Question

1. Why might a person with a stellar résumé fail at a job?

2. What are some potential problems of using traditional résumés in the hiring process?

3. Describe some ways that companies are using nontraditional ways of evaluating applicants.

Answer 1

(1): A person with a stellar resume might still fail at a job due to many reasons. First of all job fit and cultural fit cannot be determined by the resume alone. It depends on the personality of the person and the alignment of that person’s personality with the overall values and culture of an organization. A stellar resume does not automatically translate into success at job because of the simple reason that success at job depends on various internal factors related to the applicant/employee (like skills, cultural fit, job fit etc.) and external factors like environment at work place, attitudes of colleagues etc.

(2): Some of the potential problems of using traditional résumés in the hiring process start with the problem of not being able to judge the character of the applicant/prospective employee. It should be noted that resumes are self-reported historical description about the applicant and does not reflect in any way how the applicant will respond to a pressure situation or how the applicant will behave with his/her co-workers. Another drawback is that applicants usually do not provide negative information related to them. In the same manner many applicants tend to exaggerate their achievements and contributions to their previous organizations.

(3): Many nontraditional ways of evaluating applicants are being used now. Many companies start by putting the applicants through a task oriented situation so as to be able to evaluate the skills of the candidate. For example IT companies asks candidates to write a code, or to develop an app, or to crack an algorithm etc. Investment banking companies evaluate candidates by giving them virtual money to run their portfolio. The IT company is able to determine the computing and software skills of the candidate while the investment banking company is able to determine the money generation ability of the candidate in the capital markets. Many companies are also tracking social media presence of the candidates to determine their personality and character.