Video Resumes: Discriminatory Recruiting Tool?

I was at a recruiting seminar recently and, as I mentioned in the article, 5 Video Resume Tips, one of the topics covered was video resumes.

Besides seeing some pretty awful videos, which is what prompted the article mentioned above, another thought ran through my head -- discrimination.

Interestingly enough, the seminar was broken down into two groups - recruiters and executives. The seminar leader, a former recruiter himself remarked, "The other side of this partition wants nothing to do with this technology." And, I immediately understood why."

I've been a recruiter since 1997 and feel that most of us do our best to hire using nondiscriminatory practices. HOWEVER, we are human beings. And, each of us is subject to subconscious thoughts, feelings and reactions - real or perceived.

The Drawbacks of Video Resumes as Opposed to In-Person Interviews

A real problem I can see coming as recruiting via video resumes grows is subconscious discrimination.

Have you ever had an initial negative reaction to someone because they reminded you of some negative person from your past - it could be an ex-boyfriend, a hated rival from high school, or your mother-in-law.

But, upon spending some time with that person, you overcame your initial reaction because they turned out to be not at all like you thought.

The same thing happens in interviews. My perception has been changed so many times by just sitting and talking with someone - even for just a few minutes. Video resumes remove this possibility.

And, we won't even talk about overt discrimination like, "I don't like Indian accents," or, "Her hairstyle is too "ethnic;" she'd never fit into that client's culture.

Pretty Gets Hired; Ugly Gets Fired

Attractive people have a leg up over the competition via their looks - plain and simple. According to Snap Judgments, an article in Science Netlinks about how we as human beings judge people by their faces, "attractive people tend to earn more money, get better grades in school, and get hired more easily than unattractive people."

Video resumes can only heighten this debate.

Losing Placements Because of Video Resumes