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By Barbara Ling
Greetings! Today we'll be discussing the fact that your precious diamond
candidate might really be a rhinestone in the rough.
Last weekend, I had the unmitigated pleasure of being stranded at the
Chicago O'Hare airport. I had just given a rousing RISE seminar (100%
positive feedback too!), and arrived at the airport only to discover my
flight was cancelled. Being descended from the bold pioneer stock of the
past, I quickly decided to check into the Hilton hotel next door and pass
the time.
As y'all might know, large hotel chains sometime will offer you free copies
of USA Today. One rather fascinating article I read over the weekend
described in detail some of the problems companies are encountering when
hiring over the Internet - namely, lying on resumes.
It seems that a popular pastime is now inflating one's credentials in hopes
of luring all those great pre-IPO benefits their way!
So how can you limit the extreme embarrassment of finding that your
candidate can't manage their way out of a wet paper bag, even though their
resume stated "Founded Harvard University"?
There are several online resources to help. There's
Fitability.com,
Advanced Computer Testing,
OPAC (office software) testing,
BrainBench and others. Why, there's even the
Society For Test Publishers!
And of course, you can check out the
About.com article about this phenomena. It's not something new - back in 1998 articles existed about it like
http://japan.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9809/07/fakeresume.idg/.
However, you could weed out the liars even faster in your interviews if you
ensure your recruiters have a smattering of knowledge in the area in which
they recruit!
It's not difficult at all. There are dozens upon dozens of resources and
knowledge-based sites for your recruiters to learn the basics. The Dummies
and other series, for example, often give excellent beginner information on
all sorts of technical fields - you can see for yourself at
Amazon.com.
Some sites, like
FatBrain, even sell the certification
training material (at a discount!) too! I put together a
bookstore that links to these.
The same thing holds true for the non-technical industries! Candidates
*want* to know the people with whom they are dealing have an understanding
and appreciation for the industry in which they work.
How else can you weed out future candidates? Poll your currently
happily-placed candidates and ask if they'd consider writing up a
questionnaire of "must have" skills, and pointed questions that verify if
the applicants have them. You could then take this information, write it
up, give credit to the candidate (so said candidate has another great
accomplishment for their resume) and hand it out to all of your recruiters.
Quizzing down candidates should not be a frightening thing! You'll also
develop a reputation of someone not to mess with if you can firmly and
reasonably demonstrate your skills in understanding the candidates strengths
and weaknesses.
--Article courtesy of Barbara Ling. For more information, please go to
RISE
seminars or
The Internet Recruiting Edge.
