Are TikTok Resumes the Way forward for Job Searching?

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Amid a widespread labor shortage that has caused companies in many industries – including real estate – to struggle for every employee, TikTok is introducing a new application tool that enables companies to reach the largest generations of the US workforce. Today’s young adults use TikTok to chat, keep up with the latest trends, and even collect their news. So why not apply for a job?

TikTok Resumes is a short-term pilot program that allows users to apply for a job via a three-minute video resume. More than 30 brands, including Target, Chipotle, Sweetgreen, and Shopify, have signed up to accept résumés for the pilot, which ended July 31st.

But the next round of applications is about to open and several multi-family companies have already shown interest in using this new hiring tool, especially for positions that reflect the level of experience and skills of many job-seeking Gen Zers and Millennials.

ALSO READ: How Multi-Family Marketers Can Get the Most Out of Social Media Engagements

Downtown Apartment Co., a brokerage company specializing in luxury apartments in downtown Chicago and the surrounding area, uses TikTok to present new offers and highlight the company’s services. More recently, the company has started using the platform to diversify its recruiting practices as well.

“We just released our first TikTok hiring video where our agents and executives share their thoughts on why DAC is a great place to work. We have already seen success using TikTok, so we are definitely interested in seeing how TikTok resumes work and how we can use them to improve our recruiting efforts, ”said Ben Creamer, Co-Founder and Managing Broker at DAC.

The good

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A traditional paper resume shows the candidate’s education and experience, but does not say much about their personality, confidence, communication skills, or other skills in demand. This is where an original clip can come in handy and highlight candidates.

“Often a person’s personality is lost on a traditional résumé because everyone uses the same basic formula for a résumé. TikTok Resumes literally brings an applicant’s resume to life and you get a really good feel for their personality, ”Bekkah Doyle, Senior Search Marketing Specialist for Reach by RENTCafé at Yardi, told Multi-Housing News.

Doyle believes that TikTok resumes have the potential to become a great tool for filling positions that require creativity and imagination, such as: B. in marketing. Khari Washington, broker and owner of 1st United Realty & Mortgage, agrees that TikTok resumes could work for jobs that require content creation skills or marketing experience.

However, creating video résumés may not be a core skill for a job and could open a Pandora’s box to discrimination.

The bad

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Video resumes can open the doors to unconscious prejudice about disability, race, or sexual orientation without either party noticing. TikTok resumes are part of the first line of communication between an employer and a potential employee, so this tool is likely to reinforce unethical hiring practices.

“As a business owner who hires people and works with anti-bias rules in the real estate industry, I have concerns about TikTok résumés,” Washington said.

Shiv Gupta, Marketing Director of Digital Marketing at Incrementors Web Solutions, believes TikTok is only used to find passive candidates for companies. “Businesses want to see suitable candidates for opportunities, which is why more recruitment and hiring companies have gathered in TikTok, where the largest demographic of the workforce is spending their time,” said Gupta.

The future?

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For all the buzz generated around TikTok resumes, there is no doubt that the tool has the potential to bring more ingenuity to the hiring process. It’s a quick and accessible way for companies looking to fill vacancies to find young talent.

“I think TikTok resumes are a very advanced approach to the way companies hire people,” said Doyle. “It really hits the younger generations where they are.”

Will TikTok résumés be a hit or a flop for apartment buildings? That remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that industry players have a new online tool that they can use to recruit talented professionals in an unconventional way.

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