Reading Between the Lines

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You’ve got an important job opening and there’s a stack of resumes that need to be screened. It’s time to narrow the field and find candidates that are worth bringing in for an interview.
 
As a hiring manager, you need to uncover the truths that are hidden beneath the text of a resume. We’re not just talking about simple grammar or spelling mistakes; be aware of candidates who withhold the full truth about previous employers or jobs.
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1) Vague Job Descriptions
This might be difficult to spot. Candidates should be able to provide information on their previous jobs. A job title doesn’t say much, and different companies assign various tasks for a specific position. The candidate’s job title should be accompanied by their responsibilities, past projects, and achievements.
 
2) Lack of Evidence of Achievement
A top candidate has achievements to back-up their skill level. It doesn’t have to be a Stevie Award, but anything noteworthy that deserves praise. For example, “Increased sales by 18% with summer campaign.” You can easily gauge a candidate’s capabilities with his/her achievements.
 
3) Unwilling to Include References
Most candidates do not readily list references in their resumes and hiring managers rarely consider this a deal breaker. When a candidate does have references readily available, it shows that they are able to maintain good working relationships with their supervisors.
 
4) Unclear Career Path
What career choices has the candidate made? Take note of their job titles and duties.
​If the candidate has moved from one unrelated job to the next, they might have serious commitment issues.
 
5) Excluding Relevant Dates
It’s important to do the math! If a candidate has held multiple positions in a short period of time, you might be dealing with a “job hopper.” Most serial job hoppers will say they “forgot” to include the dates or their duration of stay.
 
6) Too Much Irrelevant Information
This is not a deal breaker but it’s not a deal maker either. Some candidates still think that the longer the resume, the better, so they tend to add excessive information.
You don’t want a candidate that is unable to separate the necessary from the superfluous.
 
Be on the lookout for these discrepancies when screening candidate resumes.
Doing so will save yourself and your team a lot of time and grief.
 
At headhuntr.io, we use our in-house methodologies and expertise to appraise and qualify candidates for your company. If you need help speeding up your screening process, send our recruiters a message at contact@headhuntr.io.