How many resumes do you receive a day? Twenty? Fifty? Two hundred?
How nice would it be to interview the candidate without actually interviewing the candidate?
To Jerry Albright, founder of Verbal Summary, the answer is simple: real conversations.
The Indiana native has been in the recruiting business since 1987 and is still alive to talk about it, as he delicately puts it.
“Business has always been good for me,” Albright told me. Lucky him. Or is it luck?
About three years ago, Albright decided he needed to branch out. As he promoted his recruiting services to various industries, he hit a dead end.
“In the end, it was rejection,” said Albright.
Albright knew he needed to set himself apart from the other recruiters. He knew he was good; if there’s one thing Albright isn’t lacking, it’s confidence.
But what could he do that was different?
“I can’t say I’m faster, because I’m probably not.”
Undeterred, Albright started looking at value-added tools. He soon realized that recruiters weren’t seeing anything new.
“They’re still looking at a nice little email from Larry at the agency with a resume attached,” he said.
Recruiters have gotten a bad reputation from this longstanding method of resume-forwarding, he added.
Albright prides himself on knowing when he’s speaking to “the guy” — the perfect candidate.
If this moment could be captured in the resume before the interview, it would knock out the key part of the client’s phone call.
The outcome was “the play button on top of the resume,” Albright said.
That’s it?
“It’s so simple,” he said.
That’s great, but what makes it better than video resumes, where the recruiter can actually see the applicant as well as hearing the story? Albright says assuming that every single applicant has access to maximum technology is absurd.
With Verbal Summary, someone without access to a Web cam doesn’t have to “drive across town for a professional video shoot and sit nervously in front of a camera going over a rehearsed career history.”
Albright argues that instead, the recording is capturing real conversations, wherever and whenever they happen. Staring at a Web cam for three minutes, he said, is not the same.
“It’s just a whole different world,” Albright said.
Albright also feels that his product prevents the search from becoming a “beauty contest.”
“(With Verbal Summary), I have placed mostly people of average cosmetic features.”
What happens when the interviewer gets stuck with someone prattling ad nauseam in answer to a simple question? Or, on the flip side, what if the interviewer’s questions are met with responses like, “It was a good place to work.” Period.
At that point, is up to the interviewer to decide at what point the listener’s eyes will start to glaze over, and move the conversation along. If Albright wants his product to work, it’s his job to keep the rambler from getting out of hand.
No technology is ever perfect, but Albright’s would be on its way there if people are able to access it on smart phones. Currently, the screens try to squeeze in too many graphics if it is downloaded onto a mobile.
Albright’s goal is to upgrade Verbal Summary’s audio format so the user can access it on a cell phone someday.
Do any of you have experience with Verbal Summary? We want to hear whether or not you found it useful!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I ran across this just recently. Surprised that the potential employer would accept only a 1- to 3-minute video resume! I’m down with that… but it was a surprise!
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Just what I was looking for! An alternative to the often UNflattering video resume. Thanks!
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Great article. I’ve recently utilized Verbal Summary and believe it will indeed assist in making the case for my candidates in the future. How could It not? It also will very easily become another talking point when approaching perspective clients that are very used to hearing the same ol’ same ol’ during marketing cycles.
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