Finally, someone said it: “The whole concept that someone is just a resume is what’s been bothering me for 20 years.”
Jeff Nussbaum, a seasoned recruiter who began his career in classified ads and faxed-in applications, understands the struggle both for candidates and employers. How can an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper be a key factor to sort through an application pool or to bet on a person’s ability to rise to the challenge?
“There are so many problems with resumes,” Nussbaum says. “In some ways they’re even like mobile dating sites. We all want to make ourselves look 10 pounds thinner and 10 years younger.”
Nussbaum knows applicants feel the pressure of beefing up their resumes in hopes of standing out. He knows how hard it can be to see an actual person through 10 point, Times New Roman font. There must be a better way to do it, he had been thinking for nearly two decades.
Nussbaum and his partner, Ira Bell, went to work solving the problem. They developed Recruit Inc, a multimedia platform for employers and applicants to connect directly. On Recruit.com, a person creates a profile with photo albums and videos to supplement their resume. The innovative idea has a growing audience and was even featured in the March issue of Men’s Health Magazine.
“We’re here to be disruptive in a productive way,” he says.
Current trends in hiring processes are favoring artificial intelligence, which is simplifying job boards and applications with software to do the work of a traditional recruiter. Recruit is not on the AI bandwagon. In fact, Nussbaum is even adamant to remove third-party staffing companies from their online hiring tool.
“We’re trying to put personality back into the process, rather than take it out.”
Still, he says, Recruit maximizes efficiency by either reducing or fully eliminating the need for first-round interviews. By watching short videos of candidates online, companies learn far more about an individual than they would by sorting through a stack of resumes. Whatever it is you do so well (whether that’s running a restaurant kitchen or designing software), Nussbaum encourages you to record it and include it on your profile. The more information available, the faster companies can make a decision on you.
Recruit is different from the social media sites that cater towards professionals, such as LinkedIn. There is no liking or commenting on statuses in your network. In fact, with Recruit, you can’t even see the profiles of other candidates. It’s strictly a candidate to employer platform, free from clutter and focused on getting the job filled.
“Microsoft has been really good to us,” says Nussbaum, who has spoken at conferences for the tech giant. Even the most advanced software development corporations are embracing this personal approach to hiring.
How to maximize Recruit.com profile to be more than just a resume
Nussbaum recommends every candidate include at least three videos. They should be a brief 30 -60 seconds in length to maintain the attention of a potential employer. Your videos should feature (1) an About Me (2) a glimpse into you performing your area of expertise and (3) a few examples of how you have productively committed your time outside of the workplace (i.e. marathon running or volunteering).
“These first impression videos can get you past some of the things that might make an interviewer pass on a traditional resume.”
For hiring managers looking for more interaction before meeting with a candidate in person, Recruit brings synchronized video conferencing for online interviews.
But, of course, not everyone enjoys hamming it up on camera to sell themselves to a company. To those introverts, Nussbaum says there’s no need to worry. Recruit has created a teleprompter feature to practice recording your profile videos and is even developing feedback features to help you stand out.
Care to try it out? The platform is guaranteed free for both employers and candidates at least through 2017. The next time you update your resume, just include your Recruit profile link and watch the opportunities unfold.
