THE NEWS CHICK BLOG

YouTube, I need a job!

Feb 16, 2010, 10:43 AM | Updated: Mar 28, 2011, 3:46 pm

You know all about the traditional way to get a job. Look for a job posting, submit your resume, then wait, hope, and wait some more. Or, you could try what more people are doing with some success – turn to YouTube.

When Eric Romer heard about a marketing job at a razor company, he made a video of himself shaving his head (of course with the company’s product), put it on YouTube and ended up ahead of the competition. Within 24 hours he got a response from the CEO of HeadBlade, hopped on a plane for an interview in California, and now he’s been on the job for a month.

There are more than 18,000 video resumes on YouTube with people pitching their skills. Another 94,000 videos show people begging, crying, and even dancing for work.

“The beauty of social media is that it levels the playing field,” says Michelle Goodman. who writes the Nine to Thrive blog for NWSource, and a weekly career column for ABCnews.com.

She says sites like Twitter and Facebook make it easier to cut through geographic and hierarchical boundaries.

bio goodman“Relationships that once could have taken years to build in the offline world can be forged in a matter of days or hours,” Goodman says. “Of course, you can’t just get online and expect the hiring world to bow at your feet. You need to pay attention, contribute something of value to the conversation, and choose your moments to ask for that big favor, just as you would at any real-world cocktail party or networking event.”

If you’re going to do a video, it needs to be professional. Not perfect, but consider adding a little more content than this:

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YouTube, I need a job!