We have all spent hours slaving over our C.Vs wondering if we are managing to capture how truly amazing we are. Some of us have also spent many hours sorting through piles of CV’s searching for a star candidate.

But is the age of the CV nearly over? There is increasing debate in the wider Business Community as to the value of CV’s in representing a candidates potential. I thought that it would be interesting to explore what this debate is all about and what it could mean for people who are doing the recruiting.

Where are CV’s going wrong?
There are concerns that while CV’s are able to outline candidates’ past achievements, skills and work experience they are not useful at identifying values, behaviour and talent – and these are increasing what organisations want to hire for!

• Will this candidate fit into the wider team?
• Will they be able to understand and align themselves with our culture?

These are the questions that CV’s often don’t answer. Nor can they accurately distinguish between skills (knowing how to do something) and competencies (behaviours which demonstrate an employee is doing it well with great ease and reliability).

What does this mean for recruitment?
If this is true what options do recruiters have to maximise their chances of getting a candidate who is not only competent but also works well with others and helps drive a productive culture? It is important to understand that CV’s are just one tool in the wider recruitment toolbox. Some of the other tools that can be used to help with selection include:

• Interviewing  

Interviewing is still an essential step in the process and questions should be based on competencies and behaviours.

• Psychometric testing 

There are a wide set of psychometric testing that can be helpful in gaining understanding into a candidates behaviours, values and potential fit into an organisation.

• Reference checking  

Reference checking not only verifies a candidates skills and experience but it is always helpful in giving some insight into a candidates personality, how they work in a team dynamic, their values and generally what makes them tick.

• Social Media Screening 

Finally it is becoming increasing important to do some Social Media screening. What a person has available in social media can speak volumes about them as a person.

My Conclusion
While it may be true that C.Vs do have their limitations if you use them in conjunction with a wider set of recruitment tools you can still get a good picture of whether a candidate has the necessary values, behaviour and talent to be a good fit in your organisation.
If you want to read the full article on suggesting Recruiters stop reading CV's, go here

by Emily Coe