Avoiding Overstated Unqualified Employment Interview Candidates

By Bill U. Piker

Taking the time to examine a resume or set of resumes during the hiring process can save your firm or organization a lot of wasted time and energy in the future. Its not as easy now to fire an employee who fraudulently submitted a resume , or submitted false work experience , down the line , especially if they are holding their position in good stead.

It is downright amazing the people in power and in your employ who simply put may well not have the qualifications and credentials that they stated or overstated just a bit , when you hired them. Its a sad fact that in our tough , if not desperate economic times , that more than one fellow employee has ratted on a colleague, as either a matter of keeping their own position in the firm or organization , or simply wants to advance up the career ladder , by helping to create a job opening. Its often amazing what fellow workers know about each other - either by overhearing at the company annual Christmas party , at the water-cooler or just common knowledge.

Tales abound . One young and foolish manager filled a position quickly due to a reference from an applicant's priest and spiritual leader. It seemed that this young initiate behaved and dressed most inappropriately at a major international sales and planning meeting. The manager later tried to explain away his rapid decision making by stating that " he had needed to fill the roster for the upcoming event". After all his team had to be no smaller than any of his other managers at his executive status level. It seemed in later followup and analysis that the reference from the applicant's priest had not been verified and checked. When the verification process was done , at a much later date, it seemed that the reference from the priest was that overall the candidate lacked maturity in most intellectual forms. The sad part is that in the heat of all this activity that the real incompetent in this matter was not the candidate but rather the management level decision makers who went on not only to bury their errors, but went well up the corporate ladder. It seems that those who cannot do simple tasks in a thorough manner often travel up high in management and corporate circles states Ashdown scholar William U. Simpson.

What can be done? First take the time and effort to effectively write and develop clear and appropriate "selection criteria". That is over half of the ballet. Secondly review resumes thoroughly. Not only once but even by a team in the Human Resources Department. Different people with different can catch inconsistencies in a more expounded manner.

Some basis's and standards to rule by. First of all study the candidate or candidate's accomplishments. Are they reasonable to a point ? Do you or the group evaluate that this individual can really achieve this goal or sets of goals and hold a high standard of performance as well ? On top of that do you note , catch or imply a sense or any notion of evasiveness that may prevail ?

In terms of your specific industry or organizational focus : Are educational qualifications both of value to your firm or organization ? Are they old ? Are they new ? Is the candidate a sponge for obtaining and integrating new and additional knowledge and venues or are they effectively just putting in time , waiting for retirement or the giant "golden handshake " or lucrative sendoff ?

In many cases now hiring and hiring errors and mistakes are dealt with on a team basis. A good and effective manager knows that his "job" is to hire good people and candidates for the "team". Once hired the team takes over. Add a group based efficiency , customer service level and final bottom line profit based and determined reward bonus to the mix. The team on the sale , product or front lines will effectively police and manage the situation and series of events. If after all a serious and thorough evaluation of job application candidates is done, it will be the employee team who will deal with the situation or series of events. In most cases they will demand of the apprentice worker to either shape up or ship out. - 32171

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here