Make a Video, Get a Job

“That’s creepy,” my daughter said.  “It’s just an internship.  But to apply I have to post a video on You Tube.”

Creepy or not, that’s the future of how to get a job.  Two generations ago, you sent a letter of inquiry.  One generation ago you sent an email.  Today you send a video.

With good reason.  We get so much more information with a visual.  I prefer to video-chat instead of just talk on the phone – facial expression and nuance convey volumes.  With free services like Skype and Google video, I can communicate more clearly and less expensively than by phone.

The iPhone and other smart phones come with rudimentary editing software built-in, so you can shoot a video, edit it and upload it all with the same device.
Video is today’s killer app, in the same way that email was the killer app of Internet Generation One.

Which brings us back to job applications.  Our parents had to take a typing test to be considered for work.  Today’s generation will have to take a video test.

Video literacy is the fast becoming the fundamental literacy for our workforce and our lives.  With this shift, will we begin to move from a culture of written traditions back to a culture of oral traditions?

We’ll explore that question more in upcoming posts this year.

Image from someone applying for a Sierra Club internship.

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