Where are all the Jobs?: Spicing Up Your Video Resume with the 4 Types of Conflict

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Spicing Up Your Video Resume with the 4 Types of Conflict | Career Rocketeer

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Spicing Up Your Video Resume with the 4 Types of Conflict

Posted: 09 Sep 2011 03:30 AM PDT

If you are looking for some excellent Youtube entertainment, just do a search for "video resume."
You will find that very talented and nice people have taken the time to read you their resume. Perhaps they think the managers who might hire them can't read. More likely, these poor job seekers received some very bad advice about what a video resume is – or should be.
And to make matters worse, after you are bored to tears from the "real" video resumes, your search starts in with the parodies. Then you can laugh yourself to tears. For instance, you might enjoy The Pizza Guy's Resume Song, and Matt G's odd-ball performance for a chuckle.
And after all of this crying, it's no wonder you have totally dismissed the idea of adding video to your job search arsenal!
So Why Should I Even Bother with a Video Resume?
Because video is still the best medium for demonstrating professional presence, presentation skills, and creativity; all qualities that hiring managers are looking for. Like it or not, every little extra thing you do in your job search is going to further separate you from the crowd and increase your chances of getting the job you want.
Because you are seriously trying to find a job AND you are not trying to bore the daylights out of a hiring manager, try producing a video résumé. If you do it well, it will really help set you apart.
Why You Want to Add Conflict to Your Resume
Adding narrative conflict to your video resume allows you to capture the attention of your audience very quickly; it keeps them interested till the end. Good TV commercials, book authors, and TV shows do this all the time.
Until the conflict is resolved, most people remain curious to see what happens. See for yourself. Just try to imagine a one-hour TV drama in which everyone gets along and gets everything they want—boring!
Most good stories contain at least one of the following four types of conflict, and you should apply at least one of these to your video résumé to make it a hit.
Four Types of Conflict and How to Add Them to Your Resume
A struggle between two or more people: Think about how you beat a competitor in the market or resolved a dispute between two co-workers. For example, did you go toe-to-toe in a request for proposal and beat your competitors?
A struggle against nature or uncontrollable forces: Reflect on how you overcame the uncontrollable forces of the economic climate, a natural disaster, or political misfortune. For instance, did you survive a round of layoffs by somehow standing out?
A struggle against some aspect of society: Consider how you overcame a restrictive regulatory environment, changed a standard operating procedure to better align with your customers' purchasing habits, or brought diversity into your workplace. For example, did you organize an effort to correct some injustice?
A conflict of opposing forces within a person: Think about a time you overcame a disability, made a difficult moral choice, or discovered a hidden talent that put you ahead. For instance, have you ever turned a bad situation to your advantage?
To learn how to write and produce a killer video resume from start to finish, read chapter 10 of my book Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies, now available on Amazon.

Guest Expert:
Joshua Waldman helps frustrated job seekers leverage social media to find work FAST! He is the founder of CareerEnlightenment.com and the author of the new book, Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies. Sign-up for his newsletter today and get access to his exclusive training videos for free.