You think you know me from my resume? But you don't.

You think you know me from my resume, but you don't, so how can you know the real me?

It's very easy to jump to the wrong conclusions about a potential employee when you read too much into their cover letter and resume.

Sorting through job applications is no easy task these days, especially when it's become so easy for jobseekers to fire off applications left, right and centre. 

It wasn't nearly as difficult back in the days when people had to mail off resumes in the post, meaning they'd only apply for half a dozen positions. The advent of job boards saw this rise to 35 positions, but with all of today's technology it's risen to an overwhelming 105 applications per jobseeker. 

Things will only get worse now that people are turning to artificial intelligence bots like ChatGPT to churn out their resume for them.

Amid a tidal wave of applicants, HR managers and recruiters barely have time to even skim through resumes when deciding who makes the first cut. Despite this, some people believe they can read the tea leaves and divine a person's true nature just from their cover letter and resume.

The hidden biases in resume screening

People have a lot of misconceptions as to what they can really learn from a resume. If anything, a quick glance at a resume is likely to see them jump to the wrong conclusions, as their conscious and unconscious biases come into play.

This can include major discrimination around age, gender, race and cultural background. It can also include seemingly minor issues, such as judging applicants according to the font and layout of their resume. Even a single typo can be enough to colour someone's view of an applicant who is otherwise perfect for the job.

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The consequences of reading too much into resumes can be severe. For example, we know from our research that if your name is Bharat Singh, then you're much less likely to get called up for an interview than if your name is Bill Smith. Regardless of their heritage, men also find that once they get into their forties they're dismissed out of hand as too old, even though they have a wealth of experience to offer.

In such situations, you've been weighed, measured and cast aside based on bias and assumptions, rather than judged on your actual merits.

The high cost of hiring based on resumes

Because they put too much faith in resumes as a window to the soul, businesses often hire on skills, but then typically fire on attitudes and are forced to start all over again. Meanwhile, they'll never know about the ones that got away, those hidden gems with a great attitude who were a great fit for the role – and for the team – but didn't shine through in their resume.

One of the reasons why I founded Expr3ss! is that I got sick of getting knocked back for roles purely because I am a woman. Whether they mean it or not, hirers tend to cut men a lot more slack if they don't meet all the criteria, or they're not completely qualified for the job. Meanwhile, a woman who is far better qualified is turned down because she fails to tick a single box on their laundry list of requirements.

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Those hirers thought they knew who I was, thought they knew the real me, just by glancing at my resume. There's much more to me than my CV, and the same goes for everyone else, so I decided there had to be a better way.

It turns out, the key to finding and retaining great people is to assess their attitudes upfront. Resumes and cover letters fail to convey critical soft skills such as temperament, attitudes and communication skills.

A smarter way to assess job applicants

The solution is to take advantage of technology in order to be more objective when determining which applicants should make it through to the interview stage.

Using short surveys instead of relying on resumes, Expr3ss! quickly and cost-effectively pinpoints job applicants with the right skills, attitudes, temperament and cultural fit. Employers can tailor the questions to ensure that they unambiguously address the requirements of the role, as well as assess the attitudes and temperament of each applicant.

The surveys typically take around six minutes, while ensuring that the best applicants make it through to the interview stage. Surveys can also include "deal-breaker" questions to ensure applicants have all the necessary qualifications and certifications before they are recommended for an interview.

If you think you can truly know someone based on their CV, you're doing both the applicant and yourself a major disservice. You risk hiring the wrong people and letting the right ones slip through your fingers, all because you summed up people from their resume rather than getting to know them better.