Nathanael Boehm on web user experience design, the Internet, social networking & free wireless

Posted by Nathanael Boehm on May 30th, 2008 in General, HR and Recruitment

Recently I’ve been reading through the résumés of a significant number of applicants for a particular role. Here are my thoughts on the recruitment process; particularly résumés and CVs as well as some of my responses to discussions I’ve had over the last day or so with Canberra-based human resources manager and HR/KM blogger Allison Denny-Collins.

These thoughts started when I was looking at the recruitment process and wondering why I didn’t like it. Initially I assumed it was one of those generation gap things. Surely the process must have worked for one group or generation of people if they created it? But no, I concluded after discussion with Alli, the process really is as inefficient as I thought. I can see how the goal of fairness and equity has been woven into the process, but the end result is so dry and distant that it really doesn’t work for anyone; neither the recruiter or the candidates.

So let’s get onto it with some tips and thoughts from my point of view as a potential recruiter or hirer.

Using a spell checker

As a potential candidate your holistic presentation is only as strong as your weakest link. If you’re going to have typographical errors in your résumé or response to selection criteria then you might as well not wear a tie or shoes to the interview. If you get that far.

As for roles where written communication skills are an essential part of the job your curriculum vitae and response to selection criteria forms part of the evidence that will be used to assess your skills in this area. If you’re a contractor, don’t rely on your recruitment agent or “pimp” to polish your résumé.

The onus is on you - you make sure you have the final say on what goes to the client.

I don’t believe you

Which brings me to the next point. Evidence. When providing evidence in response to a selection criteria question there’s more to it than simply prefixing a previous job title or role with “As demonstrated in/when/during”.

Demonstrated to whom? Certainly not the person reading the job application.

In terms of providing evidence of knowledge, it’s about showing that you actually know what you’re talking about. For technology-related knowledge; demonstration by rattling off the names of products, programming languages etc can be impressive it may not necessarily constitute evidence. Talk about how you used those technologies and what the outcomes of those situations were. Alli mentioned the STAR approach and format: Situation, Task, Action, Result. It’s a good structure that you should read and understand (though I don’t want to see 2×4 tables under each criteria with these labels as row headings).

Anything you say needs to be believable, and while it may be hard to verify the authenticity of any or all claims anything that sounds overly-ambitious or high profile is likely to be dismissed as unlikely to be true. If you’ve really accomplished all those things you’ve claimed then I would have heard of you in the news or industry circles and networks. Don’t downplay your skills and accomplishments but don’t over-hype them. Be honest, modest and positive.

I’m going to need more coffee

Your application is not the only one that is going to be on the recruiter’s desk. Keep it short, Put the interesting stuff in the first couple of pages. Don’t go back more than 10 years and make it easy to read. I want to see bullet points, white space and headings

Back on the issue of being positive … don’t write your résumé as if your previous roles were while you were an inmate in a prison. Avoid using opening phrases like “During my time” or “I was required to”. It takes only a few words to change the communication of your attitude to your work from passive to active and involved.

2.0

Be involved. My next point. You are going to score points if you are an active member in industry groups and associations such as AWIA, AIIA, ACS, LA, SAGE-AU etc. You are going to score points if you blog, if you are active in your industry generally, attending conferences and workshops, professional social networks and show that you have an interest in professional development and following industry trends and innovation. Just because you’ve been doing something for 30 years doesn’t necessarily mean you’re better at it than the next person and certainly doesn’t imply your skills are up-to-date.

If I Google your name and get no meaningful results then that’s going to detract from my evaluation of your attitude as well as your interest and level of engagement in your profession.

You should at least have a current and comprehensive listing on LinkedIn. You should have a solid network of connections and a good set of recommendations.

On connections … make contact with the contact officer, project/program manager or team leader. If you’re well connected in Federal Government it’s not that hard to talk to a few people to find out who you should be talking to about the role. That’s if you and I are not already connected through social networks.

My criteria for contacts through LinkedIn or Twitter are different from making “real life” friends - in fact for me the emphasis and importance on having met someone In Real Life (IRL) is diminishing. If we share common interests, particularly professionally and you want to follow me on Twitter or become a contact through LinkedIn, just ask. If you sound like an interesting person that I want to communicate and share ideas with then I’ll likely accept that connection request or reciprocate that follow. It’s not hard to expand your network if you go about it the right way. I digress.

It’s like a desert

I mentioned before about the process being dry. Job applications suffer the same problem. The skills presented in job applications for any one role are all so similar. The only thing that differs is the names of organisations you’ve worked for, the projects, the dates. A dozen or more résumés side-by-side - what stands out?

A colleague showed me his résumé yesterday and he had an opening paragraph with the heading “Objectives”. He spoke about how he works, his vision, his methodology, what he wants to accomplish.

That is how you stand out.

You don’t neccessarily differentiate yourself by having such a section in your résumé or job application - although if you’re the only applicant that does then that’s going to count for something. But that’s the variable part of your résumé, where you make it personal. Where you say who you are. Not just what you’ve done in the past but what you’re going to do in the future. That’s how the person reviewing the application decides whether that candidate is a good fit for the role and team or organisation culture.

But who are you?

Making a résumé personal is not about listing your personal interests and what you do on your own time - unless those things are professional interests and demonstrate your passion and enthusiasm for your work. For example I might list that I’m an unorganiser for BarCampCanberra, coordinator for Free Australia Wireless, have been involved in beta testing many web applications and if not a beta tester then an early adopter etc. Those things are interesting to a recruiter in a professional capacity. Sure, they might make you sound like a bit of a geek - but that’s nothing to be ashamed of!

So in summary, realise you have competition when you’re going for a job and therefore have to put some effort in to your personal brand to stand out. At the very least, don’t have typos in your résumé or application. Be creative … which doesn’t mean writing in Haiku. It means don’t be dry and boring in your responses. Show me you’re an interesting and interested person. Be an interesting and interested person!

Get involved in your industry. Be on the leading edge of innovation in your profession.

Stand out as an applicant!

Tags: attitude, cv, hiring, HR and Recruitment, industry, interview, job, linkedin, presentation, professionalism, recruitment, resume, socialnetworks, web2.0