Monthly Archives: November 2012

Newsflash–a new test finally makes résumés obsolete

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The new argument for the death of résumés (will it ever end?) is not LinkedIn or any other online profile that will cause its demise; no, it’s a personality test called Cream.hr, which guarantees to make the hiring process flawless.

It takes more pressure off hiring managers, recruiters, and human resources. What a wonderful thing; no more résumés and less decision making from hiring authorities.

An article in Wired.com  called Kill Your Résumé: What about Using Science to Hire asserts that this test “can unearth the perfect job candidates even if they don’t necessarily have the most relevant work experience or college degree on paper.” The test can even select executive-level candidates worth interviewing, assuring hiring authorities they have what it takes.

According to Cream.hr the most essential skills are “task management skills, work ethic, intelligence, and what it calls the “Big Five” personality traits – openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.” And this test will nail down all these traits without a single résumé having to be read. Simply wonderful.

What makes this tests even more amazing is that it’s hard for applicants to fool it, as opposed to a personality test that many companies use, Unicru. The way Cream.hr accomplishes this is by asking similar questions multiple times to assure consistency in answers.

For example, one question gives you a list of five personalities traits including “I am the life of the party” and “I am always prepared,” both of which sound similar to the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator. The first example determines extraversion, while the second speaks to a preference for judging.

(Maybe what’s really got me riled is the fact that extraversion is a preferred trait for candidates. After all, introverts can’t possibly be considered among the “perfect” candidates, can they? I think most of my introverted colleagues would disagree whole-heartily with this assumption.)

It’s possible that résumés will finally become obsolete, which means jobseekers will no longer have to labor over writing them and, most importantly, employers will no longer have to read them. This is a big selling point for the Cream.hr; for a mere fee ranging from $99.00 to $499.00, companies will no longer have to read tons of résumés.

I have some questions about the effectiveness of this wunder software, such as, does it identify a candidate’s accomplishments, or reveal one’s ability to write succinctly, or show the jobseeker’s understanding of the position? Will it make companies lazy as they rely on a test that has as much human element as…a robot.

The hiring process is never a sure thing but to use a test to determine that best candidates, no matter how accurate, is simply that…a test. If all companies rely on a test such as this, our job as career advisors will be to teach our clients to answer the questions the way employers want them to. We’ll see how this argument goes.

Introverts, come to peace with who you are

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As an introvert I often admire–no envy–people who seem totally relaxed with small talk and “working the room.” That’s not me, however.

I know the importance of small talk and mingling, and I do my best to oblige the members of a party or networking event. But I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not all that great when it comes to this small talk stuff.

That being said, I don’t want you to pity people like me. Where we lack the gift of gab, we excel in thoughtful rhetoric. Could you say we’re deep? You could, but that’s really missing the point. We enjoy conversation as much as the next person, just not at a supersonic rate.

In other words, we are who we are. Introverts are people who could care less about mastering small talk; we’re more inclined to speak at length with someone…maybe the whole night. We engage, listen, engage, listen, etc. An article called The Problem with Networking illustrates the often futility of working the room, yet the benefits of honing in on one or two people who will later prove to be useful connections. I quote the authors of the article, Stephen and Sheree Van Vreede:

“….My point is that I have watched job seekers work a room, build large social media communities, and network, network, network like the best of them, all with very little result. Many of these people are extroverts, love mingling, and are the life of most parties, but that’s where it ends….At the same time, I have seen other job seekers, introverted techies with small communities who like to sit in the corner at every party, hone in on the top handful of contacts and turn almost every one into a possible job lead.”

Don’t take this as an invitation to talk at us and expect us to listen without wanting to express our thoughts; we have thoughts, you know. We offer the courtesy of hearing you and then building on that conversation. We like to ask questions to generate conversation. We also like to be asked questions and complete answering your questions. Allowing us the time to process shows you’re truly interested in what we have to say.

It is said that at an event we enjoy developing a relationship with people with whom we feel connected. If we are talking with one person the whole time, we’re not bummed out. We don’t consider this a loss. On the contrary, we feel satisfied. Do you think this weird? We’re not, like, into collecting 15 business cards, most of which we’ll deposit in the circular file cabinet. We want real connections.

That’s part of connecting with fewer people–it’s easier for us to keep track of them. I’ve been at networking events where I’ve met 10 people or so, but only two or three were memorable. These were the ones I followed up with, the people with whom I developed a relationship. As they say, less can be better.

If you’re an extravert and thinking, “This guy’s a freak. This guy’s a hermit,” that’s fine. Think what you want. This is who I am, not who I’m not. There ain’t much I can do about it, not if I want to feel comfortable and fulfilled in my networking endeavors. And, no, I’m not here to offer you introverts hollow advice on how to be more like extraverts….I’ve come to peace with who I am.

Recent college grads, join LinkedIn Groups and learn from the experts

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Are you a recent college grad and wondering if you should join LinkedIn? While you’re wondering, there are many college grads who are making the commitment to engage in a serious online networking campaign. It’s time that you make the commitment.

One of the most respected job search experts in the field, Martin Yate of the Knock em Dead series, discusses one among many good reasons to join LinkedIn–join and participate in LinkedIn groups. Take the time now to read, How recent grads can build useful networking and mentor relationships.

In his article Martin writes about how to utilize the Discussions feature of industry/occupation-specific groups.

“You can make useful contacts at all levels by joining the special interest LinkedIn groups relevant to your profession and becoming a visible part of those groups by contributing to the conversations and adding the contacts you make this way to your network,” he writes.

He suggest that you 1) read group discussion posts and add comments, 2) post discussions of your own, 3) post questions of your own. This is very sound advice, but take it a step further; join LinkedIn before you graduate and get a head start on your competition.