Looking at Résumés

How important is a good résumé? That depends on the sort of opening you are trying to fill.

A well-written résumé is certainly a nice indicator. But it may only indicate that the candidate has hired a professional résumé writer.

For technical jobs, sometimes a poorly-written résumé can hide a good candidate. Try to look for experiences that reflect originality, leadership, and commitment. Sometimes a poorly-written résumé has a certain magnetism behind the scruffy prose.

Here are some danger signs to watch for when you are reviewing résumés:

• Emphasis on training over experience. Make sure this candidate has some real-world experience.
• Gaps in service or lots of short-term jobs. This may just indicate someone who has been doing consulting, but you need to find out.
• Lots of years of the same job description. This may indicate someone who has stagnated. Some candidates seem to have repeated the same six months of experience over and over for eight years.
• Too much variety in work experience. It takes effort and time to become an expert, and you need someone who has the discipline to develop expertise.
• No meaningful description of interesting projects or accomplishments. Me-tooers are a dime a dozen