The Web Resume Technique

If you have generated your HTML (Web) resume and would like to tout it to potential employers, you can include your resume URL in your email signature or networking business cards.

The key is that you have to publicize its existence. It is not enough to create. You also need to promote. Networking business cards are an excellent (and unique) way to actively promote the existence of your Web resume. Your email signature will help to further spread the word whenever you write an email, whether to a job contact or not.

Using your Web resume with networking business cards also provides a very portable way to hand out your virtual resume in a moment's notice.

The Video Resume Technique

Remember the mock interview you went through at the Career Center? Did it go well? Do you have a copy of the recording? If not, it may be time to revisit and redo. If you are able to edit together your responses to some standard interview questions, that video can be utilized as support for your job search. While you may have been somewhat unprepared for the questions in your mock interview, you should fully prepare for your video resume, and ask someone to interview you in a positive way with your preselected questions.

A video interview recording can be utilized in two ways: first, as a door opener with a select few employers you are targeting, and second, as an alternative method for moving forward a stalled phone interview process.

In preparing the video, it is important to use an appropriate introduction and closing for the recording. Your introduction should be short and sweet, explaining who you are and the purpose and format for the video. Your closing should provide a very specific next step for the employer to follow in making direct contact with you. There are numerous free video hosting services that make it easy to share but make sure you have ads turned off before sharing it with employers. If you have a web resume, embed or link to the video in the resume.

The video resume should not be utilized as a crutch for getting into nearby companies. If an employer is within a two-hour drive, it is better to press for the direct, face-to-face interview. The video resume merely serves as a distance-reduction technique to bring you closer to a company that is too far to meet with you personally. The video resume can accomplish some of the get-acquainted first steps and carry the process forward toward the eventual face-to-face meeting.

And remember that the video resume is not a replacement for the face-to-face meeting. You will still have to perform live, in person, for the company. But it can help you in getting to the in-person interview when other techniques have stalled for you.