Employment Background Check | How to Become a Resumé Reviewing Pro Pt. 1
Employment Background Check | Don’t worry. I know exactly what you’re thinking.
Surely in this day and age resumés are becoming obsolete! I mean who even has a CV these days anyway?
But for all those business owners and hiring managers out there working in organisations or industry sectors where LinkedIn profiles or social footprints may not be as relevant or as common as a good old hard copy CV, this one’s for you! Please read on more from our employment background check.
Now I can’t even begin to think of how many thousands of resumés I’ve scanned in my time. You do the math … 20 years … often up to 90 applications per job ad …
OK stop. That’s a lot of trees (yep – even today the majority of recruiters and hiring managers still like to print out a candidate’s resumé. Go ahead and ask them!)
So how do the pros review the barrage of CVs after the tsunami of applications hit their inboxes?
The Pile Splitter
I interviewed a recruiter many years ago who placed people into call centre roles. She would be inundated with CVs for every role she advertised. Apparently her theory was quite simple. Each day she would wait for all the applications to come in. She’d make a pile of CVs on her desk and then split the pile in two. She only screened the bottom half and she dumped top half straight in the shredder bin. [In case you’re wondering … I didn’t hire her].
Residential Bias
Many hiring managers are obsessed with knowing where a candidate lives. This is why most recruiters will typically remove the candidate’s address from a CV before sharing it with their client.
Oh … she lives there! There’s no way he’d travel in from that far!
If somebody wants a job and they’re prepared for a long commute, then please don’t judge someone on where they live. Unfortunately because so many candidates put their address at the top of their resumé, residential bias (as I like to call it) is rife!
To Whom It May Concern:
I have to admit I have been guilty of this one myself. There were times when I would be swamped with CVs and cover letters. If I had made it clear in my job ad that all resumés should be addressed to Paul Slezak, then if I received a cover letter that said “To whom it may concern”, well unfortunately I didn’t even read the cover letter let alone the CV behind it.
That’s what I would call resumé skimming at its fastest!
Say Cheese!
Right up there with ‘residential bias’, are employers (and recruiters too!) looking at a candidate’s photo (if they’ve decided to include one) and letting a mug shot lead the decision making process.
Assuming the majority reading this blog post aren’t recruiting for a modelling agency or a prime time television network, then a candidate’s photo should be the least of your worries.
Virgo or Sagittarius?
If it’s included in the resumé, a candidate’s date of birth is also somewhere the hiring manager’s eyes will gravitate pretty early on.
I used to think this was related to age discrimination. But over the years I have learned that quite often it’s not theyear of birth that’s being scrutinised at all. It’s actually more the day and month.
Believe it or not there are people out there who build their teams based entirely on ‘zodiacal compatibility’! There you go – no need to even read the CV. Better yet forget engaging a recruiter! Just hire consulting astrologer! -Recruit Loop
Continue pt.2 on next blog for more employment background check..
Learn what ESA can do for you! Call 866-830-3724 to discuss employment background check services or complete the form on www.esascreening.com now!