Video Resumes ?

http://www.capturemyvideoresume.com/in_the_news

 July 14, 2007

Local video resume service debuts

By JONDI GUMZ
Sentinel staff writer
CareerBuilder did it in April. Monster India did it in June. Santa Cruz resident Ronnie Scadina started doing it this month.

Scadina is the first in the local market to offer a video resume service.

Job-hunters can create a 1-minute video resume, at no charge, using what Scadina calls a simple, four-step process using a Webcam. He’s charging temp agencies $299 to create 30 video resumes for their clients.

Employers can post Bay Area job openings for free, and once the number of resume postings reaches a critical mass, Scadina plans to institute a monthly charge to employers to review them.

“We’re getting hits from all over the nation,” he said. “People are shifting to video online. It’s where tech is going”

The venture is so new, there are only a few job listings. One of them is from his dad’s company, AAA Vending, for a route drive at $15 an hour.

There aren’t any job-hunter videos to view, but Scadina is optimistic the service will catch on, especially if he gets on YouTube, which streams more than 200 million videos a day.

“The minimum to advertise on YouTube is $25,000,” Scadina said. “We signed an application for $30,000″

Scadina, a 2000 graduate of Harbor High School, said he got the idea for video resumes a year ago. While managing 24 Hour Fitness for a year, he spent his off hours on the online startup.

“I talked with a lot of people about it and everybody loved the concept,” he said. “My dad put up $35,000 to package the product the right way”

Scadina and his dad also are building an evangelical ministry, Santa Cruz Revival Church, which put on a Christian outreach festival, Open Heavens, earlier this month.

“I have no experience in the HR, recruiter, temp agency fields, nor have I had any professional training on Web design, database development and flash technology training, which is the unique application in this service,” Scadina said.

Still, Tom Douglass, a media-savvy 18-year-old in Santa Cruz, voiced skepticism.

“There’s no good substitute for a personal interview,” he said.

Local residents working in human resources acknowledged the interest in video resumes while advising employers to take care to avoid discrimination.

“If you search ‘resume’ on YouTube now, there are tons out there,” said Christie Dean-Bower, a technology recruiter and co-founder of the Web 2.0 Hire search agency. “I have heard that Jobster is teaming up with Facebook to launch something similar as well. Many companies are going after it, but I do not see it replacing typical resume-driven applications”

She pointed out one kind of hazard.

“If a candidate from overseas submits a CV [a summary of work experience, education and skills] to me with their photo, marital status or age noted, I delete those as in effort to continue to be an equal opportunity employer,” she said.

Dawn Passaro, a research assistant with HRMarketer.com in Capitola, saw potential.

“It’s a great service as long as it’s used as a secondary tool,” she said. “You don’t want to screen out a particular race or other group”

She pointed out that recruiters are “early adapters” of new technology, which could help Scadina’s company grow more quickly.

“Think of all the money paid on travel [for job applicants],” she said. “If you had a video resume, or live conference webcam call, you’d save a heck of a lot of money”

Contact Jondi Gumz at jgumz@santacruzsentinel.com.

Find it online:

www.PrevYouMe.com

www.web20hire.com

www.hrmarketer.com

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