Are you searching for a new career opportunity, or do you know someone who is? One of the most challenging aspects of searching for a job is making yourself stand out in a crowd. When you apply for a job online, your resume could be one of hundreds for the same position. There’s no way to know whether the person screening all these resumes will forward your resume to the hiring manager.

That’s why more job applicants are creating video resumes and sending them directly to the hiring manager. If you think about it, applying for a job is very similar to marketing cars! To be in consideration, you need to send the right video message to the right person at the right time, and make them realize why you’re the best choice.

I want to share a story with you about someone that recently landed his dream job with a video resume hosted on Flick Fusion’s video marketing platform.

A few months ago, I was invited onto the Auto Converse podcast to talk about video marketing. A young man named Patrick Block was also a guest on the show, and he told me that he was having trouble finding a job.

He had been laid off from his job at a vehicle software company in February (prior to the pandemic), when the company was acquired by Lyft. At first, Patrick wasn’t worried about finding a new job, since he had quite a bit of experience in the auto industry. But in early March a tornado destroyed many businesses in Nashville, where he lives. Shortly after that, businesses everywhere were shuttered due to COVID-19. All of a sudden, job prospects were dim.

Patrick sent resumes to dozens of companies but didn’t receive any interview requests. He struggled with finding ways to make his resume stand out from all other job seekers. A videographer friend suggested that he develop a video resume.

Patrick agreed to try it. He developed a short video resume, posted it on YouTube and emailed the link to some hiring managers. The problem was, he didn’t know whether the videos were actually getting through and being watched.

When Patrick told me this, I invited him to use Flick Fusion’s video marketing platform to host his video resume. Our platform sends the creator/sender of the video a notification every time someone watches their video. In addition, I recommended that Patrick develop more videos to include on his resume landing page; including recommendation videos and videos that answer common interview questions.

Patrick followed my advice and created a page that hosted several videos. Here is a link to that page https://bit.ly/311sKxY

Patrick’s dream job was a position as a sales consultant with Lexus of Nashville. He believed that a high-line dealership was well-suited to his personality, and that car sales rewards hard work more than many sales positions in other industries. Patrick emailed the General Manager his newly enhanced video resume on our platform.

Shortly after he emailed the video resume, Patrick received a notification that the GM had viewed it. He was called in for an interview the very same day, and spent three hours at the dealership. While he was in an interview with a second hiring manager, Patrick received a notification that someone else in the dealership was viewing the video as well. It turned out it was the Internet Sales Manager, who then joined Patrick during his second interview, and raved about the video.

Shortly after this interview, Patrick was told that Lexus of Nashville was interested in hiring him, and he began the hiring process that included background checks, two more interviews and a drug test.

Patrick began working at Lexus of Nashville in July. Needless to say, Patrick is a huge believer in the power of video and he uses video in his new position to respond to leads and connect with active car buyers. When I asked him whether he thought his video resume was the reason he landed his dream job, Patrick claims it was 100%, absolutely the reason.

“I was nervous about using a Video platform during my job hunt. Flick Fusion was an awesome tool for me to use as it generated very professional emails, gave me visibility into how excited the recipients were, and allowed me to see myself presenting via the platform,” said Patrick. “Every person I shared this with was blown away at the idea of integrating video into the job hunt, especially during COVID. I was immediately separating myself out from the candidate pool with a small amount of extra effort. The impact it had landed me the job I had said I wanted for a long time. After what I’ve learned, I use video even more now in my job on a day to day basis.”

This story is just an example of how ubiquitous video is becoming in the auto industry; and I think it’s a good story of how a person used video to make themselves stand out in a really tough job market.

Your salespeople can easily use videos to make themselves stand out in the same way that Patrick does. When leads come in, have your sales team use pre-recorded videos, and/or live-streaming video calls, to connect with prospects. Video instantly captures and engages attention in a way that regular emails and phone calls simply can’t duplicate.

And if you’re ever searching for a new career opportunity, use a video resume to market yourself! You may land your dream job, just like Patrick.