CV screeners are fast becoming an essential part of the recruitment process for most employers. In fact, it’s safe to say that video CVs have now become commonplace in the industry and their use is growing steadily year on year. The benefits are clear: video CVs allow recruiters to get a much better sense of a candidate’s suitability for a role, based on things like communication skills, confidence and presence – all of which are extremely difficult to judge from a conventional CV alone.
However, there are some potential pitfalls to avoid when using video CVs as part of your recruitment strategy. One such pitfall involves audio quality; if you don’t take steps to avoid this issue, your hiring team might struggle to understand what the candidate is saying throughout their clip. This is why subtitles in video CVs can be so helpful. Here’s exactly why…
What Are Subtitles in Video CVs?
Subtitles in video CVs are text versions of a candidate’s words that appear on the screen as they are being spoken. The subtitles will usually be displayed in real-time as the video plays, and will be synchronised with the audio – so that, for example, if a candidate is speaking very quickly, the subtitles will scroll slower than the audio. Key thing to remember: Subtitles in video CVs are not the same as closed captions in video. Subtitles are intended to be non-diagetic – that is, they are not essential to the story being told in the video clip. In contrast, closed captions are diagetic – they are part of the story itself. Closed captions are useful when you want to make a video accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Why Are Subtitles in Video CVs Important?
The benefit of subtitles in video CVs is that they allow hiring managers to understand what a candidate is saying, even if they have a poor audio quality. Candidates may upload their videos to third-party video hosting sites, or use the web browser’s video functionality, which may lead to some audio issues; this is why a subtitle track can be so helpful for reviewing the clips. By featuring subtitles in video CVs, you can greatly increase the number of people who can view your clips – as even people with hearing difficulties can access the information contained in your video.
How to Incorporate Subtitles in a CV?
While adding subtitles to a CV is not always necessary, it is something that should be considered when creating a video CV. There are two options for adding subtitles to your CV: – You can work with a transcript company, which will turn the words in your CV into subtitles. – You can do it yourself by adding the text as an image – although this approach is not recommended as it can be tricky to implement correctly. If you work with a transcript company, you should ask what format you should submit your CV in, so that they can begin the conversion process. If you do the conversion yourself, you should save the text as an image file and simply overlay it on top of your video.
The Benefits of Using Subtitles
The primary benefit of subtitles in video CVs is that they allow hiring managers to understand the audio content of the video clip even if there are audio issues. This is particularly important if you are submitting your CV to an employer who does not accept video submissions. This is also helpful if a hiring manager wants to review your CV but there is a lot of noise in their environment, or if they want to watch your CV at night, when there is a lot of background noise. Beyond these advantages, subtitles in video CVs also help hiring managers identify patterns in your speech patterns; this, in turn, can help them assess your confidence and presence – both of which are incredibly difficult things to get a sense of from a conventional CV alone.
Conclusion
Subtitles in video CVs can be extremely helpful, especially if the video has poor audio quality. While this might not be necessary for every video CV, it is definitely worth considering if there are any concerns about the audio clarity. When creating your video CV, make sure you get the audio quality as good as possible; this will make it easier to include subtitles if you need to.
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