We’ll be coming into hiring season before too long, which means you’ll be inundated with résumés to sort through to fill vacant faculty, staff, and administrative positions. While it’s hard to gauge a candidate based on a piece of paper, a résumé can tell you a lot about a candidate. Here are some potential “red flags” on résumés so you can be aware of potential warning signs that a particular candidate might not be the best fit for your vacant position.
- Relevant and/or requested information is omitted. It could be anything from dates of employment, the names of former (or current) employers, a job title, graduation date. Missing information is either the result of an oversight or a deliberate attempt to obscure less-than-stellar details. Pay attention to what is absent from a résumé, and—if the candidate is strong enough to otherwise merit consideration—ask him or her to explain the missing pieces.
- Listed job titles show regression instead of promotion. Ambitious people will seek raises and job promotions. If a résumé shows a lack of professional progress, look more closely at a candidate to determine whether it’s the result of bad luck—or a lack of motivation.
- Job history shows extended gaps of unemployment. At first glance, this flag could show that a potential employee has trouble holding down a position for any number of reasons, like lack of qualifications or work ethic. Still, that’s not always the case. Even the most qualified of professionals can have trouble finding work, especially if they run into the employer bias of hiring the currently employed over those without a job. If a résumé shows long periods of time without work, you can keep them in your consideration pile, but be sure to follow up with previous employers and references to ensure you’re getting a dedicated, talented employee.
- You can also ask the candidate for additional information, but don’t pry. If a candidate reveals that his or her absence from the work force was due to a class-protected reason like a disability and you decide that he or she isn’t suitable for a job, the applicant may be able to sue you for discrimination—i.e., you didn’t hire him or her because you were biased against his or her protected disability, rather than someone else’s higher qualifications.
- Grammar errors and misspellings abound. Now, this particular point isn’t an automatic knock-out worthy red flag, comparatively speaking, but it certainly demonstrates a missing concern for detail. A typo or two might be alright, but a résumé riddled with basic writing mistakes might be grounds for immediate disqualification.
- Qualifications are listed with qualifiers. Look for language like “worked with,” “have experience with,” or “helped with” when applicants are describing their proficiency with various tools and standards. They may be stretching a tangential knowledge to show a greater aptitude than they actually possess. Also be wary of words like “attended” when attached to dates of higher education training; an applicant may not actually have the certification or degree that his or her “attendance” would imply.
- Emailing from inappropriate addresses. A résumé submitted from an email account listed as “playboybunny69@email.com” doesn’t indicate that its sender would be a good representative of your school in any capacity. A more subtle red flag might be a resume sent from a professional or school email address. Turn the tables for a moment—would you want one of your school’s administrators to be job searching while using their school-provided email address? Aside from a lack of professional courtesy, it also shows a lack of common sense. Personal business—like job hunting—should never be done using an employer’s resources, including the email address.
- Listing responsibilities instead of accomplishments. This isn’t a red flag, per se, as much as it is something to keep an eye out for. A potential employee with average communication skills writes the job description under each position; a stellar candidate shows you how his or her performance impacted the employer for the better.
What are some hidden red flags you’ve discovered while dissecting résumés? Give your fellow Business Managers a hand by telling your employment stories in the comment section below or on Twitter by tagging your post with @isminc!
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for School Heads Vol. 13 No. 4 Comprehensive Interviewing: In-Person Interviews
The Source for Private School News Vol. 10 No. 2 Five Questions to Ask Yourself When Advertising Open Positions
The Source for School Heads Vol. 13 No. 6 The Absolute Worst Interview Questions—And What to Ask Instead
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 40 No. 3 Employment Practices Liability: Knowing Your Risk
I&P Vol. 39 No. 13 Human Resource Concerns and Proper Legal Counsel
