Recruitment Videos Now Ample on the Web

All Star Resume has noticed many employers are making recruitment videos available on the Web. They can be culled from YouTube.com, job boards, and directly from employer websites. While job searching via video is probably not the route for executives, it may be valuable to others by providing a sense of specific workplace environments and a peek at employees doing everything from bench research to consulting with each other and working with customers. Yet, All Star Resume suggests that job seekers view these videos just as they would commercials, or perhaps infomercials, because that's what they are. And just as some ads are more accurate than others, recruitment videos probably vary in accuracy. We suspect that office scoundrels don't appear in too many of these videos.

Job seekers, noted CareerJournal.com recently, should critically survey what they see in recruitment videos. We echo its good advice and add a bit of our own:

• Look for clues about an employer's work environment and culture. Are people wearing what you like to wear to work? Do cubicles reflect freedom of expression or does it look pretty stiff there? While the Journal article suggests you even survey the average age of employees appearing in the video to decide whether this matches your comfort zone, we suggest that you remember that these are marketing materials, and its possible that only select employees appear in the videos.
• Consider that a well-made video may reflect a company's serious commitment to recruiting, and that an amateur, in-house production could give good reason for extra scrutiny about other facets of the company
• Does the job sound too good to be true? Perhaps it is.
• Now that you've looked at the video, be a detective at rooting out omitted information, such as details on overtime, insurance benefits, and retirement.

Viewing recruitment videos should be only part of your job-search strategy. There are plenty of good jobs out there that will never make it to the silicon screen. In fact, recruitment for many good jobs doesn't require that kind of marketing.

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