Tuesday - Bare Essentials

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Planning to hire? Looking for a summer intern? Soon to be college graduates have been updating their LinkedIn and many are on round 3 of the interviewing process. Resumes tell potential employers a lot about the candidate. And as an employer, you know the candidate’s resume details, not only his or her experiences, but also how the current employees would work with the candidate. Potential employers review the resume with the candidate, but many do not check the candidate’s references.

At a recent round table meeting, the discussion of FABRICATED RESUMES was the topic. Not all, but some candidates deliberately send out resumes with inflated job titles, inaccurate job descriptions, and believe it or not even untruthful college degrees! One business owner stated he had received a call from a recruiter asking him to confirm that a former intern had worked for him for 4 years. No was the answer! That intern had worked for his company for only 4 months.

Fabricated resumes are just the start of future problems and need to be addressed. Employers big and small, and especially small employers, should review a candidate’s resume with his or her cover letter, compare the resume to LinkedIn, and with the candidate’s permission, contact his or her references. Important elements such as prior employment dates, job title, and job description at a minimum should be verified. If a candidate notes his current job in his cover letter but neglects to state the other 2 current jobs he shows on his resume, something may not be properly disclosed. A rule thumb: if the resume is not truthful, pass.