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RESUME SCREENING - Picking the High Performers!

Guest post by: Carol Quinn

Article Overview: A high unemployment rate means lots of resumes and applicants for employers to screen but it doesn't mean it will be easier to pick out the high performers. Just the opposite in fact. Never before in history have job applicants been so hungry and so well-prepared to ace an interview. Information available on the Internet educates job seekers on what interview questions to expect, what type of answers WOW interviewers and what responses turn them off. Pair up these paycheck-hungry job candidates with an interviewer who has done nothing to improve his or her employee selection skills, or the fact that more than eighty percent of all interviewers have had little or no formal training on how to hire the best, and now you have a real formula for disaster as companies begin hiring post-recession. This perfect storm can be averted.

RESUME SCREENING - Picking the High Performers!

This is not the first time in my lifetime that the unemployment rate has been high. Basic supply and demand principles are at work. There have been times when we've had an abundance of job openings and not enough applicants to fill them. Now we have the opposite. Rather than employers begging for applicants, the applicants are begging for the jobs. This too shall pass. However, wading through a mountain of resumes is the task at hand plaguing every employer currently hiring. In the 90's, when companies where downsizing and rightsizing, I taught workshops on interviewing skills. For those I have helped with salary negotiation, 100% got more money. As for resumes, I can take a mediocre track record and make it barely noticeable and get it into the "A" stack. I've also been the one who has had to sift through a mile-high pile to decide who to interview. One time, two job openings rendered 1000+ resumes. With no time during the week, and an urgent need to fill the positions, screening resumes became my weekend task. As much as I love what I do, I don't want to be reading other people's work history on my time off. However, knowing the tricks of the trade plus being passionate about hiring, I made effective use my time. When it comes to screening resumes, I'm like the thief who can teach you how to make your home burglar-proof.

Interviewers who have never been trained on what makes a High Performer tick often believe that "skills" enable them to go above and beyond. Not only do they base their hiring decisions solely on this information, this is how they determine who gets an interview and who doesn't. Even though skills are important, they're not a reliable indicator of future performance - they won't tell you who's a High Performer and who's not. Skills are only one of the three components common to ALL High Performers. Skills are enablers; they enable a person to do a job. They have nothing to do with and are separate from a person's motivation. For example, you cannot know how to do a job but be highly motivated to learn. Recognizing the difference is very important. Just because someone can do the job doesn't mean they will or that they'll do it better than anyone else. So, let me give you some pointers on screening resumes beyond skills.

Call me old-fashioned but I still like the piece of paper. For those resumes I receive via e-mail, I print out the ones I like. I always staple the resume on top and any cover letter second. With a large number to go through, I rarely read cover letters. I start with their job history, looking at their most recent employer first. I review in detail their job duties and responsibilities, and employment dates. I don't like job-hoppers. Loosely defined, it's someone who stays less than a year or so per job. Of course there are exceptions. In the U.S. we went from the job-for-life mindset just a few short decades ago to it being no-big-deal to change jobs often. And why not, with an unemployment rate teetering around 4% for quite a while it made it almost effortless. I believe our current economic crisis will settle us somewhere in the middle for the better. People bail from their jobs too easily. When the going gets tough, they seek something less difficult. Do this a few times and a pattern is established that shows on their resume or application. This provides a valuable clue for resume screeners. Unless your jobs are conflict-free, always fair, and easy-to-succeed-at, then it's likely the job hopper won't stay with you long either. Hiring right is one of the best ways to reduce turnover. One Harvard study on sales people found that 75% of turnover could be traced back to the hiring process. Not to mention, achievement doesn't happen instantly or easily. If it did, everyone would be an overachiever. Hiring High Performers involves hiring people who stick with what they are doing for long enough to make great things happen. High Performers have a different attitude about overcoming obstacles than others. They're not easily deterred. On resumes, I prefer to see at least average tenure for the industry...if not more.

As I work my way down the resume, in addition to job title and responsibilities, I continue to pay close attention to employment dates. Employment gaps are easily concealed by showing just the starting and ending year.

For example: ...Employer Y: 2007 - present

Employer X: 2005 - 2006

In the above example, it's possible that this person left Employer X in January 2006 and did not start with Employer Y until December 2007. Leaving off the month can hide up to a 2 year employment gap. Combine gaps, or ambiguity, with a similar or lower job title on the jobs that follow and you've got a red flag. Behind this scenario, it's common to find someone who got fired or quit first. After thousands of interviews, this type of work history is more often found with marginal or low performers than it is with those who produce top results. When asked during an interview, candidates often try to explain their reason for leaving by saying, "for a better opportunity" even though their next job involved less pay, no increase in responsibilities or span of control and no other stated or obvious benefits. Sometimes resumes shout out information that applicants wish you didn't see. I personally like to see some stability and advancement, and I notice when it's not there.

High Performers are motivated. Their particular type of motivation isn't the same as for those who lack it, but can be prodded or persuaded into doing their job. Theirs is different and it's imperative to know the difference. Employees who need a push are not self-motivated. High Performers are. Their motivation is connected to both their attitude towards difficult challenges and also the specific work they love to do. Place them into a job they don't like and watch even their results diminish. Loving what you do is a very powerful motivator. Even in tough economic conditions like we're in right now, people forced into new careers due to the evaporation of their old one don't become High Performers without the love for their new direction. It's important to look for signs of this on their resume. I like to see some congruence. This is when there are multiple signs that a person is into their line of work. For example, their objective, college major, seminars and workshops, organizations and memberships, volunteer work, accomplishments and awards and their skills ALL align. They ALL come together to generate a synergy that's missing in many others. It's something all High Performers share in common - they love what they do and it shows. You can find clues of this on the resume and on some introduction letters too. Be on the lookout.

When screening lots of resumes, you need a system in place from the start. Once reviewed, I place resumes into one of three piles: A, B, or C. My "A" pile is for the resumes that WOW me. They appear to have everything I want and no major flags. My "B" stack is for my "Maybes". If I don't hire anyone from my "A" pile, maybe I'll take a second look...or maybe not. Usually you only get one chance to make a great first impression, especially in this kind of labor market that so heavily favors the employer. My "C" pile is for the obvious "No's". They'll get a "Thanks but no thanks" letter right away.

My resume screening process does not stop here. I include a brief telephone interview before deciding who I want to bring in. I call only those that made it into my "A" pile. With a little more information, great looking resumes can get downgraded to another stack or can impress me even more. If I like them, I schedule them to come in while I have them on the phone. Telephone screens usually take about 15 minutes of time whereas an in-person interview takes typically a full hour. They have saved me a lot of time and my time is very important to me. Sometimes applicants may go through this step with me, other times, it's with my assistant. I think it's a great developmental opportunity to delegate. I once inherited an assistant who touted her years of recruiting experience yet many of the candidates she scheduled for interviews initially could have been ruled out. They easily got by her. She did a brief phone interview but beyond skills, she didn't know what to look for. Whether it's you or someone else doing the screening, it's paramount to know what makes a High Performer tick. If not, you're transferring inadequate interviewing skills to the screening process. You won't be effective. Take the time to learn and invest in the right training. The same principles that help you to identify and hire High Performers can also help you in the screening process. I use a telephone screening form that briefly touches on all 3 of the areas common to High Performers. I incorporate 2-3 "O-SAE" skill assessment questions that will also reveal the candidate's Locus of Control. If you've been trained in Motivation-Based Interviewing then you understand the powerful role "attitude" (or Locus of Control) plays in motivation and motivation assessment.

Finally, you cannot determine if you have a High Performer just by a piece of paper but you can do a relatively good job at bringing in the right applicants to interview. Once scheduled, I require every candidate to complete an application before seeing me. Some try to escape this step by writing "See attached resume" across the work history section. I give those people a choice: white out or another application form. Interviewing from an application is much better than from a resume. Don't be afraid to get the information you need to make a great hiring decision. And that goes for the next step as well - the interview. You have the right to get the information necessary to accurately predict future job performance. If you don't, your hiring decision will be based on faulty information. Trust me, this will absolutely mess up your hiring results. Employing High Performers involves more than just screening resumes or sitting behind a desk asking interview questions. If you have never been formally trained, I recommend you STOP and get the right training first...BEFORE going any further. There are web courses that you can complete in less than a day that teach how to identify and hire the best. Make sure you look for one that covers more than just the ‘how-to' basics or behavior-based interviewing. Those typically focus solely on skill assessment and are useless for learning how to hire High Performers. All applicants want you to believe they are the best, especially those who aren't. It's your job to see through the smoke and mirror illusion and you can, it starts with looking beyond skills.

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Article Tags: ace, attitude, behavior based interview, Carol Quinn, disaster, employee selection, hiring expert, hiring high performers, how to hire the best, interview questions, interviewer, interviewers, job applicants, job interview, job seekers, locus of control, marginal job performers, motivationbased interviewing, passion, perfect storm, resumes, unemployment rate



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