Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

When job seeking, students in creative domains often lack the benefit of experience and a well-connected professional network, so they must carefully consider what qualities and attributes are most often sought by employers and, in turn, how to convey these attributes early in the screening process. This quest may be especially critical for those vying for positions against the likes of 30-75 similarly qualified candidates—which is often the case for those pursuing careers in design. This study sought to explore an area where practice has outpaced research by ascertaining the responses of hiring practitioners to candidate-generated videos and the relationship between such videos and the decision-making strategies of those screening candidates. More specifically, it sought to determine if hiring practitioners were more apt to prefer soft skills, hard skills, or specific experiences, how these attributes are assessed, and did the videos support positive or negative perceptions of the hypothetical candidate.