Little more than a year after introducing video resumes, CareerBuilder has discontinued the service. It was quietly taken offline in June.
The company won’t say how many jobseekers posted videos, but it seems the participation rate wasn’t high 
enough to warrant CareerBuilder’s effort. Job board spokesperson Jennifer Grasz told us, “We’re always testing the market with new tools and services to enhance the user experience. If the response rates are not there, we’ll reevaluate whether the market is ready and focus energies on other areas to aid in the job search and recruitment process.”
CareerBuilder’s main resume pages are still online, though no longer linked from the site. However, Grasz said the jobseeker videos have been removed. Jobseekers can always post their video to a service like You Tube and include a link in the resume or cover letter they have on CareerBuilder. When an employer downloads the resume, the link becomes hot.
Recruiters have so far not shown any great interest in reviewing video resumes, despite robust discussions about their pros and cons. Grasz says, “We didn’t promote the service to recruiters. We were testing market-readiness and waiting until we built up a large enough database.” So there are no metrics that would help resolve the debate over recruiter usage of jobseeker videos.
The major job boards, however, are moving cautiously. Monster is testing a video resume service in India, where CareerBuilder also had offered its. (That, too, was delinked.) Jobing.com, one of the most aggressive promoters of the use of videos (by employers) not only has no plans to offer a video resume service, but a company spokesman said recruiters have shown no demand for them.
Still, jobseekers seem enthralled by the notion of being able to speak directly to recruiters. YouTube has thousands of resumes, how-tos, and related videos posted by hopeful jobseekers and those offering them advice. A New York City company, Reel Biography, offers a professional video resume service. And ERE’s 17 member Video Resumes group encourages recruiters to make use of videos.
