The social transparency phenomenon that has occurred with the rise of the web means tremendous opportunities for job candidates like you to gain visibility.  One example is through the use of the video bio.  Catharine Fennell, Founder and CEO of VideoBIO, discusses how to leverage video to inject “the personal” into your personal brand while at the same time taking control of your personal and professional reputation online to stay a step ahead of your competition.

 Key Points

• The competitive nature of the job search requires that you give yourself every chance possible to stand out and make an impact.

• Video is fast becoming the medium of choice. It enables you to say what you can’t say in your resume and lets people know you before they meet you.

• Hiring Managers want to know as much as they can about candidates before putting the time and effort in to recruit them.

• Hiring managers engage in “social screening” to gain a more rounded view of candidates, so it’s critically important to ensure your professional image and professional profile are the first results they see, and that your personal profile is in line with your professional image. 

4 Strategies related to the Video Bio and how they apply to your job search:

Your Next Steps / Tips for Success

1. Own your brand identity online.  You have a professional reputation to establish and manage. Search yourself and/or use a tool like Online ID Calculator to assess your online presence.
2. Your social graph presence online and your social currency in the job search.   How professionally packaged are you online?  Does your personal profile match your professional image?
3. Nurture and develop your online presence.  Build interest and awareness with plenty of content and through a variety of communications, including messages, video, articles and campaigns.
4. Use your Video to say everything you can’t with the written word. Hiring managers want to know about you and they’re looking for the following attributes: cultural fit, energy, enthusiasm, passion, intellect commitment and extracurricular interests. They want to know about the way you think, where you want to go and what excites you.
   • Decide on a format that’s comfortable for you – whether you prefer just to talk directly to the camera or, if you’re shy, incorporate lots of images and text and graphics to take the pressure off you.
   • Make sure your video accurately reflects who you are. You must, first and foremost, establish credibility and authenticity. 

Catharine Fennell is President and CEO, videoBIO. videoBIO offers turnkey web video profiling and platform for business professionals helping them to building their profile online with video.  Catharine is also Managing Partner with SWING Think Inc, and Executive Producer of the award winning www.DefineYourself.ca web t.v. show currently in its third season. Learn more about  VideoBio at www.videobio.com.