This one's optional, but it's a big edge if you use it right.
The idea is simple. Record a short video, 60 to 90 seconds, introducing yourself. Who you are, what you're looking for, what you bring to the table. Then include it with applications when it makes sense.
Some employers will ask for one. Some won't, but you can offer. Either way, you want one ready.
Keep it vague and flexible enough that you can reuse it for every application. Don't tailor it to one specific company unless they explicitly ask. The whole point is that this is your vibe check. They just want to know if you're normal, coherent, and someone they'd want to spend 40 hours a week with.
**What to include:**
- Your name, and what you studied or did most recently
- A sentence about what kind of roles you're looking for (general, not hyper-specific)
- Two or three genuinely true things about you that would matter to an employer
- A closing line about being excited to hear from them
**What to leave out:**
- Your life story
- Every award you've ever won
- Anything you wouldn't say in a first conversation with someone you just met
Film it in decent light, against a clean background, in clothes you'd wear to an interview. Your phone is fine. Don't overthink the production. The goal is that you come across as a real person someone would actually enjoy working with.
Watch it back once. If it makes you cringe, re-record it. But don't get stuck in a loop of watching it back fifty times and re-recording thirty times. At some point you just have to send the one that's good enough.
What's one thing about you that doesn't come through on a resume but would if someone met you in person? That's what the video is for.
