. It also changes the game as the recruiter is no longer simply viewing your experience, knowledge, and credentials. With video resumes they can see your age, weight, race, and more.

This can put some people at a disadvantage and knock them out of the running for a job opportunity right out of the gate. Before the age of social media, recruiters examined a piece of paper and selected candidate based on skills and credentials. Video resumes changes that.