The art of screening resumes
recruiter...@gmail.com
Thanks to broadband that I have a good, decent and speedy net access
at home now. (Yes, I was one of the late comers to catch up with
technology for accessing the internet! Thanks to bureaucracy and a
zillion excuses by the service provider for the delay. Henceforth, I
shall time in a few dedicated hours to writing out things learnt with
experience in recruitment, and would look forward to everyones'
contributions to the forum! (C'mon guys, everyone has access to
posting in here!)
I wanted to continue with my previous post about cutting time-cost in
recruiting, in details about each aspect of the same. I remember
citing an example of how clarity of thought could make a lot of
difference in what a person can offer to the organization/client. The
example I had quoted was about the difference in the person's choices
and the position applied for. Well, this is just one case I could
think of then while writing that article. Here are further hints that
could be considered strong negative indicators in applications that we
frequently come across.
First of all, before writing further, I would want a unanymous vote on
the fact that resumes are self-marketing tools in fetching oneself a
job! (Please do contradict if you think I am wrong..) A recruiter
should never expect a self-claimed expert in a certain technology or
type of a job to write about having been the captain of the college
football team unless he plans to be one for a corporate team! Some may
contradict this opinion with statements of the likes that it
exemplifies leadership skills etc. Well, yes, you are right, but I am
sure those that recruiters of/for Infosys and the other major (sized)
service companies would certainly consider that as a positive pointer
while scoring candidates (freshers) on a scale of 16 or so! But what
with the other companies? Those that are not targeting a fresher
headcount of a few 10 thousands , do you think they care to use this
as a benchmark/indicator in going ahead while making an offer? The
answer is simple, NO!
If you come across an applications developer saying that he is a lead
guitarist for a local band. Well, congrats to the candidate, and also
"all the best" (for future endeavours). Because, I am not looking for
a guitarist, I am looking for a developer.
I am sure that everyone would have realised and noticed that the
resumes in the marked have matured, as the market has in the last few
years. I am sure that many used to write about something that was
really not, just for the heck of filling out pages.
Then what are the things that actually help us identifying the good
resumes? I certainly look for a lot of things in resumes, and have
just tried to align my thoughts in here. First is the objective. If
there is a contradiction of any sort in the position applied for and
the objective, well, Tata to the resume right there.
How well synchronized is the resume with the objective? Is the person
projecting himself an aspirant to what is mentioned in the objective,
or is he claiming to be the person who can actually do that because of
experience or abilities? If a person talks about DB administration and
wants to write Java programs, then well, yes, Tata again! If the
resume talks about DB admin activities and looking for a job involving
PL/SQL scripting that could be used in performance tuning or SQL
tuning etc., that makes a LOT of sense. Trust me, a person who wants
to be, from where he is, with a line that connects the two is the best
hire possible. For they are the ones that would strive to learn and be
the best. These are the types that aspire, dream and want to achieve.
At times a lot of effort is required from the recruiter in convincing
hiring managers in considering these cases specifically. And the best
feeling of all is when these guys get offered. Satisfaction.
Being in the service industry, I guess a certain amount of effort of
our goes into social service, and that, I feel is something that is
essential in keeping the human side in us alive.
Instances where curiousity to learn (not just because of the number of
certifications one has), passion to prove should be highlighted for
other resume reviewers to read.
Other than this, most of the clues come from other sources, viz., the
covering letter, to whom the application is addressed etc. In detail:
With technology on the rise, resumes are no more paper documents; You
mostly (~99.99%) receive resumes in emails. Now, where does your email
address stand in the mail? Is it amongst a bunch of other people to
whom the mail has been sent? Or is it one to whom it is BCC'ed?? (in
which case you never know if another 100 recruiters like yourself are
recieving it!) Or is it just addressed to you?
I guess you would have figured out the aspect that I am trying to
address:
i) Desperation to get a job: Is s/he, or is s/he in the berge of a
layoff/fire?
ii) Is the person being selective in getting herself a job?
iii) Did the person go through the JD you had posted from where s/he
got your email address?
When you read a cover letter, (this is the sad and tough part), do you
get a feeling that the mail is addressed particularly to finding
herself the job under consideration with your company/client? Or is it
just a fancy cover letter that was searched using Google's
technologies and pasted? <-- This typically helps in finding the
serious-about-your-company candidates. Though most applicants do not
understand the seriousness of a cover letter, but the ones that you
come across with good ones are the ones that you should talk to at
least once before putting the resume in the 'archived' or 'for later
reference' or, (the way I name it) 'dump' folders of yours.
Does the cover letter actually accentuate the content of the resume?
Meaning, does it add more information about what other things the
person is capable of, and also, does it talk about how compliant s/he
is to the job opening? Does the cover letter address the diversity in
experience, not just restricting to that required for the job? Does
the content address how capable the person is capable of growing and
grooming oneself to a better position within the organization?
This is all about it. An example of one of the best hires that I have
made, is of a person that I recruited while a stint with a company
that focussed on product development based on MS Technologies. This
candidate had 8 months experience when he applied. The mail was
addressed to the ex-recruiter of the company, to the career email
address. It read in a very unpolished english about the candidate's
interest in taking a job with the company and how he had failed in
clearing the final technical interview while as a fresher, and why he
still wanted to apply only for this particular company even while all
the advertisement said that the required experience was of a least of
2 years. This cover letter, though not the best one to read, made a
lot of sense, expressed a lot of sincerity, and also how aligned
taking a job with the company was with his career objective.
Inspite of a very senior manager's instructions of not to consider
those with experience less than the mandate, I went about having the
candidate interviewed. The irony was that after 4 levels of redundant
interviewing, there was no way the manager could excuse on making an
offer to the candidate. Six months of joining, that candidate bagged
the best performer and the best team player awards.
That's about it. It's pretty late in the night, and I have some
serious hiring to do tomorrow at work!
Peace, Love and Empathy.
PS: Hey guys, if this is getting boring, please let me know. The next
topic that I will write about (mostly Saturday evening) would be about
the first interaction with candidates, over phone/face to face, and
how to screen them (all in very generic technology-less terms). Also,
please feel free to suggest topics that we should discuss about. BTW:
This is less discussion and more lecture-baazi, please contribute :)