Nonprofit Maks helps underprivileged people in Brussels improve their prospects for finding employment.

The team organizes workshops and training sessions to help both youngsters and adults learn digital and IT skills.  Maks also provides jobseekers with practical and moral support in their job search.

Maks asked me to help investigate the video CV format with which they had already experimented. Together, we designed a new presentation format: the video demo. And while we were at it, we also overhauled Maks’ CRM system.

Here’s how MAKS coaches jobseekers (in Dutch).

One of the projects at MAKS is the video CV. It’s a multimedia introduction of jobseekers that they send along with their CV hoping to increase their chances of getting an interview.

In the past years MAKS had tried many different formats of the video CV but they were unsure of the results. Now, during one month, the team and I reviewed, reworked and tested this format to make sure that we could offer the jobseekers a truly valuable tool.

Our main conclusion was that it doesn’t need to be a CV. People already have a CV. Employers expect a CV. The video CV became a video demo. It’s a video where jobseekers demonstrate the skills that they list in their CV. It helps people with a weak CV show their skills and motivation. It’s also a practical learning tool for a jobseeker. Making the video demo prepares them well for an actual job interview. They’ll be more confident.

We made a guide for the Maks team to create new video demos.

The Maks team is now creating its first video demos, and the team is applying for grants to continue developing the format further.