Steve Shepherd Video Killed the Resume Star Interview

Steve Shepherd Video Killed the Resume Star Interview

 

If you're looking for an internship with Australia's most attractive employers, a round-the-world-trip that is sure to kick-start your career and international meetings with youth ambassadors and leaders at some of the biggest and brightest companies, pay close attention.

HR and Recruitment specialists Randstad has today announced the launch of its Shaping Young Futures Photo & Video competition, in partnership with Virgin Australia, L'Oréal Australia, NAB, SEEK, Marketo, LinkedIn and the Foundation for Young Australians.

The competition will allow young Australians to demonstrate their unique and hidden talents in a creative way and show employers why they need to look beyond the resume.

Running from Monday 15th February to Saturday 18th March 2016, young Australians will be invited to submit a short video or photo demonstrating their hidden talent, on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ or Facebook using hashtag #ShapingYoungFutures, or via the Randstad Shaping Young Futures website.

Supporting the competition is Australia's most well-known and impressive beat boxer Tom Thum and comic trio and YouTube Stars SketchShe, who have submitted their own videos showing how they have used their unique talent to build a highly successful career.

Once the competition closes, voting will commence to decide on a 'People's Choice' winner. Additionally, a panel of experts will be judging all entries to decide on the top four finalists, to compete with the 'People's Choice' winner for the round-the-world trip. The judges will then select the final winner out of the five finalists.

The selected winner will receive a round-the-world trip that includes:

* Meetings with Randstad Youth Ambassadors and Senior Business Leaders in Singapore, The Netherlands, the UK and North America
* $3500 spending money
* A day at the F1 Williams Martini Racing Team head office and factory in Oxfordshire, England where they will meet team members, tour the Williams museum and factory, try their driving skills in the Formula 1 simulator and experience the work of an * F1 team away from the track
* Meeting with a young business start-up entrepreneur in Silicon Valley

The top five finalists, including the "People's Choice" will receive a one-month paid internship with one of Australia's most attractive employers - either L'Oréal Australia, Marketo, NAB, SEEK or Virgin Australia.

Even if you don't win, there is still reason to enter the competition. All entrants will have exclusive access to Randstad's online portal of job seeking resources and career advice with the aim of developing their job seeking skills.

The Challenges for Young Jobseekers

It's no secret, Australia is struggling with a youth unemployment problem. There are currently over a quarter of a million young job seekers out of work and the unemployment rate amongst young people (12.1%) is over double the national unemployment rate (5.8%). According to Steve Shepherd, Director of Social and Public Affairs at Randstad, the challenge for young people is securing full time positions.

"Since June 2008, the number of young people in full time work has been in decline and hit an all-time low in September 2015. The problem is, they cannot get a job because they don't have the experience. But they can't get the experience because they can't get a job," says Shepherd.

Mr Shepherd believes, despite their valuable skills and talent, young jobseekers' lack of experience often means they go undiscovered by employers looking to fill full-time positions.

"Ironically, young people's chances of employment are already limited by the very format of the traditional CV and recruitment programs, which have been designed to screen them out in the first place. How can they demonstrate, on a resume, skills like creativity, innovation problem solving skills and collaboration, when they have little or no previous work experience? These are the very skills businesses are demanding, according to Randstad's World of Work Research. It's the same skills the youth of Australia have been developing since they first entered the education system," says Shepherd.

The Shaping Young Futures Video & Photo Competition has been designed to showcase the hidden skills of our future workforce and demonstrate what Australian businesses are missing out when they fail to consider young job seekers.

"Like the young entrepreneurs that are disrupting traditional business models, we need to think outside the box when it comes to hiring and recruitment. Randstad's competition has been designed with this in mind, with the core focus being to connect young jobseekers with employers and jobs, in a creative way, to ensure a more sustainable future for them and to develop the workforce of tomorrow," concludes Shepherd.

Interview with Steve Shepherd, Director of Social and Public Affairs at Randstad

Question: What is the Shaping Young Futures Video competition?

Steve Shepherd: The Shaping Young Futures Video competition has been designed to showcase the skills and talents of young jobseekers. The competitions core focus is to connect young jobseekers with employers and jobs, in a creative way, to ensure a more sustainable future for them and to develop the workforce of tomorrow.

All you have to do is submit a short video – no longer than 2 minutes long – demonstrating your hidden talent, on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ or Facebook using hashtag #ShapingYoungFutures, or via the Randstad Shaping Young Futures website.

The videos will then be vetted by a panel of experts to decide on four finalists, with a fifth finalist being decided on by public vote. The experts will then choose the best video to be the winner of the competition.


Question: What do the winners of the Shaping Young Futures Video competition receive?

Steve Shepherd: The overall winner receives a round the world trip, which includes unique experiences that you won't find anywhere else. Not only will they receive $3500 spending money but will also get to meet with Randstad Youth Ambassadors and Senior Business Leaders in Singapore, The Netherlands, the UK and North America, a day at the F1 Williams Martini Racing Team, where they will put their driving skills to the test and experience the work of an F1 team away from the track, as well as a meeting with a young business start-up entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.

In addition to all this, they will also receive vlogging and other skills based training and mentoring from the Randstad team, as well as a paid internship position at one of Australia's biggest and most exciting brands.

But we're not just giving away prizes to one winner, we are also offering the other four finalists a paid internship position at a number of Australia's most attractive employers, including L'Oreal Australia, Marketo, NAB, SEEK or Virgin Australia.

Even if you don't win, all entrants will receive exclusive access to Randstad's online portal of job seeking resources and career advice, with the aim of developing their job seeking skills.


Question: What is the motive of the Shaping Young Futures Video competition?

Steve Shepherd: It's no secret, Australia has a youth unemployment problem. There are currently over 250,000 young people unemployed in Australia. In addition, in the next 10 years, Australia could see almost 20 per cent of its workforce retire. If we don't provide the work experience to our future workforce and get them on the career ladder, we're going to have a serious skills problem in the near future.

The problem is, traditional hiring and recruitment processes are screening out young people from getting on the careers ladder.

Like the young entrepreneurs that are disrupting traditional business models, we need to think outside the box when it comes to hiring and recruitment. Randstad's competition has been designed with this in mind, with the core focus being to connect young jobseekers with employers and jobs, in a creative way, to ensure a more sustainable future for them and to develop the workforce of tomorrow for Australia.


Question: What challenges do young Australians have when trying to get a job?

Steve Shepherd: Ironically, young people's chances of employment are already limited by the very format of the traditional CV and recruitment programs, which have been designed to screen them out in the first place. How can they demonstrate, on a resume, skills like creativity, innovation problem solving skills and collaboration, when they have little or no previous work experience? These are the very skills businesses are demanding, according to Randstad's World of Work Research. It's the same skills the youth of Australia have been developing since they first entered the education system.


Question: Why is it important for employers to look beyond a resume?
Steve Shepherd: Despite their valuable skills and talent, young jobseekers' lack of experience often means they go undiscovered by employers looking to fill full-time positions. This is mainly due to the fact that the traditional process of hiring – through a CV – is outdated and doesn't allow for young jobseekers to showcase some of the soft skills that businesses are desperately looking for – like leadership, innovation and collaboration.

If employers want to attract the best talent, they need to look beyond the CV and written experience and have an interaction with candidates to ascertain their true skillset.

We think video may be the way forward, as it provides the capability for young people to showcase and demonstrate their real skills. There are a number of other methods that other businesses are using to find out the true skills of young Australians and we encourage businesses to keep searching for alternatives.


Question: Why do you believe the traditional resume process is affecting young Australians?

Steve Shepherd: The traditional resume process is focused specifically on the experience you have received in your working life, making it difficult for young jobseekers to showcase the skills they have obtained. You can't demonstrate your social media skills, creativity, the fact you are a good collaborator or leader within a CV with little or no work experience.

This means young jobseekers can often be screened out of the application process before they get a chance to demonstrate the skills they have first-hand. Many young jobseekers are therefore overlooked and aren't receiving the experience they need to become the leaders of tomorrow.


Question: What job interview advice do you have for young Australians?

Steve Shepherd: Preparing yourself for an interview is key to a successful outcome. Interviews can make you nervous, but don't be. The fact that you're there means your resume and job search are working and the interviewer believes you can do the job. If you plan and prepare yourself well, you will put yourself in the best position to secure the role. Here are a few do's and don'ts for your interview:

Do
Pay attention to both your verbal language and non-verbal body language
Listen attentively to the interviewer's questions
Ask for clarification of a question if you do not fully understand a question
Fill in any application forms clearly and completely
Present yourself and your skills and experience positively to the interviewer
In particular, when answering questions regarding your weaknesses, try to describe what you have learnt, what you did or what you could do to improve
Show your interest in the company and the role by preparing some questions you would like to ask during the job interview

Don't
Give blunt 'yes' or 'no' answers which reveal nothing to a prospective employer
Argue with the interviewer
Talk too much or provide excessive or irrelevant details
Speak negatively about your previous job experiences or previous employer
Use defensive tactical behaviours
Chew gum
Smoke prior to the interview
Ask inappropriate questions
Interrupt the interviewer when they are speaking


Interview by Brooke Hunter