The Great Resume Tape Format Debate

Back in the early 1980's people had two choices for VCR's. You could get a Sony Betamax, which offered spectacular quality. Or you could get a VHS machine, which was efficient but didn’t offer the clarity of the Betamax. One would think the VCR that provided the better picture would survive. But Sony forgot one little detail in those early days; its tapes didn't run two hours, the average length of movies.

The point is that sometimes quality doesn't win out. Sometimes convenience trumps it. Non linear editing is wonderful, but if I were really pressed for time I could edit a package tape-to-tape in the time it takes you to dump your video to a hard drive.

And that brings us to what seems to be an endless debate about which format is correct for resume tapes these days. Right now you have three options. VHS, DVD or posting your work online.

It used to be a lot simpler, when you could just pop a ¾" tape into its plastic box, wrap some strapping tape around it (no padded mailer required) and mail the thing for 86 cents. And, you’d get your tapes returned more often than not. Then technology entered into the equation, and, as technology often does, screwed up the process.

These days you can generally find an argument online about formats. I'm always amazed at the heated discussions with the techies on one side and the old schoolers on the other.

But the answer to this question is extremely simple.

Give the News Director what he or she wants. And in many cases, what is requested is a matter of convenience.

Put yourself in the News Director's place. Imagine you have 200 resume tapes to view.

Let's give one person an old fashioned VCR and another a DVD player (or a computer.) One person gets 100 tapes, the other 100 DVDs.

Ready, set, go! Guess who is done first?

Trust me, when you have a mountain of tapes to view, nothing beats VHS for pure speed. In the time someone else is waiting for the DVD tray to open, loading the thing, waiting for the laser contraption to read it and navigate the menu, I've already watched enough of four tapes to either hit the eject button or put the tape aside into my “good” pile.

I realize some of you have little choice. Many people make their resume tapes at their stations, and there may not be a suitable connection to make VHS or DVD copies. Then, of course, you have to avoid those managers with the resume tape sniffing dogs who are always on the lookout for people looking for another job.

Many people create their tapes on a home computer and simply dump the product out onto the recording device of choice. And some hire services to make dubs. But before you spend tons of time and money, let’s look at each format.

-VHS: You can never go wrong sending this format, as most News Directors have a machine in their offices. It’s fast, and tapes are cheap. The downside is that the quality is not always the best. But then again, NDs are looking at content. The other nice thing is that on the rare occasion someone sends a tape back, you can see where the ND stopped watching. This could give you a clue as to why you didn’t get the job.

-DVD: Much better quality, but can really slow down the hiring process. I’ve also noted that many DVDs simply won’t play in one machine or computer while they’ll do fine in another. I remember many occasions during which I had to take DVD resume tapes home to watch them because the computer in my office wouldn’t play them. In case you didn’t know, most NDs have the worst computers in the newsroom because they’d rather spend money on stuff that makes the on air product better.

-Posting Online: It doesn’t hurt to do this, you can update it often, and it is a very cost effective way to get your work “out there.” Many smaller market News Directors who have trouble attracting applicants will often visit online talent banks.

But don’t fall into the trap of sending links to your work and expecting an ND to look at it. News Directors get an incredible amount of email each day, and the odds that one will open a message from an unknown name and then look at a video aren’t very good. Many don’t open unknown emails due to the fear of getting a virus. Still, it can’t hurt to put as many hooks in the water as possible.

I’ve heard many complaints from young people along these lines. “I’ve sent emails to one hundred News Directors with the link to my work and I’ve gotten no response.” Many times those emails are deleted, along with Viagra ads and those for dating services. It is fine if the ND knows it is coming, but don’t expect a tremendous amount of response right now. In the near future, though, you might see an ad that simply asks you to send links of your work to a certain address. But for now, if you want to make sure your work will be seen, stick something in the mail.

One more thing to consider. In many stations a News Director might have to make up a short list of finalists and bring that list to a department head meeting. If everyone wants to see the latest anchor candidates, the ND needs a stack of tapes to play on the TV in the conference room. And if the ND has to deal with formats other than what is requested, it can create a problem.

Bottom line, follow the directions in the ad. Give the ND what is requested and don’t make a manager jump through hoops. You may be a technological wizard but the person doing the hiring may not. To say you don’t want to work for a company because it might use 20th century hiring practices is to miss an opportunity.

And just remember it is the content of your tape that gets you hired.