Is the Resume Dead?

As someone who interviews, checks references and makes hiring recommendations, I seriously have begun to ask myself why people bother to send resumes.  Years ago, before the Internet, advanced HR departments and a surplus of workers (You have seen the recent unemployment figures, right?), resumes may have been the best way to determine if an applicant is right for the job, but no more.  Further, any  manager, recruiter, or supervisor who uses a resume for anything more than a pre-screener should have his or her credentials questioned as well, for doing so increases the chance that the wrong applicant will be hired and opens the organization up to lawsuits.

Everyone Lies

The first reason I refuse to depend on resumes is the simple assertion that, to paraphrase Dr. Gregory House on Fox's television series, "House":  everyone lies.

"The percentage of people who lie to potential employers is substantial, says Sunny Bates, CEO of New York-based executive recruitment firm Sunny Bates Associates. She estimates that 40% of all résumés aren't altogether aboveboard.

And this game of employment Russian roulette is getting riskier and riskier. Almost 40% of human resources professionals surveyed last year by the Society for Human Resource Management reported they've increased the amount of time they spend checking references over the past three years"

--Forbes.com: Most Common Resume Lies

Call me cynical, but I'd say the other 60% just didn't get caught.  With the economy going the way that it is, spurring a rise in unemployment, the temptation to lie on a resume increases.

Negligent Hiring

Everyone has heard of negligent firing.  Few have heard of negligent hiring, but it's becoming more prevalent.  This is when an employer uses faulty information or who poorly vets applicants to the point that someone who is a danger to others is hired.  Employees have brought up negligent hiring charges when other employees have gone on rampages, hurt other employees or engaged in sexual harassment, and a more thorough vetting process was not used.  Basing a hiring decision on a self-promotional document, such as a resume, is the act of an amateur.

Internal Hiring Processes are Better in Identifying Good Employees

With technological advances and legal ramifications, companies are using company-specific hiring processes more and more.  Using specialized employment applications that have various disclaimers, releases to do background checks, consequences for lying, and waivers to keep references confidential, more companies want their own documents used for applicants to place their credentials for reference checkers.  Between a good HR department that knows how to vet an applicant and supervisors who are trained to do detailed reference checks, a resume pales in comparison in identifying great prospective employees.

In my "industry", which is education, a typical applicant vetting scenario goes like this:

1. The administrator receives a resume, which is simply used as an indicator of interest.  It has no relevance in the hiring process, because the receiving administrator simply notifies the applicant to contact the district office to follow the official procedure.
2. The applicant completes the required application and an on-line screening questionnaire.
3. The HR department vets the applicant for proper credentials and includes verifying education degrees, grade point averages, Praxis scores (a standardized test to used to determine job-readiness), and state certification.  References are to be received on district-provided reference sheets that ask education-specific questions.  The on-line screening questionnaire is also checked.
4. A criminal background check is done.  The check can span the last 10 years or more depending on the individual.
5. If the applicant qualifies on the above, a structured interview is scheduled.  The interview is either audio or video taped.  The structured interview guarantees that each applicant is asked the exact same questions and is considered by the same rubric.
6. Only after the successful completion of all the above is the applicant placed on a list that building administrators use to choose viable candidates to interview.
7. The building administrator interviews a number of candidates and, based on the applicant's interview performance, reference checks are done on the top few to check school/applicant fit.
8. Finally, a hiring recommendation is made to HR who handles the final paperwork issues.

One can clearly see that hiring these days is an intense process that can take from days to weeks.  In our profession, a resume is simply an indicator of interest; a phone call would have served the same purpose, which would be to be directed to HR and the official employment application.

Interviews and Good Reference Checks Yield the Best Data for a Final Hiring Decision

After HR pre-qualifies the applicants, the process that yields the most useful, yet subjective, data, is the interview and reference checking.  An supervisor skilled in those twin processes can find star employees in short order.  A good interviewer and reference checker can get much more information about work history, personal initiative, punctuality, company loyalty, and ability to get along with and work with others from a previous supervisor than any applicant can imagine -- or would want. 

Another consideration is that a good reference checker is checking your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social media accounts.  In a recent article from Charlotte, NC, several teachers were fired due to items found in their social media accounts.

"A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher faces firing for posting derogatory comments about students on Facebook, while four others have been disciplined for posts involving "poor judgment and bad taste..."

"...'There's an old lawyer's saw that goes something like this: Never put in writing anything that you wouldn't want read in open court or by your mother," concludes the article, written by Michael Simpson of the NEA's legal office. "Maybe it's time for an updated adage: Never put in electronic form anything that you wouldn't want viewed by a million people, including your colleagues, students, and supervisors - and your mother'."

--News & Observer: Teachers Disciplined for Facebook Postings

Summing Up the Resume

In my opinion, the resume should only be used as an indicator of interest, a pre-screener. When I receive one, I glance no more than 10 seconds and simply direct the person to our HR department.  Despite my opinion, and warnings about them, some companies still welcome resumes.  My recommendation is check with the company with which you are considering applying and ask for their preference in whether a resume is required or even welcomed.

For those of you who still want to cover that base, my next installment will be some tips on resumes. 

Comments

[Your resume services guide]

Well not exactly what you say. Off course, resume shouldn't be the only indicator but it speaks about a candidate in his/her absence. The HR people do a background check before hiring. Came across this nice article, http://info.shine.com/Career-Advice-Articles/Resume-Preparation/Is-your-CV-a-lie/1215/cid25.aspx

[Alec Satin - Making Project Management Better]

Hi Bert,

Insightful comments. As someone in a job search right now, I've seen an almost complete split between the meetings and connections I'm having with people through social media/blog connections and those through traditional resume + applications.

The meetings, interviews and conversations with the social media connections are as a rule more personal, meaningful and "real".

Those through old-style resume and application quite often feel rigid. Sometimes I feel as if the other person is trying to "trip me up". More often it just feels as if we're in the modern day equivalent of a Victorian era tea party trying to read between the lines. It's a lot of work.

Here's to the day when we all have business cards like this one: http://picocool.com/design/google-me-business-card/

With best wishes,
Alec

[Jessica Boxer]

I think that this is very dependent on the industry that you work in. Your particular industry, teaching, is very different than the one I work in, computer programming. In my industry, resumes are absolutely crucial to understand what the person claims to be. Of course, people lie on their resume, but what it does is makes a claim of what a person's expertise. That has to be tested for sure, but the claim is a precursor.

Interestingly, in my industry there is an opposite situation. Generally speaking references are completely useless. Most software firms will only say "he worked for us from x to y." and will tell you no more. Oftentimes, previous employers don't even exist anymore, and if they do, the people who worked with the candidate have moved on. (Average longevity for programmers in small firms is two to three years.)

Also, in the teaching industry, like many unionized, government jobs, you have the situation where a hiring mistake is quite difficult to remedy. In my industry, people change jobs often, and consequently, cutting someone who doesn't work out is not all that big a deal (for the employer or the employee.) Especially so if you work in an at will state.

(One other thing - criminal background checks are very hard to perform in my industry -- programmers are very resistant to that kind of intrusive action. Of course your employees work with kids, and such checks are probably necessary, and likely legally required, so again, the industry is different.)

[Bert]

Your resume services guide: Your application can stand in your place just as well. I'm not saying it's dead, I'm asking about it in light of negligent hiring lawsuits and more hiring accountablility. In my conversations with others who do the hiring in my profession, a resume is just an indicator of interest and nothing more. I realize there is an entire industry that has developed around the resume and how to improve it. Perhaps I stepped on some toes??

[Bert]

Alec -

It's a shame, but in reality, we are trying to trip you up. Since its our backsides on the line, we don't want anything to come back and bite us. So, we dig deep. The involved process that my district goes through is designed to find any flaw. It is preached to us that it is better to not fill a position than to fill it with a marginal employee. The bar is set extremely high. In fact, getting the job in the first place is only the first hurdle. The second comes in the form of acquisition of tenure after four years of employment. Before we allow an average employee to acquire tenure, PEP (the Principals' Executive Program) encourages administrators to thank them and let them go in order to continue looking for our next superstar.

[Bert]

Jessica--

Agreed! Views of the resume are industry specific. That's why I said it was a good idea to seek out each company's or industry's opinion of them. I'm simply asking if they are dead, now that more tools are available.