Screening Resumes.

Following is an except from a new publication by Lauren Bernardi entitled "Recruitment Workbook"

Career Profiles and Resumes

The Problem with Resumes

Like many employers, you may find yourself inundated with resumes every time you place a job ad. Sifting through these resumes to choose the best candidates can be an extremely daunting and time-consuming task.

One of the biggest problems is that a large percentage of applicants are not qualified for the positions for which they apply. Because it is so easy to send out standard form resumes, many people take long shots or test the market.

However, it's not just the volume of resumes that makes the selection process difficult, there are other problems with resumes:

* to make themselves stand out, an increasing number of candidates exaggerate or lie about their qualifications (estimates range from 50 to 67 percent)

* some candidates do not provide a complete job history, making it hard to track their career progression (some job searchers are being told not to include a chronology in their resume and to rearrange the order of their jobs to make their career progression look better)

* candidates write their resumes in vastly different styles and include different information, making it hard for you to compare them and find out what you need to know.

* Candidates sometimes include information in their resumes that human rights laws prohibit you from having (e.g., information about their marital status or number of dependants) -- if a rejected candidate lodges a complaint, the onus will be on you to prove that you didn't rely on that information, even if you didn't solicit it!

* injuries or Workers' Compensation claims

* With so many candidates hiring professional resume writers, the appearance of a resume does not necessarily indicate the candidate's writing or presentation skills.

One alternative to accepting resumes is to require candidates to complete application forms. However, these too are problematic:

* the standardized application forms provide little useful information other than, perhaps, job history

* the perception is that application forms are only applicable to certain positions, such as jobs in retail

* it is sometimes hard to get a realistic view of the person and his or her qualifications based on a brief application form