There's a new startup (as opposed to an 'old' startup) in our building that's opening today. They are called "Trio Innovations" and have a relatively unique service. I'm not 100% sure that I latch onto what they are doing, but from what I understand, they are a new type of personnell agency that makes "digital video resumes" which they then distribute to recruiters. I wonder how much the market needs this? In fact, I'd like to pass this one by Heather to get her thoughts, but in any case, they are a great case of some young entrepreneurs seeing a problem and starting a business with the intent of solving the problem. Bravo!

More to the point, Loren Hoff, one of the founders, is a fellow St. Norbert grad, so I'm a bit biased.

[via the Green Bay Press-Gazette]

Oh boy. I guess my first thought is that I'm not sure it's necessary. But I'm open to hearing their pitch. And I applaud any agency that tries to differentiate themselves (if it works, of course).

Part of what makes me question this is the feedback from recruiters on candidates who put their picture on their resume (I understand this is a more common practice in Europe). Very few recruiters like it. It won't do you any good in terms of getting the interview (we don't interview people because of how they look). And everytime I see such a resume, I hear Joey on Friends saying "how you doin'?". It's like the picture is talking to me.

So the link to the Trio Innovations website didn't work for me, but I'd be really interested in seeing a sample and understanding the additional value derived from this type of resume relative to a regular one (keep in mind, you can't scan a video resume into a database and keyword searching is a mjor activity of recruiters). With the changes in technology over the years, the one thing that has stayed consistent is the resume so it would be a big paradigm shift for recruiters, but who knows. So I'd love to show some of my fellow recruiters what a video resume looks like and get their thoughts. I think I can anticipate their reactions, but let's give it a shot ; )

Heather Hamilton | Senior Marketing Recruiter

Microsoft Corporation | 425.706.2312

heathham@microsoft.com | http://weblogs.asp.net/heatherleigh