Is the CV BS? Some Thoughts and Tips on CV Evaluation
Most hiring managers rely on the CV as the primary source of candidate information. This is a dangerous practice given the amount to "untruths" in most CVs.
A CV is a summary of what the candidate wants you to know about them. It's a candidate's own version of the positive aspects of their background, knowledge, skills and experience. The negative aspects are left out or reworked to give a positive slant. For example, "I was made redundant due to the company downsizing my department" In reality, they may have been the only one of in a team of 15 to be laid off, or even terminated. Or, "I did a 2 year certificate course in fashion design" but did they complete those two years and did they get the actual certificate?
CVs are not a reliable, objective outline of candidate information and treating them this way will always yield poor results. A CV is like a written account of a personal meeting where you ask the candidate to summerise their work history and education. This information is usually far from correct and complete.
A recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that 70% of graduates are prepared to lie on their CV to get the job. And another survey from HireRight found over 30% of CVs it reviewed had discrepancies. The most popular being:
The above reasons are why I like an application form over a CV. At best, a CV will only tell you how good a writer the candidate, or someone else, is! An application will collect the information you want in a standardized manner. Then, your job is to VERIFY all the important information. This will ensure the candidate's honesty, integrity and level of competency is in alignment for the position.
Remember, the employment application will only assess whether the candidate has the minimum qualifications – knowledge, skill and experience for the role. It will also identify areas to probe and verify in the phone screen, in-person interview and reference check.
BEFORE you look at any CV make sure you have a list of criteria critical to success in the job – the basic "must haves". Don't be tempted to deviate by changing, lowering or raising the bar during the screening process. Treat ALL candidates the same way.
In a recent survey by DBM, here is the top 5 areas competent hiring managers review when evaluating CVs:
Using Employee Profiling in Conjunction with CV Evaluation
There is a more scientific way to collect objective information on what a candidate is really like that goes way beyond what he/she chooses to share with you in a CV. A psychometric assessment (or job-fit profile) is the only reliable measure for understanding who a candidate really is BEFORE you hire.
How many times have you been impressed at interview – the candidate spoke well, presented well and had all the right knowledge, skill and experience for the job. But six months after hiring things started to go "pear shaped". The application form will tell you if the CAN do the job, but an employee profile will let you understand HOW they will do the job.
The three main areas a quality assessment measures are: personality traits, mental ability and attitudes. CLUES and Prevue are ideal assessments to consider, the latter enabling you to benchmark your job instantly with an online job-fit survey.
In summary, if you keep putting all your eggs in the "CV basket" the more scrambled your hiring outcomes will be. It's so easy to be persuaded with a positive, glowing, well designed CV. Use Application Forms, this will standardize the process. Always back your CV/Application Form evaluation up with a stringent background and reference check, and do this YOURSELF, don't rely on a third party.
Then use a valid and reliable employee profiling assessment to test what's under the water line. If you use a disciplined, structured hiring process you'll be measuring "apples with apples". The way most managers go about hiring is akin to measuring "apples with pears" and the best you'll get out of this is fruit salad!!
A CV is a summary of what the candidate wants you to know about them. It's a candidate's own version of the positive aspects of their background, knowledge, skills and experience. The negative aspects are left out or reworked to give a positive slant. For example, "I was made redundant due to the company downsizing my department" In reality, they may have been the only one of in a team of 15 to be laid off, or even terminated. Or, "I did a 2 year certificate course in fashion design" but did they complete those two years and did they get the actual certificate?
CVs are not a reliable, objective outline of candidate information and treating them this way will always yield poor results. A CV is like a written account of a personal meeting where you ask the candidate to summerise their work history and education. This information is usually far from correct and complete.
A recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that 70% of graduates are prepared to lie on their CV to get the job. And another survey from HireRight found over 30% of CVs it reviewed had discrepancies. The most popular being:
- Inaccurate dates of past employment – Candidate will lengthen job tenure to hide employment gaps. Another neat "trick" is to fabricate a job by saying they had an independent contract or was a consultant.
- Falsifying degrees or credentials earned - Many candidates do attend these degree or training courses, but fail to complete or pass, thus embellish their learning by stating they have a degree or certificate in the said course.
- Inflating salary, title or task details – It's a no-brainer that candidates will exaggerate these important facts to get a better job or salary. This is the very reason why it's important to do background and reference checks with past employees. References from friends and family are a waste of time.
The above reasons are why I like an application form over a CV. At best, a CV will only tell you how good a writer the candidate, or someone else, is! An application will collect the information you want in a standardized manner. Then, your job is to VERIFY all the important information. This will ensure the candidate's honesty, integrity and level of competency is in alignment for the position.
Remember, the employment application will only assess whether the candidate has the minimum qualifications – knowledge, skill and experience for the role. It will also identify areas to probe and verify in the phone screen, in-person interview and reference check.
BEFORE you look at any CV make sure you have a list of criteria critical to success in the job – the basic "must haves". Don't be tempted to deviate by changing, lowering or raising the bar during the screening process. Treat ALL candidates the same way.
In a recent survey by DBM, here is the top 5 areas competent hiring managers review when evaluating CVs:
- Relevant Skills and Qualifications
- Functional Experience
- Employment History
- Industry Experience
- Measurable Accomplishments
Using Employee Profiling in Conjunction with CV Evaluation
There is a more scientific way to collect objective information on what a candidate is really like that goes way beyond what he/she chooses to share with you in a CV. A psychometric assessment (or job-fit profile) is the only reliable measure for understanding who a candidate really is BEFORE you hire.
How many times have you been impressed at interview – the candidate spoke well, presented well and had all the right knowledge, skill and experience for the job. But six months after hiring things started to go "pear shaped". The application form will tell you if the CAN do the job, but an employee profile will let you understand HOW they will do the job.
The three main areas a quality assessment measures are: personality traits, mental ability and attitudes. CLUES and Prevue are ideal assessments to consider, the latter enabling you to benchmark your job instantly with an online job-fit survey.
In summary, if you keep putting all your eggs in the "CV basket" the more scrambled your hiring outcomes will be. It's so easy to be persuaded with a positive, glowing, well designed CV. Use Application Forms, this will standardize the process. Always back your CV/Application Form evaluation up with a stringent background and reference check, and do this YOURSELF, don't rely on a third party.
Then use a valid and reliable employee profiling assessment to test what's under the water line. If you use a disciplined, structured hiring process you'll be measuring "apples with apples". The way most managers go about hiring is akin to measuring "apples with pears" and the best you'll get out of this is fruit salad!!