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> Users can post a TikTok video resume to the site rather than a traditional resume. The idea is for users to give an elevator pitch or work experience summary

> Users can post a TikTok video resume to the site rather than a traditional resume. The idea is for users to give an elevator pitch or work experience summary via the video in a unique way. Genuine question. Can anyone tell me how recruiters intend to parse through thousands of videos without some level of automation or software-based filtering? I understand that there are AI systems that can pick up keywords and sentiment, but we all know they are far from perfect. Plus we end up with all sorts of issues where some accents might be under-represented, leading to exclusion etc. For all the flaws in text resume-based hiring, automated systems can, at least to _some_ extent, help sift through thousands of candidates. I'm not saying that the present system is perfect, just that the proposed video-based system could be worse in terms of scale.

est 5y ago
> without some level of automation or software-based filtering? Sort by likes?
- HideousKojima 5y ago
  So based on how Tik Tok currently works, underage girls wearing yoga pants and shaking their butts will be the only ones getting hired?
  - rmac 5y ago
    While sex appeal works, thirst traps have a limited shelf life. Comedy, ingenuity, and creativity go viral. Also, Remember how the tiktok algorithm supposedly works: if a brand only watches / likes / comments on tiktokers who build things, the "hiring" feed will be full of people building things.
  - xvector 5y ago
    The FYP algorithm is extremely accurate. If that is what you see on TikTok, that’s more reflective of you than anyone else. I don’t think I know a single person with an FYP with that sort of content.
    - booleandilemma 5y ago
      This reminds me of a friend who said he’s surprised tiktok is as popular as it is, because it’s filled with right-wing conspiracy videos. I couldn’t help but laugh a little.
    - HideousKojima 5y ago
      I actually don't have a TikTok account, was thinking of this comedy sketch: https://youtu.be/l8LJYeeorhc https://youtu.be/l8LJYeeorhc
mrtksn 5y ago
It's actually very easy to go through thousands of TikTok videos. The app is very fluid and as soon as the algorithm begins to get what kind of content you like, the cognitive load of going through videos becomes very low. It's very different from the Spotify algo that assumes you are all into Japanese music just because you liked one song or YouTube that will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes in anything. I like the idea of elevator pitch style TikToks where you can quickly express yourself and show your creativity. I would imagine the algorithm can start showing the recruiters through the job relevant hashtags and work its magic from there. The creativity tools of the app can prove very useful, the simplest idea that comes to my mind is a recruiter creating a TikTok video and says something like "Show me something that you learn in your career as X that isn't taught in school" and have the TikToker's quote and reply to the video. The recruiters then can go through the replies and pick candidates for interviewing. I don't think that anybody will hire through click of a button like shopping for employees, that doesn't happen on LinkedIn, on Indeed, on HN or anywhere. CV or Video, it's just a lead and I bet a few second of a video can tell much more than 2 pages of written CV.
- nrmitchi 5y ago
  > as soon as the algorithm begins to get what kind of content you like I have to assume this style of algo-generated feeds wouldn't apply for an actual hiring platform, because otherwise this is ripe for "inadvertent" discrimination.
  - masklinn 5y ago
    Seems like the point? Add a bit of bias laund^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hmachine learning and you're good to go! It's not your fault if "the algorithm" is doing the discrimination, after all. I'm not sure how it could fly in the US where putting a picture on your résumé is more or less illegal. Certainly would help the state plonk you down when your social score gets too low too.
    - FalconSensei 5y ago
      > where putting a picture on your résumé is more or less illegal How does it work for models and actors?
dangus 5y ago
I also see it as a huge vehicle for hiring discrimination. Introverted? Neurodiverse? Ugly? Differently abled? Have a regional accent? Too bad, your video resume is disqualified for not being as “good” as the charismatic member of the cultural/ethnic majority. I think it’s especially important for employers to make their evaluations as blind as they can be for as long as possible, including things like removing names from resumes before presenting them to hiring managers. In my view this is an incredibly lazy way for TikTok to launch a new revenue stream while engaging in a bare minimum amount of product development. They see how LinkedIn can charge a hundred bucks a month to recruiters and they want in.
- matz1 5y ago
  Every hiring is a discrimination in some way.
  - throwaway3699 5y ago
    Discrimination towards being able to do the job is different.
  - MajorBee 5y ago
    You're not entirely wrong, but why make it even more obnoxious and entrenched? I can see this kind of stuff useful for applying for jobs in the (traditionally) "creative" fields; a well crafted TikTok can show the recruiter a sense of the applicant's editing skills, taste in art/music, and general presentation skills, after all. For a cookie-cutter desk job? Not sure what gap this fills that isn't already occupied by the venerable Curriculum "Resume" Vitae.
- Gunax 5y ago
  Its not that discrimination doesnt exist, but it isnt TikToks job to solve it. If the amount of discrimination remains the same between traditional job seeking and Tiktok, then i dont see an issue.
  - ipaddr 5y ago
vsareto 5y ago
I don't think this will be the primary way most companies take applications. I think it may be a short-term, alternative method of applying to a job where the less volume is more likely to get you noticed. However, I'd bet companies will be more averse to this due to the fact you get a video of someone initially, rather than their resume, so it may make it easier to employers to quietly discriminate or unconsciously discriminate.
Ericson2314 5y ago
They will probably try to license out their existing analytics to companies as the only way to comb through applicants.
wongarsu 5y ago
Assuming a TikTok-typical video length of one minute, you can watch 1000 videos in about 16 hours, or two work days. Of course that's a rough first estimation. Most videos wouldn't be watched to the end, but on the other hand additional time is needed for reflection on noteworthy candidates, and for reaching out. But overall I don't see the need for automation here.
- thekyle 5y ago
  Seems like someone watching a thousand videos in 16 hours would burn out pretty quickly. I imagine after the first hundred or so all the videos would start to look the same.
zitterbewegung 5y ago
If I was hiring I would prioritize someone who took the time out of their day to have a 60 second pitch than someone who just has a resume. There is no automated way to have someone parse through the videos because the point is to get a sense of who they are through the video which might be hard to get a face to face interview. Reading the article the jobs board would have the ability to add a TikTok video to your submission (although I guess you could this already through an unlisted YouTube video but then the selling point for this would be to make that process easier).
- ipaddr 5y ago
  What would you be hiring for that you would priorize the 60 second sales pitch over experience data?
mrrv 5y ago
I could picture a scenario where both video and written approaches co-exist and support one another. There's been a number of times where I'm left wanting to see more of a person's voice in a hyper-templated piece of paper.
reidjs 5y ago
The easiest way would be to filter or simply rank by metrics of the user’s profile, for example likes, followers, hashtags, number of videos, etc.
- SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
  Ugh, the notion of gamifying my resume on social media sounds like a nightmare. Especially because I want to keep my professional and my personal life separate.
passtheglass 5y ago
I really hope this doesn't catch on, I hate the idea of the social mediafication of resumes.
- andrewzah 5y ago
  Not that I support tiktok, but I feel the opposite. Resumes aren't really that useful for determining whether or not you'd want to work with that person. A short video is a lot better at that, before moving to something more detailed like a resume. How we handle resumes in general is just very outdated and archaic.
  - mywittyname 5y ago
    Videos introduce bias towards young, attractive candidates and bias away from shy people or those without a lot of confidence or experience talking at a camera. Which makes peoples' objections understandable. However, there are a lot of jobs for which being young, confident, and attractive are pretty valuable skills. So I'm sure that it will enjoy fairly wide adoption.
    - FalconSensei 5y ago
      > Videos introduce bias towards young, attractive candidates and bias away from shy people or those without a lot of confidence or experience talking at a camera. Regarding young candidates: it's specifically targeted at Gen-Z. Regarding attractiveness, confidence and experience talking/acting in front of a camera: there are a lot of jobs where that's important. I doubt the intention is to hire senior engineers via tiktok.
      - ryandrake 5y ago
        Yea, I think a lot of the criticism being posted here on HN is because this would be, at best useless, at worst counter-productive, for hiring software engineers in particular. But there may be other careers where a short video would be helpful. So I'd be willing to give the idea the benefit of the doubt. Just please don't use it to try to hire me in tech! I have enough disadvantages, I don't need my monstrous looks and obvious signs of old age to put me at a greater disadvantage. Written resume for me, thankyouverymuch. At least a written resume helps you get your foot into the door before the onsite interview happens and looks-based biases start making their way in.
ComodoHacker 5y ago
Until AGI recruiters simply will be limited in number of seconds they can spend on each video. And applicants will be taught to optimize for "first N frames" impression. /s

est 5y ago

> without some level of automation or software-based filtering? Sort by likes?

HideousKojima 5y ago
So based on how Tik Tok currently works, underage girls wearing yoga pants and shaking their butts will be the only ones getting hired?
- rmac 5y ago
  While sex appeal works, thirst traps have a limited shelf life. Comedy, ingenuity, and creativity go viral. Also, Remember how the tiktok algorithm supposedly works: if a brand only watches / likes / comments on tiktokers who build things, the "hiring" feed will be full of people building things.
- xvector 5y ago
  The FYP algorithm is extremely accurate. If that is what you see on TikTok, that’s more reflective of you than anyone else. I don’t think I know a single person with an FYP with that sort of content.
  - booleandilemma 5y ago
    This reminds me of a friend who said he’s surprised tiktok is as popular as it is, because it’s filled with right-wing conspiracy videos. I couldn’t help but laugh a little.
  - HideousKojima 5y ago
    I actually don't have a TikTok account, was thinking of this comedy sketch: https://youtu.be/l8LJYeeorhc https://youtu.be/l8LJYeeorhc

mrtksn 5y ago

It's actually very easy to go through thousands of TikTok videos. The app is very fluid and as soon as the algorithm begins to get what kind of content you like, the cognitive load of going through videos becomes very low. It's very different from the Spotify algo that assumes you are all into Japanese music just because you liked one song or YouTube that will show you how deep the rabbit hole goes in anything. I like the idea of elevator pitch style TikToks where you can quickly express yourself and show your creativity. I would imagine the algorithm can start showing the recruiters through the job relevant hashtags and work its magic from there. The creativity tools of the app can prove very useful, the simplest idea that comes to my mind is a recruiter creating a TikTok video and says something like "Show me something that you learn in your career as X that isn't taught in school" and have the TikToker's quote and reply to the video. The recruiters then can go through the replies and pick candidates for interviewing. I don't think that anybody will hire through click of a button like shopping for employees, that doesn't happen on LinkedIn, on Indeed, on HN or anywhere. CV or Video, it's just a lead and I bet a few second of a video can tell much more than 2 pages of written CV.

nrmitchi 5y ago
> as soon as the algorithm begins to get what kind of content you like I have to assume this style of algo-generated feeds wouldn't apply for an actual hiring platform, because otherwise this is ripe for "inadvertent" discrimination.
- masklinn 5y ago
  Seems like the point? Add a bit of bias laund^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hmachine learning and you're good to go! It's not your fault if "the algorithm" is doing the discrimination, after all. I'm not sure how it could fly in the US where putting a picture on your résumé is more or less illegal. Certainly would help the state plonk you down when your social score gets too low too.
  - FalconSensei 5y ago
    > where putting a picture on your résumé is more or less illegal How does it work for models and actors?

dangus 5y ago

I also see it as a huge vehicle for hiring discrimination. Introverted? Neurodiverse? Ugly? Differently abled? Have a regional accent? Too bad, your video resume is disqualified for not being as “good” as the charismatic member of the cultural/ethnic majority. I think it’s especially important for employers to make their evaluations as blind as they can be for as long as possible, including things like removing names from resumes before presenting them to hiring managers. In my view this is an incredibly lazy way for TikTok to launch a new revenue stream while engaging in a bare minimum amount of product development. They see how LinkedIn can charge a hundred bucks a month to recruiters and they want in.

matz1 5y ago
Every hiring is a discrimination in some way.
- throwaway3699 5y ago
  Discrimination towards being able to do the job is different.
- MajorBee 5y ago
  You're not entirely wrong, but why make it even more obnoxious and entrenched? I can see this kind of stuff useful for applying for jobs in the (traditionally) "creative" fields; a well crafted TikTok can show the recruiter a sense of the applicant's editing skills, taste in art/music, and general presentation skills, after all. For a cookie-cutter desk job? Not sure what gap this fills that isn't already occupied by the venerable Curriculum "Resume" Vitae.
Gunax 5y ago
Its not that discrimination doesnt exist, but it isnt TikToks job to solve it. If the amount of discrimination remains the same between traditional job seeking and Tiktok, then i dont see an issue.
- ipaddr 5y ago

vsareto 5y ago

I don't think this will be the primary way most companies take applications. I think it may be a short-term, alternative method of applying to a job where the less volume is more likely to get you noticed. However, I'd bet companies will be more averse to this due to the fact you get a video of someone initially, rather than their resume, so it may make it easier to employers to quietly discriminate or unconsciously discriminate.

Ericson2314 5y ago

They will probably try to license out their existing analytics to companies as the only way to comb through applicants.

wongarsu 5y ago

Assuming a TikTok-typical video length of one minute, you can watch 1000 videos in about 16 hours, or two work days. Of course that's a rough first estimation. Most videos wouldn't be watched to the end, but on the other hand additional time is needed for reflection on noteworthy candidates, and for reaching out. But overall I don't see the need for automation here.

thekyle 5y ago
Seems like someone watching a thousand videos in 16 hours would burn out pretty quickly. I imagine after the first hundred or so all the videos would start to look the same.

zitterbewegung 5y ago

If I was hiring I would prioritize someone who took the time out of their day to have a 60 second pitch than someone who just has a resume. There is no automated way to have someone parse through the videos because the point is to get a sense of who they are through the video which might be hard to get a face to face interview. Reading the article the jobs board would have the ability to add a TikTok video to your submission (although I guess you could this already through an unlisted YouTube video but then the selling point for this would be to make that process easier).

ipaddr 5y ago
What would you be hiring for that you would priorize the 60 second sales pitch over experience data?

mrrv 5y ago

I could picture a scenario where both video and written approaches co-exist and support one another. There's been a number of times where I'm left wanting to see more of a person's voice in a hyper-templated piece of paper.

reidjs 5y ago

The easiest way would be to filter or simply rank by metrics of the user’s profile, for example likes, followers, hashtags, number of videos, etc.

SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
Ugh, the notion of gamifying my resume on social media sounds like a nightmare. Especially because I want to keep my professional and my personal life separate.

passtheglass 5y ago

I really hope this doesn't catch on, I hate the idea of the social mediafication of resumes.

andrewzah 5y ago
Not that I support tiktok, but I feel the opposite. Resumes aren't really that useful for determining whether or not you'd want to work with that person. A short video is a lot better at that, before moving to something more detailed like a resume. How we handle resumes in general is just very outdated and archaic.
- mywittyname 5y ago
  Videos introduce bias towards young, attractive candidates and bias away from shy people or those without a lot of confidence or experience talking at a camera. Which makes peoples' objections understandable. However, there are a lot of jobs for which being young, confident, and attractive are pretty valuable skills. So I'm sure that it will enjoy fairly wide adoption.
  - FalconSensei 5y ago
    > Videos introduce bias towards young, attractive candidates and bias away from shy people or those without a lot of confidence or experience talking at a camera. Regarding young candidates: it's specifically targeted at Gen-Z. Regarding attractiveness, confidence and experience talking/acting in front of a camera: there are a lot of jobs where that's important. I doubt the intention is to hire senior engineers via tiktok.
    - ryandrake 5y ago
      Yea, I think a lot of the criticism being posted here on HN is because this would be, at best useless, at worst counter-productive, for hiring software engineers in particular. But there may be other careers where a short video would be helpful. So I'd be willing to give the idea the benefit of the doubt. Just please don't use it to try to hire me in tech! I have enough disadvantages, I don't need my monstrous looks and obvious signs of old age to put me at a greater disadvantage. Written resume for me, thankyouverymuch. At least a written resume helps you get your foot into the door before the onsite interview happens and looks-based biases start making their way in.

ComodoHacker 5y ago

Until AGI recruiters simply will be limited in number of seconds they can spend on each video. And applicants will be taught to optimize for "first N frames" impression. /s