Strengths and Weaknesses of Vr Towards Aep Students

PART I. INTRODUCTION:
I. BACKGROUND:
1. Definition of Video Resume:
A video resume (VR) is a short video used for job applications. It is created
by a candidate for employment or by a professional Videographer for the candidate, and submitted to a prospective employer like a CV (curriculum vitae). In fact, VR may be called visumé or Video CV, and is usually accompanied by a CV in text-based format. VR is an alternative way for job seekers, beyond the traditional CV. The VR describes the individual’s professional experience, qualifications and interests of the applicants. The applicant not only demonstrates his/her public speaking but also interpersonal or technical skills to his/her potential employer. It may also include a third party who talks about the candidate’s strengths and accomplishments. 2. History of Video Resume:

VR was first introduced in the 1980s for use and distribution via VHS tape. With the modern capabilities of transmitting streaming video via the Internet, VR has taken on new popularity. Famous VR: Impossible is nothing is a 2006 VR by Aleksey Vayner, a student of Yale University who applied for a job with UBS, an investment bank. The video was posted on various blogs, then YouTube, where it became an immense viral Internet phenomenon. 3. Popularity of Video Resume in Vietnam:

In Vietnam, VR is a new concept. It is supposed that the first VR in Vietnam appeared in 2009 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PpaHY8fQv8). Young job seekers, as well as employers, are looking for innovation in the recruitment process, so they highly appreciate the idea of VR. Beside YouTube, numerous Web sites for online job application allow uploading VR. These include sites like: SeeCeeVee.com, Trieuvieclam.com, Vinajobclub.com, 1001vieclam.com… This form of job application has not yet been widely popular in Vietnam; however, many employers believed that VR will soon become a trend in the near future. II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:

1. Overview:

In fact, VR is not new as it started being used in 1980s, and since then many articles and researches have been conducted to analyze and show the strengths and weaknesses of VR. As the technology explosion, the internet makes it easier to share and transmit information between people which leads to the popularity of VR. Therefore, many discussions have been raised around this trend of job-getting approach all over the world.

2. In details:

In Vietnam; however, many people (especially students) are not familiar with VR. Moreover, as our research focuses on a particular group of students, it is very different from researches on the Internet. In our research, we do not focus on VR but rather focus on AEP senior students. The main practical aspect of the research is to show how AEP students’ characteristics are appropriate for this new job approach instead of the old format.

III. PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH:
The purpose of conducting this research is to help AEP senior students realize the strengths and weaknesses of VR in job-seeking process. Besides, it is to show and analyze the characteristics of AEP senior students which are suitable to complement VR to their CV, compared to the mainstream ones in NEU as well as other economics universities. Furthermore, the research will also provide some basic knowledge about VR, which is a useful alternative of traditional Curriculum Vitae (CV), in order to expand the number of choices for job application.

IV. SCOPE:
Our research will be carried out on AEP senior students who will become job seekers after graduation, should consider the strengths and weaknesses of using VR for job application.

V. RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
This research was conducted to give out the answers for the following questions: 1. What are the strengths of VR towards AEP senior students? 2. What are the weaknesses of VR towards AEP senior students?

V. RESEARCH METHOD:

The type of method that was used to collect information from students in this study consisted of questionnaires and interviews. The surveys were distributed to students in some random classrooms and dormitory rooms at AEP faculty. In these settings, students were informed of the purpose of the project, and that their participation was voluntary. After explaining the procedure and showing an example of a VR, the surveys were distributed. It took approximately 5 minutes to answer 9 questions (See Appendix for more detail). For people whom we could not meet, questionnaires would be sent via Internet or interview directly. Besides, our group also focuses on finding information in books or mass media such as Internet, magazines, newspapers to have an overview about previous research and to collect some data about the development of VR in Vietnam in recent years.

VII. LITERATURE REVIEW:
Using VR for job application is a new trend and has been becoming more and more popular in recent years. Technological advance, popularity of media, and the desire to find good job are the explanations of this tendency. While taking a look at VR, we also explore the situation of labor market which links to the trend in job search. Research conducted by Fields, G (2010) analyzed the labor market in developing countries. As the result of International Labour Organisation (ILO, 2010), unemployment rates in Asian developing countries were lower than those in the developed economies. However, Fields argued that in developing countries, there were not enough “good jobs” for all who want them and are capable of performing them. Most of employments in developing countries encountered low and unstable income. A general look, The everything resume book (Schuman, 2008) introduced video resumes: “These presentations waver between homemade versions from job seekers equipped with Web cams and movie-making software to versions that are professionally produced by Videographers, executive search firms, or special VR services”. Tendency of video resumes was expected to grow rapidly in the future; however, VR was still “uncharted territory” for most job hunters and employers due to some non-negligible weak points that such VRs contain.

According to the first-ever VR survey in Vault.com (2007), though 89 percent of employers were willing to watch a VR, only 17 percent admitted to actually having viewed this kind of job search technology. Little is known about strength and weakness of VR with the full view. Therefore, a controversial topic has raised whether applicants should be loyal to the traditional CV, or they should switch to the modern VR. Some researchers have focused on the comparison between VR and traditional CV. A VR can set the applicants apart from others by showing rather than telling, while a standard resume cannot. Thus, a good VR can quickly brighten job seeker’s chance of getting an interview, while a not good enough one will instantly knock him out (Ross, C., Beggs, B., Yound, S, 2011, Mastering the job search process in recreation and leisure services). Listed advantages of VR include the ability to show candidate’s communication skill and creativity, serve an effective way in selling intangible characteristics, therefore hook the hirer’s attention. According to these authors, using a short, high quality VR hardly replaces but can be considered as a supplement to their standard resume. Numerous researchers and authors investigated the effects of VR, revealed both strengths and weaknesses.

It is stated that technology limitation is the primary obstacle: many organizations do not have the high-speed Internet connection or compatible browsers to view the video clip. (Ross, C., Beggs, B., Yound, S). Another weak point of VR mentioned is that since video resumes are unfamiliar, it possibly bring the risky to people using them. Beshara (1948, Job search solution: the ultimate system for finding a great job now!) proposed that VR may not be a good idea due to the restricted time of hiring managements, hardly taking 60-180 seconds to view a video instead of reading a traditional CV. The time cost of employers to look at every VR was called the “time vampire issue” by Kenedy (?, Job interview for dummies) Most of the existing studies emphasized a significant weakness of VR: discrimination issue.

A VR can clearly communicate age, gender, race, national origin and disabilities of applicants – while a standard resume has nothing to worry (Ross, C., Beggs, B., Yound, S). In addition, Kenedy claimed that video resumes are risky – even better-trained managers may slide into discriminatory practices. In Vietnam, the trend of using VR is considered by employers and job seekers. However, we hardly found any research in this field. Articles and websites are main sources; however, information supplied by those sources is just like introduction rather than analysis in depth. To sum up, the positive and negative effects of using VR for job application is an interesting subject which has been newly studied in recent years. Generally, VR may be an innovation with its considerable strengths but they also expose some weaknesses in comparison with the traditional CV. The following research will focus on a group of potential job seekers with unique characteristics: AEP senior students.

PART II. MAJOR FINDINGS
I. The differences between AEP students versus NEU students: There are some features that make AEP students different from mainstream NEU students. AEP is standardized from training programs in Finance of CBA (College of Business Administration) of the CSULB (California State University Long Beach), which is one of 24 schools in California state university system, USA (CSU-California State University). It is deployed to build and develop universities meeting regional and international standards, thus contributing to improve the quality of the Vietnam Education Foundation, striving until 2020 Vietnam will have universities classified the world’s top 200 universities. AEP is proud of having a team of experienced, enthusiastic and creative lecturers who graduated from developed countries such as USA, Canada, UK, France, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, etc. Especially, all lecturers have reputation in teaching and scientific research. With experience in teaching and training from many countries around the world, AEP teaching staff has abilities to develop and implement training programs by using various approaching methods of international programs. To become AEP students, candidates first have to pass the entrance exam into National Economics University.

Then they must overcome next three tests: English test, Essay Writing test and interview. English test is aimed to check English ability of students. Besides, it is an opportunity to show their own attitudes and social knowledge when doing Essay Writing test. At last, students are interviewed by experienced teachers who will decide if they are in accordance with AEP Program. The final results are synthesized from all tests to ensure that students who pass the exam have good English, wide social knowledge and strong determination to study in AEP. AEP students study entirely in English, with advanced teaching methods through modern equipments. The students here get modern training programs and curriculums that are equivalent to those of universities in the region and the world. In the process of studying and researching, students are usually guided to get familiar with real offices through seminars with successful entrepreneurs who come from well-known companies.

Moreover, group discussion and extracurricular activities provide students with the dynamic and self-confidence. In addition, students can study along with other foreign students in the AEP. On the other hand, the training programs of AEP are also highly practical and suitable for Vietnamese students. When studying the AEP program, students have the ability to think scientifically and independently on issues of the world economy, as well as the Vietnamese economy. That is the problem that every country, every business, and every individual face. Thus, after graduation, AEP students have vast employment opportunities in international organizations, government agencies, businesses, financial institutions and banks. For example, all AEP student intake 50 had good and excellent first degrees and found appropriate jobs right after graduation.

The bar chart provides the information about the differences between AEP and other NEU students, which is given by AEP’s senior year students. As can be seen from the graph, the longest bar is the “Better English ability” bar which is chosen from 70 students. It is clear that AEP students are better at English than others. Coming after that is the “More active” bar (48 students). The number of students who think AEP’s students more creative is smaller, with 34 ones. By comparison, only one student believes that AEP students have better academic knowledge than mainstream NEU’s students. This figure is completely similar to the category of studying most subjects in English. However, there are still 16 respondents who assume that AEP and non-AEP students are the same, counted for 13,3% of 120 students participating in the survey. To sum up, in almost opinions, there are three most obvious differences between AEP and other NEU students, which are English ability, activeness and creativity. Among them, English ability is the main difference, the second is activeness and the third is creativity. As a result, it becomes the advantages of AEP in using Video Resume to find good jobs, in which they can confidently show their English ability, verbal and nonverbal skill.

II. The strengths of using Video resume towards AEP senior students: How to create an impressive CV? Perhaps, this is a question that any senior student hardly ignore. These students may confront with two choices when they apply for a job, using either paper resumes or video resumes. Accompanied with the advancement in technologies and social networks, more and more people, nowadays, tend to choose VR because of their benefits compared with the traditional CV. This survey is applied for 115 AEP senior students at National Economics University. It is possible that VR have not been popular in Vietnam; consequently, there are merely 46 students who have known about VR, occupying 40% of respondents, lower than 69 ones who have heard VR in the first time.

It is generally accepted that VR has numerous advantages, which is recommended in a wide range of articles, books, journals and so on. However, this is the first time that a research is carried out in AEP senior students. Because of their discriminated characteristics as suggested above, the strengths of using VR are relatively different. 1. Showcase their abilities:

To simplify, these strengths should be divided into two areas, direct effects and indirect effects.
For the direct effects, it is obvious that using VR can assist students in showing their verbal communication skills. According to the way candidates present about themselves, it is not difficult for employers to estimate communication ability of each one. This is regarded as a crucial criteria influencing on the employers’ decision. Thanks to a lot of extra curriculums, most of AEP senior students can be proud of this ability; thus, using VR will open up opportunities for their career. In addition, through VR, job seekers could showcase their personality. With images, sounds and lights, a video is possible to convey the enthusiasm as well as the confidence of applicants much more clearly than a piece of paper. It is undeniable that many hiring managers consider a positive attitude and interesting personality as two of the most important qualities in a job candidate.

For the indirect effects, demonstrating creativity and technical aptitude are two noticeable advantages of VR in comparison with paper resumes. While the latter is quite inflexible with an available form, making a VR requires new ideas and vivid imagination from each job seeker. Moreover, by no means do candidates create a high quality video without technology ability. For example, potential candidates are required not only to have knowledge about how to use a camcorder, how to send a video but also to keep up with the most current media tools and trends. After four years studying in an international standard environment, this is not a problem for AEP students. 2. Impression:

Many researchers have shown that people tend to either have a good impression or remember better after watching a video rather than reading a book or a paper. The explanation for this is possibly derived from the attractiveness of a video in comparison with a piece of paper. Instead of drawing their portrait by words, applicants can give the whole picture about themselves with lively images, vivid sounds, lights and various movements. Also, VR can bring the feeling to hiring managements that they seem to be in a direct interview. In fact, there are no many differences between a VR and a face to face interview. Both are the ideal environments where job seekers may not only illustrate their characteristics, abilities or qualification but also make eye contact with employers. Accompanied by a myriad of interactions, it is widely accepted that video resumes facilitate catching the eye of hiring managements.

The impression plays an important role in helping applicants take the job opportunities. Since the majority of Vietnamese people only familiar with the traditional CV, using VR may discriminate the users with the others, which can make them stand out from the crowd. In addition, thanks to creativity, perhaps, AEP senior students find not hard to make a prominent VR; therefore, they can be appreciated by employers. Moreover, even if lack of experiences, by using VR as a audio- visual aid, AEP students feshing out of college properly hide their weak areas that might be exposed in the paper resumes. It is believed that the decision of hiring management depends on the first impression so much. With a lot of time for preparation, people using VR are able to control this; as a result, employers may ignore their some weaknesses. To know intimately about the outlooks of AEP senior students, we should consider the following graphs.

The bar chart provides the information about the opinions of AEP senior students related to the strengths of VR. It is obvious from the graph, the biggest number of agreements belongs to “Show personality”. This figure is 68 students (including 30 from ones who have heard of VR and 38 from the ones who haven’t). The second is “Show verbal communication skill” with the total number of 67 (39 of them haven’t heard of VR). The advantage of video resume in demonstrating confidence has also played an important role. It is mentioned by 28 students who have knowledge about video resumes and 34 ones who have not. Meanwhile, these figures in term of “Show enthusiastic” are 23 and 22, respectively; followed by the opinion of “Hide applicant’s weaknesses”. On all, 23 people agree with this idea and 14 of them haven’t heard of VR. The number of students in rest three bars approximately equals to zero. Generally, we can conclude that VR has 5 biggest strengths, which in turn are Show personality, Show verbal communication skill, Show confidence, Show enthusiasm and Hide weakness. These ideas are agreed by both people who have known about VR and those that haven’t. Whether VR suitable for candidates to apply a job

The two pie charts present an overview of opinion of AEP’s senior year students about whether VR is suitable for job-seekers to apply a job. It is clear from the first chart that “ yes” is the most popular answer for students have more information about VR, with nearly a half, slightly more than the answer of “maybe”. By comparison, merely 13% of these students think that VR can not fulfill in looking for a job. The second graph, on the other hand, shows that students who have just seen VR at the first time say “maybe” rather than “ yes”, occupying 51% and 38%, respectively. The reason might be those have a little knowledge about VR after watching it in the first time; thus, they do not assure about the fitness of VR in the job market. However, only 11% those thinking VR is not suitable to apply a job. It illustrates that VR can leave the best impression at first and lead they consider about whether they should create a VR. In brief, the majority of fourth year AEP’s students agrees that VR may be useful for applicants in seeking a job, whereas the opposite is true for the answer “no”.

III. The weaknesses of Video Resume and suggestion to handle: Although VR shows a lot of strengths that benefit the applicants, there are weaknesses that they need to bear in mind when conducting a VR. Actually, the issue whether or not applicants should use VR for their job-seeking process is still controversial among applicants and even employers. There are countless articles and surveys on newspaper, in books and on the Internet that show negative features of VR, and the applicants should have a quick look at these articles if they need a right decision on the way to apply for a job. In these articles, many writers have list down the features of VR that are considered weaknesses such as time spent on watching, discrimination in sex or age, and fast Internet connection required. Why do employers consider above features to be the weaknesses of VR?

First, when employers read a paper CV, they can skim over the application form, and get the necessary information just in seconds. However, for VR, employers need to watch the whole video or at least half of it in order to decide whether or not the applicant is qualified. Therefore, for companies with a large number of applicants, this process becomes terribly time-consuming. Second, for such a long time, companies and employers no longer require their applicants to provide personal information that does not relate to the job such as self-image, race… in their application form due to the possibility of discrimination. However, for VR, appearance, sex and race are the first impressions that employers get from watching applicants’ videos, which can lead to discrimination. Finally, many companies do not have fast Internet connection, so it becomes a big obstacle for employers to watch VR which are often sent to them via the Internet. However, it is important to know if NEU’s students, especially those in Advanced Educational Program, have been fully aware of the weaknesses of Video CV. 1. The weaknesses of Video Resume according to AEP Students’ opinions:

The column chart above describes all the features that AEP’s senior year students in the survey believe to be the weaknesses of VR. According to the chart, it seems that students whether or not having heard about VR before shared the same idea what are its weaknesses. Most of them considered the requirement of certain technological knowledge to be an obvious weakness. There were 36 students who had not heard about Video CV before, and 25 students who had heard that chose technological knowledge option. However, the fact that near half of the students did not choose the option tells us that it may be not too difficult to create a VR. Discrimination and irrelevant information are indicated as the two next Video CV’s weaknesses. For those who have not heard about VR before, the second weakest feature is believed to be discrimination which may be in sex, age or appearance.

There are 25 students in this category who chose discrimination option while there are only 20 of them who chose irrelevant information option. Nevertheless, those who have heard about VR before only rank discrimination as the third weakest feature while considering irrelevant information to be the second one. Over creativity, in students’ opinions, can be considered a weakness as 20 students chose that option. Although in previous researches, time spent on watching a VR was considered a significant weakness, only 3 students in the survey chose that option. Moreover, among those who had heard about VR before, there are 4 students who chose to miss important information and exaggerating applicant’s ability (1 on exaggerating applicant’s ability, and 3 on missing important information). No students who had not heard about Video CV before choosing these options. 2. Suggestions to reduce the weaknesses of Video Resume:

The bar chart provides the information about how to reduce the weaknesses of VR given by AEP senior year students. As it can be seen from the graph, there are various ways to limit the weaknesses of VR. The most popular choice is using VR along with paper CV, with 63 students in total, followed by consulting good VR (51 students). Introducing services which help applicants make effective VR also plays an important role in reducing weaknesses of VR and it is mentioned by 34 students. Only a small number of students think that it is useful for them to give the honest information and create a uniform type of VR. Besides, there are only 7 students who said nothing should be improved. In addition, there is a quite clear difference between students who have heard about VR before and those who have just seen VR for the first time. It is obviously manifested in not only the suggestion of introducing services to create a high quality of VR but also the one of using Video CV along with paper CV. The first suggestion was cited by 10 of the former and 24 of the latter. Likewise, 25 students who have more information about VR believed that VR should be used accompanied by paper CV in comparison with 38 students who have less.

PART III. CONCLUSION
Based on the concern of senior students, the research concentrates on the effects of using VR for job application for AEP senior students in the Advanced Economic Program of National Economics University. This research finds out the strengths of VR which may open up more opportunities for the applicants, while their negative effects possibly ruin applicant’s chance. Furthermore, this research could be a helpful premise for future studies such as the process of making an effective VR or predicts the tendency of job applications in the future. To study about those issues, we used both qualitative and quantitative methods based on sources of information such as survey, interview, magazines, newspapers as well as the Internet. Due to the limited condition, it is impossible for us to avoid flaws in the whole. However, within the framework of an exercise, we have carefully collected, figured and analyzed all available data, thanks to the helpful instructions from the supervisor.

Thus, the research did overcome the obstacles and achieve the purpose we have mentioned in the introduction part. In conclusion, the research attempts to solve the two questions: what are the strengths and what are the weaknesses of VR? There are numerous advantages of using video resume for job application. These are to show personality, show verbal communication skill, show confidence, show enthusiasm and hide weaknesses of the applicants. Most of AEP senior students think that using VR is a good idea for job seekers; however, many of them are uncertain. About the weaknesses of VR, it was supposed that requirement of certain technological knowledge, discrimination, over creativity and irrelevant information are the main weak points. Time-consuming and exaggeration are also problems of using VR. Besides, the research suggests some ways to reduce the weaknesses of VR, such as using video resumes along with paper CV, consulting good VR, introducing services that help applicants make VR, etc. PART IV. REFERENCES AND APPENDIX

I. References:

* Articles & Books:
(?). (2007). Xin việc bằng Video Resume. Vietbao. Retrieved September 9, 2007, from http://www.vietbao.vn. (?). (2007). Job Hopefuls Become Video Resume Stars. Vault.com. Retrieved November 29, 2007, from http://www.vaultz.com. Agencies of ILO. (2008). ILO says global financial crisis to increase unemployment by 20 million. ILOcarib. Retrieved October 20, 2008, from http://www.ilocarib.org.tt/. Athavaley, A. (2006). Posting your Resume on YouTube. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 6, 2006, from http://online.wsj.com. Bowl, N. (2012). Submit a good resume with Video Resume. Retrieved April 13, 2012, Career Directors International (CDI). (2012). Global Hiring Trends 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2012, from http://www.slideshare.net Chou, J. (2009). Video Resumes: Are they really the future?. Ezinearticles. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.ezinearticles.com. Cullen, L. (2007). It’s a wrap, you are hired!. Time Magazine. Retrieved Februry 22, 2007, from http://www.time.com. Doyle, A. (2011). Internet your way to a new job (3rd ed.). Silicon Valey, CA: Happy About. Duderstadt, J. J. (2006). A university for the 21st century. USA: The university of Michigan Press. Elliot, A. (2011). Top 5 Tips for Creating Impressive Video Resumes. Mashable Business. Retrieved January 17, 2011, from http://www.mashable.com/. Goodman, M. (2008). Lights, Camera, Hire Me!. ABC News Magazine. Retrieved August 7, 2008, from http://abcnews.go.com/. Greene, B. (2008). Get the interview every time (2nd ed.). USA: Kaplan, Inc. Hilton, M. (2008). Research on Future Skill Demands. Report No. N01-OD-4-2139. Washington, DC: The national academies press. Hopkins, J. (2007). Job seekers show rather than tell. USA Today Magazine. Retrieved April 24, 2007, from http://www.usatoday.com/. Kenedy, L. J. (2012). Job interview for dummies (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Mayer, D. (2008). How to Write & Design a Professional Résumé to Get the Job. Ocala, Florida: Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc. O’neill, M. (2010). Are Online Video Resumes The Way Of The Future?. Social time. Retrieved December 7, 2010, from http://www.socialtimes.com. Overly, S. (2011). Looking for a job? These startups want your camera-ready. The Washington Post Magazine. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/. Schawbel, D. (2009). Bulid a powerful brand to achieve Career Success. USA: Kaplan, Inc.Schuman, N. (2008). The everything resume book (3rd ed.). Avon, MA: Adams Media.
Scott, J. (2011). Video Resumes are most definitely the wave of the future. Reelseo. Retrieved September 20, 2011, from http://www.reelseo.com. Straits, D. (2010). Video resume explosion: A career industry perspective. Don straits – Dragon slayer. Retrieved May 29, 2010, from http://www.donstraits.com/.

* Government document (report):
MoLISA. (2011). Vietnam employment trends report 2010. Report No. 978-92-2-824620-9. Vietnam: ILO office in Vietnam. Retrieved January 1, 2011, from http://www.un.org.vn.

* Magazine:
(?). (2007). Job demographic 2007. Women of color, 1, 18.
Levinson, M. (2007). Video Resume. CIO, 2, 11-12.
* Working paper:
Fields, G. S. (2010). Labor market analysis for developing countries. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/workingpapers/157/.

* Web document:
(?). (2009). A Documentary Research on Development and Diffusion of Video CV tool in Europe and USA. Video Curriculum Project. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://www.videocurriculumproject.net.