Why you should never depend on a CV alone

CVs are one of the most antiquated aspects of the modern business world. The extent to which hiring managers still depend on them alone shocks me if I’m honest

This is just one of the things I’ve learned across the last decade of working in leadership roles across the recruitment sector globally

There are some common misconceptions among hiring managers that I understand, but that are equally as easy to address through sharing some experience

❌ being “drip fed” CVs might feel like it’s accelerating things. My personal experience is that it doesn’t

❌ using multiple agencies might feel like a way to cover more ground more quickly. In my experience it will mean your assignment gets less focus than one where the consultant feels like you’re mutually invested in the outcome

❌ CVs, don’t depend on them alone to evaluate a candidate. There are some great people with poor CVs and some poor people with amazing CVs

❌ running multiple interviews at different stages with multiple candidates is a good quality way to approach things. You just create a harder job for yourself at so many levels

Here’s a few pieces of advice that I believe to be true:

✅ make sure you trust and feel confident in your recruitment partner, whoever that is. We all know when we feel like we are in safe hands

✅ really understand how you’re going to make the decision about who to extend the offer to. My experience is that factors almost always come into play at advanced stages that were not on the Job Description

✅ utilise tech. Creating a lens to look at candidates through at an early stage can save hours of interview sub-standard candidates

✅ orchestrate well crafted, milestone orientated processes. Have target dates for when each key milestone needs to be achieved

Of course, I’m biased towards the RedHolt methodology because we’ve designed it with these beliefs in mind. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t think these things were true

Question is, when is someone going to make CVs into NFTs??? I’m still amazed it hasn’t happened (by the way if someone wants to do that I have thought long and hard about it, speak to me)

Chris Redmond