Resumes Vs Candidate-Managed Profiles

Resumes Vs Candidate-Managed Profiles

Here is a piece of shocking news

’Resumes aren’t a good way to assess candidates!’

I saw this in a recent post on the internet and I thought to myself that this is someone who hasn’t the faintest idea what they are talking about. Not because Resumes are a good way to assess candidates but because this has been common knowledge for decades.

Sure, it’s nice to have a person’s career on a single piece of paper. But how do you tell 10 ’Top 4’ China university graduates apart using a Resume? They have probably all done the same courses and their scores are high, or else you would not be looking at them.

The same is true for experienced hires. How, for example, you can you compare one Production Manager from another?. I mean, they both have mechanical engineering degrees, 10 years experience and worked in similar companies, probably in similar positions.

In fact, how do you tell the differences between any slate of candidates if they all have roughly the same number of years experience, and are doing roughly the same job?

One answer could be Candidate-Managed Profiles which are a normal offering in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

We have been using them for years because they allow our RPO clients to get real details about candidates. We let the candidates manage them because they are best placed to put in specific information about themselves, for issues like the projects that they have done or the specific subtleties of their work experience.

Professional Interviewees
Picture the classic Resume interview. ’So I see you worked in XYZ Big Blue Co. for 5 years?....’

Cue spiel from candidate.

Yes, I did, and in my time I proved to be a capable manager, and my staff loved me, and my hard work was highly praised, and ......’.

Basically, all you get is a series of advertisements that say: Hire Me!. I’m great!.

In China, where scientific interviewing techniques are still at an early stage, this is often a typical case. But who’s fault is this if recruiters are still using a flawed document as the basis of their interviewing?.

Picture a viable alternative.

Your candidate has seen an advertisements on 51Job or ChinaHR. He is immediately whisked away to a simple hiring mini-site where he can view a detailed introduction to the position, look at a ’Day in the Life video of a staff member from your company, examine your balance sheet and your mission statement, and finally make his application using a registration system that he has full control over.

In the registration process you ask him for the information that you need to allow you to make a decision on his candidacy.

Internally, you use a backend system to push him throught the process. Along the way you do a Phone Screen and clarify his details. All before he interviews with you.

When he is actually interviewed you spend all your time talking about the Six Sigma project that he led last year, or the SAP MM module that he helped install this year. If you are looking for a Six Sigma Project Manager or a SAP Key User, this is what you should be doing.

Now you are in control.