People are just that – people. They have complex stories and backgrounds. They have overcome challenges that others would not have. They made choices – some good, some bad. If they were poor choices, what did they learn? Maybe they have taken risks while coworkers clocked their time and played it safe.
But instead of engaging in the process to truly learn more about the person, we look for the perfect resume. A chronological list of work history, education and job responsibilities. But, so what?
Will that “perfect resume” tell you who is a great leader? No. It will tell you who has managed staff. In my line of work, I’ve come across some pretty lousy managers; and knowing people leave managers way more often than they leave companies, wouldn’t that be important to know? How do you demonstrate great leadership on a resume?
Accomplishments help, but if someone has ever had to transform a culture, it’s difficult to articulate that in a few sentences about what that involved.
Here’s an example of what you don’t see on a resume. At the age of 14, I started waitressing the graveyard shift during the summer in the Wisconsin Dells. It’s not on my resume. But you know what it taught me? Thanks to that job, I learned multi-tasking, patience, humor, perseverance, and teamwork – all great qualities and competencies. But how would a perspective employer know that?
So what do you think would be a better way to engage with candidates? Rely on referrals from current employees? Ask questions instead of asking for a resume? Hire for competencies instead of experience? Use assessments?
What have you seen work that works well? What have you seen fail miserably?
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