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One of the most difficult
parts of recruiting is the matching of skills listed on a resume with the job
description. While it is not
exactly looking for a needle in a haystack, it might seem like it.
With the advent of the Internet and
“instant” job postings, a company recruiter could easily be inundated with
resumes that are a waste of time. I know of a very successful marketing
consultant who originally started off in accounting but later moved into
management and marketing. If one just looked at his background (more important
for older employees) and education (more important for younger employees), then
you would probably toss that resume. However, I know from his track record that
he is a top-notch marketing consultant and is cutting edge in his knowledge of
modern marketing tools.
I have found that people
excel when they are doing a job that they like. No one, whether it be the janitor or the CEO, likes
to “put in a day’s work” to collect a paycheck. People are motivated by
challenging and interesting work. So a resume is not like filing out a tax form
where all the blank spaces have to be completed or you face the wrath of the
mighty tax collector.
A resume is just a starting
point to consider a candidate. Sure
it will tell what positions he or she has held in the past but what is their
overriding passion that will motivate them to look for and accept a new
position. Executives will likely even take a lower
paying position to do something that they really like. As an example, there are highly capable
managers who take big drops in pay to start their own business or work in
non-profits because they are doing something that they love.
Another big mistake that I
find is that a good resume could be rejected because they are missing something
that is on the “required qualifications”. This could be as simple as no experience with a spreadsheet program
but the candidate is otherwise fantastic. It would be nuts to reject this
candidate but it happens every day.
In a slow economy, there are typically more
employees looking for work than there are positions. Thus a new job posting
gets lots of responses which in turn makes the sorting of resumes almost a
necessity to narrow down the field. Having an assistant do this sorting based
on a checklist or other system will likely miss great candidates. The way resumes are written with emphasis on education and
experience may miss those gems that are hidden away.
Selecting good executives is not like
applying for a mortgage and getting a credit score that will dictate your
interest rate and terms. Selecting good candidates
requires judgment. Obviously candidates that have blatant missing
qualifications (e.g. need to be bilingual but only speaks one language) need to
be quickly eliminated.
Another thing to watch for is the plethora
of terms used to describe a position. In some industries such as accounting or
engineering there are some well-defined categories and it is fairly easy to
qualify the candidates. If you have a Controller position to fill and need a
CPA with a minimum of 5 years experience, then an accounting student is not
going to cut it.
However, there is little consistency
between companies on what titles they use for management and executive
positions. A small company might use the title of “Senior Vice President” while
a bigger company calls a similar position a “Manager”.
Something a computer sort will completely
miss is why a candidate left a previous position. Let’s say you are a small
company (less that 500 employees) and are looking for a sales manager. And you have a resume of someone who has
good overall qualifications (education, years of experience) but this person
quit their last job, as “he was looking for a new opportunity”. The initial
reaction could be that the guy was nuts to quit such a good job. Upon interview
it was determined that his former employer was a huge company with a
bureaucracy that was only rivaled by the government. He spent most of his time
in meetings and very little time managing a sales force in field, which is what
he loved. A small company could hire him and get a
great manager doing what they are passionate about and do best.
Just ask Michael Krzyzewski, the college
basketball coach who turned down the Laker’s offer of $40 million for five
years. “The allure of coaching in college has no price,” said Krzyzewski. “It’s
one of those priceless things. I’ve never made a decision based on what would make
me the most money. It’s always been to me about
what would get me the most happiness, and I’ve been very happy and
fulfilled at Duke.”
One learns to read between the lines with
resumes, which no computer program will ever do. From
long years of experience I can tell you that great managers and executives are
somewhere in that pile of resumes—the trick is to find those gems by careful
analysis and imaginative thinking.
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Mya Borgman is the Founder
and President of The People Link, a professional recruitment agency with a unique
personal touch. We are committed to finding the ideal job match between employers
and job seekers. Take advantage of our hard earned experience gained with the
successful placement of over 1,000 candidates. The most frequently filled positions
include office and administration, computer technicians and programmers, engineers,
office managers and senior executives. Inquiries from both employers and job
seekers are held in absolute confidence and treated with discretion. Mya can
be reached at (818) 890-9998 or by email at mya@thepeoplelink.com. © Copyright 2004 Mya Borgman. All Rights Reserved.