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Back in 1997 when I entered the recruitment industry, email was only just becoming a legitimate business tool. At the time, recruiters and hiring managers were collecting resumes by fax or post and proceeded to read through every resume to determine who should advance to interview. 12 years on; sadly not all that much has changed. While resumes are now collected electronically, the process of shortlisting candidates is still largely a manual one and relies almost exclusively on the information contained in the resume; a document 80% of candidates admit to embellishing.

 

Compounding this challenge is the current economic climate, where rising unemployment has led to a surge in the number of jobseekers looking for work. With competition for limited opportunities increasing, so too has the occurrence and degree of resume embellishment. Recruiters that continue to shortlist this way are being faced with the prospect of wading through a greater number of resumes containing more “BS” than ever before. Add to this the fact the many recruitment teams have been downsized in recent times and you have a recipe for higher stress levels, increased recruitment costs and an increased likelihood of selecting the wrong candidate.

 

 

If you received 100 applicants for a position, the reality is that 90 of them won’t be right for your role. In fact, 99 of them won’t end up getting the job. By manually reviewing all 100 resumes recruiters are spending valuable time, on 90 applicants, that could otherwise be invested on the 10 applicants who are most likely to fit.

 

By automating the collection, screening and ranking of applications, a recruiter can quickly and confidently determine the applicants that meet their minimum requirements and those who don’t. For example, if the position you’re recruiting for is only paying up to $65,000, it wouldn’t make sense to spend time reviewing the resume of someone who wants $100,000 – no matter how good they are.

 

That leads on to the next challenge; no two resumes are the same. Whilst you might find salary expectation listed in one applicants resume, you won’t find it in all. It is this inconsistency in both content and layout that makes using resumes an inefficient way of shortlisting candidates. Resumes contain information that the candidate wants to tell you, not what you want to know. By asking candidates to complete a structured online application form (which contains the questions you want answered) you’re able to standardise all of your applicant data, so you can compare apples with apples – quickly and cost effectively.

 

 

Earlier in this article I mentioned the increase in resume embellishment; you’re probably thinking that application forms can be just as easily embellished. This is where psychology comes in. Whilst psychometric testing has historically been used at the end of the recruitment process (usually on the final 2 or 3 candidates), online solutions are now making it possible to utilise such testing earlier in the process as a means of accurately and objectively ranking candidates. While resumes will highlight what a candidate has done in the past, psychometric testing will help predict what the candidate might do in the future. This combination of retrospective and predictive information provides recruiters with a much better indication of overall fit and potential performance. The other advantage of psychometric assessments is that they are much harder to embellish than resumes; thanks to inbuilt validity checks.

 

 

Often a concern for hiring managers is that automated collection and screening processes will make the recruitment process more impersonal. But the truth is, highly automated doesn’t have to mean impersonal. Using technology, the hiring manager can effortlessly keep candidates updated throughout the recruitment process; such as when their application has been received, when they proceed to the next stage and most importantly, when they are no longer being considered for the position. Contrary to popular belief, technology can improve the candidate experience by providing a highly personalised service without having to invest a corresponding amount of time or effort.