Can you really tell how good a candidate is from a two-dimensional piece of paper?
By: Vincent Scaramuzzo, President, Ed-Exec, Inc.
Ok…ok… I know… Technically, paper is three-dimensional, but I’ve never seen anyone use the side of a piece of paper – so for functional purposes all resumes are written on a two-dimensional piece of paper. The amount of hiring managers and Human Resource personally that screen on “paper alone” is mind boggling. If anyone was that great at deciphering resumes they would likely own the most productive education search firm in the world.
I get it though… Don’t get me wrong. We can screen some basic items from a resume like degree requirements – but the rest really requires a conversation to dig deeper. Even an academic search firm like mine has to invest the time to speak with candidates.
Just last week I had a longstanding client who, based on resume alone, wanted to interview one candidate we sent for consideration, but not the other. This client is someone who gets it though and took our suggestion to chat with both. Perhaps he did so as a favor, maybe he trusts our judgement, or possibly he knew there is always more to discover during an interview. Turned out the candidate’s resume he really liked completely bombed on the interview. They didn’t have nearly the acumen presented on paper. Meanwhile the candidate’s resume he was skeptical on turned out to be one of the best he has interviewed in a long time. That candidate is flying out next week for a face to face final.
Whether you are using a higher education executive search firm like ours or not all the cliche’s apply here. “You can’t judge a book by its cover” and you certainly shouldn’t screen candidates on paper alone when working with an education search firm. Have a chat with them. You might learn a little and gain a lot…
Vincent Scaramuzzo is the President of Ed-Exec, Inc. A leading Education Executive Search Firm. He is also a contributing author to various education publications. As a specialist in the education field for over a decade, running an education search firm, Scaramuzzo works nationally. He can be contacted at vincent@ed-exec.com 860-781-7641.