Resumes - Another drag on the hiring process

Time and time again, I see or hear of a situation that the best candidate DID NOT get the job they should have.  Too often, it was because of the resume.  Either it was poorly written, had typos or didn't explain a skill/experience enough.  This only will cost the hiring company more in the long run.

Have you heard or said this? "If the candidate can't find all the spelling errors, then that can't be expected to have the skills for this job".   Let me see if I get this right, most of the coding whizzes you know also have been good at grammar and spelling.  Honestly, most I know have been poor at most people and language skills.  Sorry if that offends you Java folks. 

Wouldn't it make more sense to ask questions about how a candidate would handle a situation in the future then how they did 10 years ago anyway!  Hopefully, that candidate has changed and improved themselves at each step anyway.

I've seen RFP's that have asked for resumes which everyone in the process knows won't still be available in 3-6 months by the time the decision and transition takes place for the new vendor.  If you question the request, you get, "We just want to know the the vendor has the recruiting power to find the candidates if we hire the vendor."  Well, in my mind, that doesn't make sense either.  What they should be asking for is the resumes of the RECRUITERS!  Get comfortable with the vendor recruiting processes, systems and the recruiters experience.  Not what resumes are stuck in the RFP.

Do your self a favor in the future if you are hiring.  Only use the resume as a general guideline.  Look for keywords at the 35,000 feet level.  Do a quick phone screen and ask specific questions about how they would handle some situations, then do a face to face on the best answers.