Are Resumes a Thing of the Past?

2 min read

Many firms are no longer asking to review a resume. Sound crazy? It’s a growing trend amongst America’s most forward leaning firms. For example, Compose, a San Mateo based cloud-storage firm, has their applicants write a short story about data, and spend a day working on a mock project. And to avoid any name-bias, they strip out the contact information during the initial screening and testing phase. These firms are trying to identify new hires by their abilities and not their resumes. I recall an old boss of mine saying, “Everyone is hired for what they’ve done, but fired for who they are.” This is so right on. This so-called “blind hiring” hiring practice is even picking up steam in the WDC insurance brokerage community. I have one particular forward-leaning client doing something similar…screening candidates based on a mix of personality, critical thinking, and numerical reasoning tests along with having them perform insurance related tasks in the office for a half day. The resume is last in the process. It really does separate the “men from the boys’ and the “ladies from the gals”. It’s uncanny how many of their hires don’t have nearly the experience required, but instead, have a ton of passion, aptitude, and skills required for the position. On the other hand, I have had several clients who tell me they can tell “in the first five minutes” if this is the right candidate. Trust me, those that hire based on “looks, presence, elite college affiliation, connections, and experience” are doomed for failure. Notice I wrote, “have had several clients”…I fired them several years ago. So what does all this mean for you? It means you should be interviewing your prospective hiring authorities as much as they are interviewing you. If they give you an ill-conceived offer before properly interviewing you, is this the sort of firm you want to work for? Really? Chances are they are just filling an urgent need…a recently vacated desk. Beware. You may not be the right fit. Source: based in part by a WSJ article published on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 on page B4