With the current employment marketplace, applications have increased. Employers invest more and more time in reviewing resumes. There is potential to ‘weed out’ applicants too quickly and miss out. Weed in the talent with tools that save time.
Here are 5 Reasons to Weed IN not OUT:
Resumes Do Not Tell the Whole Story
Workitdaily.com says it well, “businesses have brochures, people have resumes”. A resume differentiates one candidate from another BUT no one can (or will) put everything they know or can do in their resume. Some applicants know how to sell themselves better than others. Some invest in professional writers. Either way, reading between the lines takes skill. Consider those that do not articulate themselves as well in their resume. Ask key behavioural based questions during a phone interview – move that prospect onto your shortlist.
Establish a Benchmark
Some people excel with one employer but fail with another. Why? Does personality clash? Before advertising, create a position-specific benchmark using your top employees’ traits and competencies. You can’t clone them but this comes close! Compare applicants to this benchmark of abilities, motivations, and personality. You won’t get a 100% match but doing so will help narrow the field. At the very least, our
Prevue Screen report gives you a quick indication of their potential in the role. Adding that information to their resume, interview, and your ‘gut’ adds objectivity to the process. Set each candidate up to win, not fail.
Interviews are Subjective
The best interviewee is not necessarily the best employee”
Recruiterbox makes this point well quoting
Ron Friedman, author of
The Best Place to Work. “in many cases, job interviews are entirely disconnected from the reality of people’s day-to-day job”. Some people freeze up in an interview, yet they excel in their job, and others impress but fail to meet expectations. Also, the interviewer’s skills directly reflect the success of the interview process. Invite a candidate to complete an assessment before an interview. The provided
Selection Report, based on the benchmark, with Interview Questions that build on their results, makes any interviewer skilled.
Make Them Work
Sometimes applicants are just kicking tires…. seeing what is out there. To help determine if they are serious, ask them to complete a skills-based questionnaire. This will clarify what they know and if they have the experience you require. If they refuse to complete the questionnaire, you know they are not serious. If they cut/paste from the Internet, you know even more! This works well at the entry-to-mid range positions – those in senior-level roles can get insulted. Ask about our SkillScope™.
Be Flexible on the Qualifications
Some companies reject a resume if post-secondary education is missing from the resume – regardless of the level of the position for which they applied. In one case, the reason I was given was “it helps narrow down the number of resumes reviewed”. While I agree that the vetting process must have some guidelines, I believe the ‘school of hard knocks’, industry experience, and ‘on-the-job’ training combined with an internal drive, transferrable skills, and personality should not be overlooked.
Both subjective and objective decision-making makes it easier to ‘weed in’ a candidate. The tools mentioned above do not add to the workload, however, they streamline it. All help provide each hiring manager with the solution to make an informed decision about who to add to the team.
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