Stop Letting Resumes Fool You
True superstars, who are a well-rounded in their professional experience, behavioral soft skills, technical hard skills, integrity, and are searching for meaningful opportunities stand out from others.
This is true even in the way they write their resumes.
Why?
Because top performers are committed to excellence in all that they do.
Their resume may not totally match your standards for perfection, but you can recognize the ways they invest extra effort to present themselves accurately, honestly, and professionally. Or not…
Every applicant has unlimited time to prepare their resume.
Therefore, their grammar, format, and content should be correct, appealing, and 100% accurate.
Here’s a quick list on what we look for in a resume:
1. The format should be professional, and ideally, the design is nice.
2. No grammar or spelling errors.
3. A photo is nice, but is it current? A photo that is 10 years old is a yellow warning flag.
Either the person doesn’t maintain their information correctly, or they’re trying to communicate an inaccurate image of themselves.
4. The information should be accurate.
There shouldn’t be any significant differences between their resume and LinkedIn profile, or as you confirm details during interviews.
5. Consider their "home address." How long will it take to commute to the job (with and without traffic)?
Be prepared.
A surprisingly large number of candidates list an address that is temporary.
6. Does their statement of what they’re looking for match the position?
You might be surprised how often this occurs.
It is a clear yellow warning flag when you want to hire a salesperson and the primary objective on their resume is marketing or another non-sales role.
7. Do their skills and experiences match the position?
8. What is the length of time they stayed at each company on the resume?
Ideally a candidate should be with a company 2-3 years, and preferably 5 years.
We don’t agree with the generality assigned to Generations Y and Z that they don’t stay anywhere longer than a year.
Find ones that do, and have a plan to self-motivate them to stay with you.
9. Each career opening on the resume should explain results achieved and leadership behaviors, not general info.
Look for certain words. We are going to consider some examples in a moment, when we focus more on culture match.
Also, as they describe what they did in each role, per company, look for specifics about what they accomplished individually and as an active member of a team.
Do they give appropriate credit to the team, or just claim all the credit for the results themselves?
10. Look for employment gaps to discuss, all the way back to starting after they graduated from school.
For instance, they graduated from college in 1995. Why does their job history start in 2005? Or, if they have more than a three-month gap between any jobs. There may be a good reason. Also, there may not be a good reason!
11. Are they growing in their career, or stagnant?
There can be a good explanation for career stagnation, or a leveling-off in their advancement.
They may have had a child. They may have found a position they love and didn’t want to change. Or, they may have found a position that is comfortable and didn’t want to advance more at this time.
The key is to notice the lack of advancement, and later discuss the situation so you know the facts rather than make assumptions.
Knowing the truth helps you discern where they may fit best in your organization.
12. Do you know anyone at their current or former jobs to call for a reference before the initial interview?
If so, then our preference is to contact them now if the person looks like a top performer.
Don’t lose any time because the candidate is probably contacting other companies about their openings.
If the person is a superstar, then we want to hire them before they get away.
13. If listed, consider how their personal interests match your culture.
14. If individual or team activities / athletics are listed, do they indicate the person is a good team player and/or a leader?
Focus the most on considering their current role and other positions they have held during the past five years.
Take note of the jobs and experience over their entire career, but focus on where the player is today.
Try to assess how well the person is succeeding today because this is the momentum they are bringing to your organization.
Contact us if you would like a copy of our free Hire the Best guide.
Winning Words
There is another objective as you consider whether they are a fit with your organization.
It is to scan their resume for words that indicate accomplishment and a culture match, or their synonyms.
There are lots of articles on the Internet teaching candidates to use power words, winning words, strong words for resumes, or whatever you want to call them.
We are looking for these terms to confirm a candidate is achieving results and is going to work well as a member of our team living out our values.
There are hundreds of possibilities, but here are 15 example Winning Words to watch for:
1. Achieved, Accomplished, Won…
We want to hire people who achieve real results on their own and as a team.
Look for specifics on what they did, what was accomplished as a team, and if a leader, how they led the effort.
And… later during your interviews you must confirm if she/he achieved the results claimed, rather than it was someone else or they over-emphasized their contribution to the accomplishment.
2. Improved, Increased, Expanded…
Great team members and growing companies improve year after year systematically. (Systematic Power is the first strand of 3strands LEADERSHIP.)
Achieving regular results is important.
Look for people who overcome problems, improve processes, and/or help people work together more effectively.
3. Created, Initiated, Drove…
Has the person created anything from scratch or improved something?
Was it so revolutionary that their contribution created new opportunities for the long-term success of their organization?
Ideas are great, but not always profitable.
Look for creative people who can apply their ideas for the greater good.
4. Team, Shared, Contributed…
Are you hiring the Lone Ranger or a team player?
If the team player, then look for indications the person has worked effectively on teams, mentored others, and built lasting positive relationships.
Do they credit others in their resume and interviews, or just themselves?
Another consideration: Ask about turnover on their teams.
Discern if they contribute to high retention or turnover.
5. Developed, Skills, Ability…
Everyone looks at "hard skills."
These are the technical skills needed to fulfill the responsibilities of the role. Be wiser than that.
Do not stop there.
Look for how the person is developing their soft skills.
Soft skills or emotional intelligence ("EQ") are how you act rather than what you know.
Examples of "soft skills" are attitude, manners, collaboration, problem solving, conflict resolution, documentation, time management, and communication.
Know the soft skills you want in each position.
Look for the person to demonstrate these soft skills in your interviews.
You get the idea, right?
Winning Words indicate a candidate is focused on results, or is simply good with grammar.
We’ll find out later, but right now we want to confirm they appear to be a top performer.
Winning Words or a piece of the puzzle.
What About Failures?
We think it’s good news when a candidate lists some failures on their resume.
This is particularly true when they explain what they learned from it, and then list something that demonstrates they applied what they learned to do better the next time.
It takes courage, candor, and integrity to list a failure on your resume. Or foolishness, if the failure is not explained professionally and connected to success.
Some failures are more valuable than success.
The reason is sometimes success just happened because someone was in the right place at the right time and they didn’t make any major mistakes. Success just happened without them having to work through much difficulty.
Other times, success happened because someone or something else in the organization was driving the success and the person was simply participating in it.
After both these situations, the person may know how to ride success, but not how to achieve results amidst chaos, confusion, or adversity.
Our experience is someone who has failed can be more valuable than an individual who is in the right place, at the right time, with the right team.
However, this is only true when the candidate can explain what they learned from it, how they avoid similar mistakes as a result, and can provide evidence of succeeding amidst similar challenges.
We believe top performers have experienced some failures along with their successes.
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