Hidden CV Red Flags And Green Lights
When it comes to making hiring decisions, recruiters will undoubtedly put a lot of emphasis on the importance of a strong CV. There’s a good reason for this, the CV is the first way to gauge whether a candidate is suitable for a job. Get the CV wrong and it is the equivalent of falling at the first hurdle.
However, if you work in recruitment, you might be placing too much interest in certain parts of the CV, or even rejecting candidates because of things that aren’t necessarily a problem. In this article, we take a look at assessing the equality of a CV for red flags and green lights that might not be immediately obvious.
Red flags: changing jobs every six months
It is all too common to see a CV where a candidate has had a very large number of roles across a fairly short space of time, sometimes known as ‘job hopping’. It’s really important to check the dates on the CV to see how long someone typically stays in a role and get an idea of whether they are likely to move on in a very short amount of time.
It is easy to say in an interview that you are committed to a company, but a candidate can reveal their true intentions if they have a history of moving on quickly. It should be stated, of course, that there are scenarios where a candidate may be a high performer who has had their career advance quickly. Clearly, they should not be rejected on the basis of multiple promotions.
Additionally, if they have worked as a freelancer or contractor it is possible that on a glance, their CV looks like they have started and left jobs in quick succession.
Red flags: obvious errors
Another key red flag on a CV is the discovery of errors. These might be spelling mistakes, impossible dates, or excessive repetition. You might think that a small error like this is not something worth worrying about – but on a CV, a very short document with a very important purpose, it reveals something about a candidate.
Errors on the CV indicate a lack of attention to detail and suggest that the candidate didn’t care enough about their application simply to do a little proofreading. Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to completely abandon a candidate simply based on a grammar slip-up, but you can let it inform your decision.
Red flags: lies or embellishments
Different from errors on the CV, if you discover that the candidate is not telling the truth about their history, either in terms of their roles or education, this can be a real red flag that it is worth paying attention to. If someone is willing to lie on their CV it not only makes it difficult to trust anything that they say, it also shows they are willing to do unethical things to get what they want.
In both cases, this is not generally the kind of person that you want to employ, and it should be something that you really consider negatively when assessing their suitability for the job. Technically, if someone is lying on their CV it can be considered fraud.
Red flags: backwards steps
Perhaps less obvious or not as serious is the issue of a CV where a candidate has made backwards steps. For example, if the individual once had a role with the ‘manager’ in the title, but later found themselves back as a team member rather than a team leader.
This doesn’t have to be a serious red flag, but it can show you that the candidate is less suited for leadership positions. Clearly, this will depend on the specific situation, and if the candidate has taken backward steps there may be relevant information you can glean from this.
Green light: volunteering
It is often stated that having a gap on the CV is a red light, but this isn’t always the case. In fact, in some situations, it can actually be something you can look at as a real positive. The candidate might actually have spent this time doing something that was important to them, such as:
- volunteering in a related role
- refreshing their existing skills or
- developing themselves through further education and training.
Review a CV for signs of creativity and examples of a candidate’s efforts to enhance their skill set in a way that might bring something new and unique to a role.
Getting involved in community projects without being paid or working for a charity can be a great way for someone to give back. And as many people of working age like to experiment with different career paths, this can show an interest in diversifying their skills.
Green light: they don’t want to work full-time
For a long time, it was considered a negative on the CV if a candidate admitted that they weren’t interested in full-time, or that they didn’t want to be permanently employed. Today, with the rise in the popularity of remote working, and the growth of hybrid working arrangements, less conventional working schedules are now celebrated.
In fact, there are now recruitment agencies specialising in contractors who can be brought in temporarily to fill roles and provide a business with a specific set of skills.
Green light: transferable skills
A lack of direct industry experience is often seen as a negative on a CV, but this is a problem that is exaggerated. Often it can be just as valuable – or even more valuable – that a candidate brings new skills to the role. Indeed, having transferable skills from another industry can allow someone to bring a fresh perspective to a role.
Don’t let a lack of specific industry experience be the reason that you turn down a candidate, as there might actually be a lot more than they can bring to the role.
Green light: longevity in roles
It is always good to see that someone shows loyalty to a business and stays in a role for a good amount of time. Once again, this can sometimes be misconstrued as a lack of ambition, but in general it actually shows a positive in someone that has been very good at what they do.
If someone generally spends years in roles rather than months, you are looking at a candidate who is loyal to the business they work for and can be trusted simply to get on with the job at hand.
About the Author
Mike James is an independent writer based in the UK, Mike writes content for the B2B market. He covers a broad range of topics including technology, cybersecurity, HR, marketing, design, co-working, and business start-ups.