Reading between the lines...

Why am I not surprised with the failings of people who’s role within a company [business] is to review the applications / submissions for a position? Usually with HR in their title! What is going on? Have these people forgotten that human resources means ‘people assets’ and not themselves!  As a professional, it is incumbent upon us to read every submission and interpret the information being presented to see if there is synergy with the needs/wants.  Remember the person making the submission is not provided with a crystal ball that shows all the terms, words, expressions, wishes, dreams or even requirements’ for the advertised position…irrespective of the level or role or company.

Are you one who takes the same view as the HR person, who was recently promoted on a Canadian government sponsored youth organizations website? Here is what is being quoted:

“When applying for a job, someone's cover letter should be very descriptive, said Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxx [hidden to avoid embarrassment and for privacy sake], human resources co-ordinator for Xxxxxxxx [company name hidden as well!]. "If people think a recruiter can read between the lines (they're wrong)," she said. "The more detail you can provide (then) I'll know what (you) mean."”

Whilst I acknowledge that cover letters are completely different from resumes, they serve the same purpose, marketing the individuals’ candidacy for the position. A cover letter should follow a simple and pointed format, concise, to the point, and short! The above person is encouraging the ‘War and Peace’ version, and not ‘Readers Digest’ version, hope they have lots of time to spend reading the fine details…maybe they rely upon ‘technology’ to reduce their workload in other areas!!

I have a strong belief that if you are not able [or have the time too!] to read and elicit a persons ‘roadmap’ from the supplied cover letter and resume, then you should not be the person conducting the review and filtering of applications…the ability to read, and over time apply ‘glance interpretation’ skills, are essential when working in human [people] management, the same must apply too ‘Recruiters’, many of whom simply forward varying quantities of resumes to clients with the hope that they hit the target.

With present and upcoming technology [the use of web-based resume screening services/software] has now affected the way hr professionals are doing a key aspect of their function. Services/software programs are only as intelligent as the programmer makes it, and then only as good as the individual who set-up the search/filtering parameters’! The ability to extrapolate ‘variations of key word searches or phraseology’ to filter out suitability is good for time ROI, but also leads to missing good people, with both the skills and background being looked for. People,

Please do not lose the ability to ‘interpret’ the written words or lose the ability to ‘read between the lines’ when it comes to resumes. Whether you are working within a corporate or agency or independent [sole consulting] environment, remember that we are in the people business and only by talking with people can we find out if they are really suitable.