Your personality goes a long way in helping you stand out in your job search. You know the old saying: Someone else will always be more experienced, more educated, or more qualified than you are, but there’s never going to be another you. You’re not hired simply due to your skills and abilities. You need to fit in with the rest of the team too!
Don’t fall victim to the common notion that in order to be professional, you have to whitewash your personality. Recruiters/employers actually place great value on video resumes because video demonstrates a candidate’s professional presentation skills and character/personality. Having said that, don’t go mad.
This does not mean that you should look all casual like you’re on a vacation or at a party, using profanity/slang terms. You should simply bring your personality to the table, meaning being yourself. It also doesn’t mean telling personal stories of your childhood/love life either. Your video resume isn’t the place for that, just like a traditional CV!
Here are some helpful suggestions to help you bring more personality into your video:
• Collect video testimonials – Testimonials from co-workers, managers, or customers — past or present can help evidence your skills/achievements. You can splice them into your video during sections you want to evidence your points or help sell who you are.
• Express your passions - Talk about what work you love to do and why you love it. If possible, demonstrate this passion on-screen.
• Use your sense of humour - You can always edit out a bad joke later, but the overall feeling that you’re having fun with the process can still come across indirectly. Remember those old Jackie Chan movies where, at the end, you see outtakes of Jackie being a total goofball? The fun that he has during filming comes across in the final edited film even without those deleted scenes.
• Interact with others - You may feel more comfortable with another person on the camera. Try setting up a mock TV interview with a friend or co-worker. Alternatively, have someone off-camera ask you questions and just film your replies. You can edit out the questions later, leaving behind your naturally delivered answers.
• Be yourself - Unlike scripted theatre, the main point of storytelling is to appear natural and spontaneous, yet still prepared, skilled, and professional. Writing out a script is fine, but you don’t need to stick to it rigidly.
• Be confident - The most confident people are relaxed. Keep your arms and legs uncrossed. Smile, but don’t force it. Make eye contact but don’t stare. Vary your rate of speech. Use your hands to emphasise a point but keep in mind that too much hand movement can be distracting.