Creating a Video Resume Lesson Plan

By Daniela Munca, PhD, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova

1. Duration: 1hour 30 minutes2. Aim: To involve students in a video making project to develop their oral

fluency and also teach them some life long skills 3. Summary: Students create a video resume

Introduction: benefits of integrating Photo Stories in ESL instruction

Having your EFL /ESL students create a photo story using their own resources, their own approach and their own voice can provide language teachers with various opportunities

to develop students’ oral fluency, as well as reading and writing skills. In this activity, each student is asked to create his / her video resume using very simple tools or programs, such as Photo Story for Windows and Movie Maker. The result is a video or a slide show with voice which the students can use further as an attachment to

their paper resume when applying to a job or to a university / college. The video resume can be posted on YouTube or any other websites (as long as you have your students’ approval). For this particular activity, my Business English students posted their video resumes on our class blog.

Reference to Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

The activity requires students to “activate” four of Bloom’s higher order thinking skills, and namely:

Applying – as the students have to apply in practice the concept of “resume” by creating an individual project;

Analysing – as they are required to compare and contrast several paper resumes and select relevant information or organisation for their won projects; They also have to create a resume plan to organise their information and present it in a meaningful way;

Evaluating – as they have to give feedback to their peers and leave comments to at least two other vide resumes;

Creating – the students create an original, creative video project as a result of learning the concept of “resume” which is going to be published online;

Resources1) YouTube: as a resource for students to watch similar video resumes and

get the general idea how the projects is going to look like. 2) Photo Story 3 for Windows (including the tutorials offers on the official

page) as one of the recommended tools ; 3) Windows Movie Maker (it is free and it works offline, which is why it is

very convenient for students who don’t have unlimited connection to the Internet)

Warm-Up1) The students discuss the concept of “resume”, 2) read several paper examples (see attachment 1) and then 3) watch three sample videos from YouTube. Video Resume 1, Video Resume 2, Video Resume 3 Type of Activity Description: Student and teacher activities

Preparation Group work:

discussion Compare and

contrast

Students discuss the impact videos resumes might have on the viewer and come up with a list of advantages of video over paper resumes.

Procedure 1. Pair work The students work in pairs to discuss the order of the information they could share about themselves during the video resume (education, skills, hobbies, professional experience, professional development, philosophy of work)?

2. Group work The students explore the two tools presented by the teacher: Movie Maker and Photo story 3 for Windows and experiment with various simple tasks: uploading a picture uploading a short video cropping a picture adding text on a picture adding voice to a picture introducing transitions and special effects adding a title at the beginningThey can work individually, in pairs or in group – walk around the class and ask each other question.

3. Individual work The students create a short plan of what their video resume is going to be about (See attachment 2). They should include basic information, education, skills, hobbies and most importantly, a message to a potential employee or school (if they are planning to apply to a university for example).

Homework

Individual work

The students create their video resume. They can be as creative as they want to. They can decide on the type of media to be used (their own photographs or video, abstract images or specific ones they have collected in their personal database), etc.

Evaluation Each video is evaluated according to the Checklist in attachment 3. The teacher should run through the checklist with the students before they start working on their resumes.

Feedback Group Work The students post their resumes on the class blog and then write comments to at least two other students. They could also vote for the best video resume or for the most creative one (you can come up with any nominalisation you want: most complete, most professional, most artistic, etc)

Follow up The students might want to edit or improve their resumes after they watched their peers’ work, so allow them another week to do that.

Attachment 1: Sample Paper Resumes (From About.com )

Sample Resume 1

Amy L. Cherwin336 W. Chugalug Way, Sentinel, WY  33666c: 444-222-4339 e: karmin@southwbell.net

Experience

Dec. '04 - Present Manpower Temporary Services Naperville, IL

Independent Contractor

Assigned to GE Silicones in the industrial sales division. Responsible for analysis of monthly, weekly, and, daily sales reports. Responsible for scheduling training classes, seminars, and conferences.

June '98 - Dec. '04 Minnesota Life Insurance Barrington, IL

Administrative Secretary

Primary responsibility was research and design of sales and training presentations.

Responsible for scheduling a three person sales and training staff.

March '98 - June '98 SBC Warburg Dillon Reed Chicago, IL

Facilities Assistant

Responsible for balancing a $7 million dollar facilities budget. Responsible for scheduling maintenance calls, staff meetings, office

relocation's, and construction projects.

May '96 - May '97 KSMR Radio 92.5/94.3FM Winona, MN

General Manager

In charge of a 36 member staff, as well as a 7 member management team, with duties that include disciplinary actions, budgeting, special requests, program scheduling, and hiring.

Balancing a $15,000 dollar budget, as well as chairing a committee to receive a grant for increasing station amenities such as wattage, equipment, space, and music library.

May '95 - May '97 KSMR Radio 92.5/94.3FM Winona, MN

Sports Director

Responsible for a 3 member broadcast staff, with standard duties that included scheduling daily on-air sports reports, scheduling all on-air game broadcasts, maintaining all broadcast equipment, training broadcast team, and making travel arrangements for broadcast team.

Responsible for a weekly sports talk show, with duties that include scheduling guests, doing background research, and running the production board.

Education

1993 - 1997 St. Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN

B.A., Public Relations

Sample Resume 2

Erwin Johnson2306 North First Street

P O Box 207Winterset, Iowa 50273Home 515-462-1593

Office 515-462-3810, Ext. 404Fax 603-719-0293

erwinj@earthlink.net

Career Profile

Manufacturing Financial Manager with over twenty years experience leading the financial functions of manufacturing operations with up to 300 employees and $50 Million in sales. Recognized for ability to identify continuous change actions to reduce cost, enhance quality, and increase margins. Supervised up to 13 direct reports with responsibilities in financial reporting, planning, forecasting, information systems, accounts payable, payroll, fixed assets, and general ledger. Led several IS conversions bringing in new systems on or ahead of schedule and on or below budget. Enjoy driving new improvements.

Key strengths include:

Process Improvement Leadership Financial and Operations Management

Management Philosophy

In today's competitive world, the best way to ensure organizational success is to delight the customer. Today's customers -- and tomorrow's -- want responsiveness,

low cost and high quality. If a company does not meet or exceed the customers needs, their competition will.

It's no longer enough for employees to simply "embrace" change: continuous improvement must become a way of doing business, where people actively seek improvements and where systems and processes support and drive initiative. Trust is the key. The work environment must be such that people work without fear, within a culture that encourages pride in both personal and organizational accomplishments.

Examples of Accomplishments

Process Improvement

Facilitated team charged with the improvement of inventory record accuracy: team results included improved on-time delivery from 45% to 95%, eliminated annual inventory losses exceeding $200,000, reduced freight costs by 1%, and improved record accuracy by 83%.

Reduced new bill of material (BOM) cycle time from several weeks to one day and improved BOM accuracy to 100%.

Developed a financial modeling system to evaluate multiple "what-if" scenarios; system reduced forecast and budget preparation time by 80%, increased process accuracy, and improved staff's awareness of actions needed to reach production and financial goals.

Implemented automated financial reporting process to download data, reducing annual overtime by $25,000 and enhancing accuracy and timeliness.

Developed and installed automated back flushing system to support JIT initiative.

Leadership

Led several cross-functional TQC teams and coached team members, as appropriate, to develop skills and confidence in their ability to examine work processes, create solutions, and measure improvements.

Participated in management team process to develop vision and mission statements.

Recognized for ability to develop consensus for strategic planning among all stakeholders.

Communicated with managers and coordinated the financial reporting of fifteen locations to consolidate financial data.

Facilitated numerous learning programs on new reporting systems.

Decentralized accounts payable to facilitate transition from cost centers to profit centers, and trained employees in the new system.

Identified ABM as a key strategy to drive process improvements.

Financial and Operations Management

Developed financial modeling system that reduced turnaround time from five days to one day.

Directed the movement of IS to Winterset plant with only one day of downtime.

Converted to new payroll and accounting systems that reduced and improved tax reporting and corporate consolidations.

Directed several IS conversions to increase accuracy and reduce time for financial recording and reporting.

Developed cost estimating process for quoting new business that was adapted by entire division.

Assisted in closing one office that reduced costs by over $500,000.

Installed LAN to enhance communication and information-sharing capacity.

Career History

Controller/IS Manager, Invensys Appliance Controls (formerly Siebe Appliance Controls, formerly Eaton Corporation), Winterset, Iowa, 1991 - Present

Responsible for financial management in a manufacturing plant with up to 225 employees and annual sales exceeding $34 Million.

Recognized for efforts to identify new processes to improve quality, reduce costs, and increase margin.

General Accounting Manager, Eaton Corporation - Division Office, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1985 - 1991.

Coordinated the financial reporting functions of fifteen locations and supervised accounts payable for entire division.

Trained plants in the use of corporate reporting systems. Assisted several acquired plants in converting to corporate reporting

systems, and assisted with due diligence reviews for new business acquisitions.

General Accounting Supervisor, Eaton Corporation - Division Office, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1980 -1985.

Supervised up to 13 people. Directly involved in forecasting and planning, budgeting, and

product line reporting for up to fifteen locations.

Accountant, Eaton Corporation - Division Office, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1976 - 1980.

Prepared product line financial statements, month-end closing, and product budgets.

Education

Bachelor of ScienceNorthern Illinois University, 1974- Comprehensive Major: Accounting

Associate of ScienceRock Valley College, 1972- Major: Accounting- Lettered in Football

Certified Management Accountant: Certificate 4314, 1984

Certified Public Accountant: Certificate 20394, 1977

Complete 30 Hours of Continuing Education annually to maintain certifications.

What Others Say . . .

"Has a knack for seeing ways to do more with less."

"Intuitively knows IS technology and how to get more from the existing system."

"Listens to what others have to say."

"Erwin is always there - you can count on him."

"He's very tenacious, sticks with it until it gets done."

References furnished upon request

Sample Resume 3

Sample Resume - Public Relations / Marketing _______________________

FIRST M. LAST 111 West 74th Street • New York, New York 10000

212.777.8888 • 111.111.222 mobile • mercurynyc@hotmail.com

Career Statement:  Resourceful leader adept at implementing high-profile, image-based marketing programs within consumer luxury/lifestyle industry, both public/private. Create integrated strategies to develop new/existing customer sales, brand/product evolution and media endorsement. Strong and persuasive interpersonal skills.

Independent Consulting, New York10/2005 - present Marketing & brand awareness. American Express Platinum; Nardi-Venezia; and art • architecture • cultural projects.

TIFFANY & CO., New York, NY 9/1997 - 9/2005 Director of Public Relations / Retail Marketing Lead marketing strategist for 55 retail branch stores and 16 trade doors in the United States, Canada and Latin America (60% of revenue). Reporting to SVP who reports to CEO, develop integrated approach to increase sales results, product awareness and brand image. Key foci include: maximize sales growth and cohesion of the Tiffany Register top-customer tier; develop new and existing core-customer bases; secure targeted media endorsement; devise new store openings and brand integration within local community groups comprising best potential revenue bases; and creation/management of annual business-building sales promotion program (10 themes/76+ locations).

Generate successful emphasis of core-profit, new collection and authority-position jewelry categories, i.e.:

Oversee ‘What Makes a Tiffany Diamond’ workshop-selling seminars, demonstrating value with exclusivity.

Launched new Tiffany Mark timepiece with iconic endorsements including Frank Gehry and George Lucas.

Invented new ‘Elsa Peretti’ designer promotion, using core collection in all stores, and generated record sales.

Pioneer “Tiffany-Only” regional lifestyle weekends for Tiffany Register customers, resulting in 37% growth in statement jewelry sales. Conceived first national program resulting in largest selling event ever. Devise compelling “Tiffany-Only” attractions which secure presence of most profitable customers.

Analyze regular corporate retail sales reports and tailor each local marketing profit-plan with retail leadership.

Programs increased average store traffic 21% and sales averaging 12%, contributing to unprecedented growth.

Create 33 integrated and multi-tiered new store opening programs in domestic & international locations.

 Direct and manage 4 internal staff and network of 30 external local-market agencies/consultants.

TAG HEUER S.A., Neuchâtel, Switzerland and Paris, France1996 - 97 International Public Relations Manager (recruited by CEO)During peak expansion of watch brand and imminent IPO, managed global brand positioning, communications and media strategy via network of 20+ national PR agencies. Consulted to leadership of worldwide subsidiaries and agents-distributors in the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East. Marketing drew 24% of annual budget.

Developed global strategy for 4 new timepiece collection launches and key sports sponsorship exploitation.

Responsible for Kirium watch PR launch--largest in brand history, which generated record sales.

Developed/managed international VIP retailer and media hospitalities focused to increase sales and underscore brand values: Formula 1 Grand Prix, America’s Cup yachting, Ski World Cup and Montreux Jazz Festival.

NIKE COMMUNICATIONS, INC., New York, NY 1994 - 96 Account Director Primarily responsible for TAG Heuer account at marketing firm specializing in image-based luxury/lifestyle brands, including Montblanc, Bulgari, Rothschild and Krug. Developed and implemented comprehensive strategies [public relations, advertising, special events, sales promotions and retail relations]. Created agency new-business pitches.

KAREN WEINER ESCALERA ASSOCIATES, New York, NYAccount Executive,  1993 - 94

MULLEN ADVERTISING Hamilton-Wenham, MAAccount Assistant, 1991 - 92

LE MERIDIEN HOTELS-AIR FRANCE Boston, MASupervisor of Guest Services, 1988 - 93

UNITED STATES SENATE Senator John Kerry Washington, DCManager, Constituent Affairs, 1986 - 87

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, Amherst – B.A. in Political Science Executive Business Programs: Stanford 2000 - Harvard 2002 - Wharton 2003

AFFILIATIONS

Young Friends of Save Venice, Inc., Vice President [a UNESCO organization preserving culture].

The Glasshouse, Director. A global alliance dedicated to entrepreneurial inspiration.

Attachment 2: Video Resume Plan (Samples from here)

Nr. Image Text Sound 1 Who I am I was born in ….. Own voice2 My academic

backgroundI studied … Own voice

3 My hobbies I like … I am good at …. Music (mp3)45

Attachment 3 : Checklist: Assessing a Video Resume

Creativity(the degree of

originality)

1 (needs considerable improvement)

2 (good, well structured, etc)

3 (very good! Impressive!)

Organisation(the logical order

of sequnces)Voice

(Is the voice clear? Is the student’s pronunciation

good?)Persuasion

(If you were a potential employer,

would you be interested in hiring

this person?)Grammar / Vocabulary

(Enlgish grammar

and vocabulary used)

Attachment 4 (Step by Step tutorial from Microsoft’s official website)

Create your first photo story

You can use Photo Story 3 for Windows to create visually compelling and fun stories using your pictures and music. This article walks you through the basics of creating a photo story and shows you how easy and fun it can be!

Opening Photo Story

To begin a new story, open Photo Story from the Start menu.

To open Photo Story

1.Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Photo Story 3 for Windows.

2.On the Welcome page, click Begin a new story, and then click Next.

Importing and arranging your pictures

First, add the pictures that you want to use in the story, and then arrange them in the order that they will be viewed.

To add pictures to your photo story

1.On the Import and arrange your pictures page, click Import Pictures.

2.In the File Browser dialog box, browse to My Documents\My Pictures\Sample Pictures.

3.Add all of the pictures listed.

To add more than one picture at a time, press and hold the CTRL key and click on the pictures you want to add, and then click OK.

All of your pictures should now be present in the filmstrip, as shown in the following screen shot.

The filmstrip in Photo Story is a great place to quickly make changes to your pictures and story. For example, you can drag a picture in the filmstrip to change the sequence. You can click a picture in the filmstrip and click Edit to change the appearance of the picture by rotating it, adjusting the colour, fixing red eye or adding effects. You can also right-click a picture in the filmstrip to perform these actions. Try adding an effect to one of the pictures to see what they look like.

4.When you are finished making changes to your pictures, click Next to continue.

Adding a title to your pictures

With Photo Story 3 you can add text to a picture to create a title for your story.

To add text to your pictures

1.On the Add a title to your pictures page, click the first picture, and then type My first photo story in the text box to the right of the picture.

2.Click the Select Font button.

3.In the Font dialog box, under Font style, click Bold, and then click OK.

4.Click the Align Top button to move the title up on the page.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 to add text to another picture, and experiment with different text styles, sizes, and alignments, using different formatting buttons.

5.When you are finished adding text to your pictures, click Next.

Narrating your pictures

You can add narration and custom pan and zoom effects to your photo story to make it more unique and personal.

To add narration to your story you need to have a working microphone attached to your computer and set up correctly. A wizard will help you set up your microphone to record narration. There is also a text input area to create cue cards which can be a helpful memory aid when narrating your pictures.

To add narration to your story

1.On the Narrate your pictures and customize motion page, click the

Microphone  button.

This will launch the Sound Hardware Test Wizard. Complete the wizard by following the onscreen instructions. Once you have completed the wizard, your microphone should be ready to record narration.

2.Click a picture in the filmstrip.

3.Add any desired text in the cue card area.

4.Click the Record Narration  button to start recording narration.

The red dot in the record button will flash indicating recording is taking place. A timer is provided to help you keep track of your narration length.

5.

When you have finished narrating the picture, click the Stop Recording  button.

6.Repeat steps 2 thru 4 for each picture for which you want to add narration.

Note   Narration for each picture can not exceed 5 minutes.

7.Once you have added narration, click the first picture in the filmstrip, and then click Preview to see how your story looks and sounds.

8.Close the preview window, and click Next to continue to the next step.

Adding background music

With Photo Story 3 you can add music to your story by using Windows Media Audio (WMA), MP3, or WAV files or by using the Create Music option to create custom music that suites your story and taste.

To add pre-recorded music to your story

1.On the Add background music page, click the first picture in the filmstrip and then click Select Music.

2.On the File Open dialog box, click My Documents from the left menu.

3.Browse to My Music\Sample Music, click Beethoven's Symphony No9 (Scherzo).wma, and then click Open.

The music you just added is shown as a colored bar above the picture in the filmstrip, as shown in the following screen shot. This helps you determine which pictures will be shown for each piece of music you add. This is particularly helpful when you add more than one song to your story.

To create music for your story

1.Click the third picture in the film strip, and then click Create Music.

2.In the Create Music dialog box, in the Genre drop-down list, scroll down and select Soundtrack.

3.In the Style drop-down list, select Soundtrack: Mysterious Cave.

4.You can leave the default Bands and Moods, or choose different ones.

5.Click Play to hear what the music will sound like.

6.When the music has finished playing, click OK to close the Create Music dialog box.

There are now two different pieces of music shown as colored bars above the pictures in the filmstrip.

7.Click the first picture in the filmstrip, and click Preview, to see how well your music fits the story.

You may need to adjust the music volume levels to accommodate your narration. To do this, simply click the picture in the filmstrip and then adjust the music volume using the volume slider bar. You may need to adjust the volume and preview your story a few times to get it just right.

8.Click Next, to move on to the final steps.

Saving your story

When you save your photo story, all the pictures, narrations, and music are compiled into a video file that you can view in Windows Media Player. Since you will play this photo story on your computer, you can use the default options when saving your photo story.

To save your photo story for playback on your computer

1.On the Save your story page, verify that Save your story for playback on your computer is selected in the activities list.

2.Click Browse to specify the location and file name of your story.

3.On the Save As dialog box, browse to My Documents\My Videos.

4.In the Filename text box, type My First Story.wmv.

5.Click Save, and then click Next.

Viewing your story

When your story is built and saved, the Completing Photo Story 3 for Windows page will appear. You can view your newly created story or begin a new story from here. To see what you have created, click View your story. Windows Media Player will open and your story will begin to play.

Now that you have created your first photo story, it's time to start a new story. This time, add your own pictures and music to create stories to share with your friends and family.