The 3 Most Common Resume/Candidate Assumptions

Matt DelairPost written by Matt Delair, Recruiting Operations Manager | Avid Hunter & Fisher | Netflix Junkie | Rarely Serious | Work Hard to Play Hard

Making assumptions is human nature.

It could be assuming someone’s personality based on their tone of voice. Or assuming someone is boring/buttoned up outside of work based on their tidiness and organization in the workplace. The list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, we all tend to assume things to save us time, effort, money, etc.

Anyone who has worked in the staffing industry, or even people who have given a resume to an internal hiring manager as a referral, have heard assumptions about candidates based solely on their resumes. Here are the three we hear most often:

1. “He/She is overqualified and will leave for a higher paying position.”

When I hear “He/She is overqualified” I feel like saying “You’re welcome for finding an overqualified and knowledgeable person to fill your opening!” But it’s the last part of the statement that gets me…“…will leave for a higher paying position.”

Any good recruiter anticipates this type of thinking and addresses it before presenting the “overqualified” candidate.

assumptionsYou never know where a candidate is in their life. Maybe they have flexibility on their salary, hours, etc. Asking good questions helps overcome inaccurate client assumptions.

2. “This candidate’s job history is too choppy.”

Sometimes that can be true. One year here, two years there, and the person has held every type of position under the sun.

That said, some job seekers have jumped contract to contract and haven’t been offered a full-time position. Or maybe they haven’t found the right full-time position for their situation.

Again, these are answers you can uncover before presenting these “job hoppers” to clients.

Once you have those answers, it minimizes the opportunity for a hiring manager to make incorrect/inaccurate assumptions.

3. “He/She doesn’t have enough experience.”

Obviously, if the client is looking for a certain amount of years of experience, and the candidate presented doesn’t meet that requirement, then you have to keep searching. If the candidate does meet that requirement, then asking detailed questions about their experience will help overcome any assumptions the hiring manager may make.

Clients like to hear questions about the exact piece of equipment this person will be operating or what exact formulas are used most of the time in a specific program, etc.  It shows you know what they do and that you know what they’re looking for.

Assumptions made off a person’s resume before even speaking to them just doesn’t make much sense, especially in a competitive job market. At Grafton, we work hard to really get to know our candidates so that we can overcome any incorrect assumptions hiring managers might have.

In the end, asking great questions is the key to it all.