Are Video Resumes Right for CFOs?

While I reserve the right to change my answer in the future, for today … no. Video resumes may be beneficial for actors or models, but I doubt a stand-alone “visume” posted on Youtube or Vimeo is good for any C-Suite Executive.

Now that Google reads images and videos, how can a Chief Financial Officer leverage that technology short of a video resume?

Videos Clips of Presentations

If you speak at conferences or workshops or even in the community (on a professional topic), video clips of up to 2 minutes, uploaded to your Linked In profile, are a great way to showcase your presentation skills, build your credibility as a subject matter expert, and add density to your digital footprint.

Slide Shows

Almost every presentation is accompanied by a PowerPoint (or for the Mac lovers in all of us – Keynote) slide show. Modify them for the public and upload them to Slide Share and again, attach those to your Linked In profile or web portfolio if you have your own site.

Pictures

Still photos of you in professional settings, at networking events, conferences, workshops, even presenting, and then uploaded to Flickr or Picasa, will satisfy Google’s zest for reading images.

Done well (i.e., professionally), a video resume could be a part of a larger web portfolio. But, a branded Linked In profile and paper resume … which adheres to the Blackberry principle … are still the best marketing tools for Senior Finance Executives.