Check the end of resumes first -- it's where unflattering facts are often hidden by applicants.
May 9, 2005
Good hires: Hiring is hardly simple in most fields, but what's the trickiest part? Reviewing resumes to ferret out the best candidates, said 34 percent of executives in a survey. Posing the proper interview questions was the second most-difficult task, cited by 27 percent, and salary negotiation was next.
"Many executives receive hundreds of resumes in response to classified ads, for example, and may feel overwhelmed," said Tracey Fuller, executive director of The Creative Group. "An established evaluation system can make the task more manageable." Her company, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based staffing service queried 250 executives on hiring.
The company offers a few tips for this areA: • Use the correct criteria. Create requirements that will apply for the position you're filling, including technical skills, educational requirements and other skills for the job.
• Make the system uniform. Review each resume against the criteria you've developed. Also, keep interviews the same length and ask the same questions of all the people you summon.
• Prepare questions. Use a uniform list, without asking a variety of off-the-cuff questions for each interviewee.
• Start at the end for resumes. Most people tend to bury or minimize the least flattering or useful data. Start there.
Better direction? Note to boardrooms: More investors think the days of ineffective, compliant directors are coming to an end, thanks to the scandals and reforms that have rocked U.S. business. A majority of investors, 76 percent, strongly or somewhat agree that corporate board members will take their responsibilities more seriously now than they did in the past, according to a shareholder survey.
Even more, 80 percent, thought potential board members would be more diligent about researching companies before assuming the responsibility of becoming a corporate director.
The February survey, by the National Association of Investors Corp. in Madison Heights, Mich., involved 1,175 shareholders of companies or mutual funds.
Unemployment guaranteed: Job interviews can make even the calm and cool slightly apprehensive at times.
But your chances of landing that new position will be infinitely better if you avoid the following interview foibles, collected from more than 600 hiring managers by Chicago-based CareerBuilder.com, a job search site.
The following are actual accounts of what recruiters have seen:
• Candidate admitted she would not pass the mandatory drug test.
• Candidate disclosed she only wanted the job for the employee discount.
• Candidate brought his mom.
• Candidate asked for directions to another interview.
• Candidate forgot what position she was applying for, but wanted to know how soon she could have my office.
• Candidate came in wearing pajama bottoms and flip flops.
• Candidate sang the national anthem to make himself memorable. Well, he was memorable.
• Candidate brought wine to the interview and offered me a glass.
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