Recruitment Tips: Red Flags to Look for in A Candidate’s CV

Analyzing a candidate’s full potential on paper is no easy task. To successfully shortlist the best from the rest, it’s important to learn a few hiring tips and tricks. The first step in the recruitment process is the tedious surf through seas of CVs. 

With piles and piles of resumes stacked on your desk, how do you determine a good candidate from a bad one? As a recruitment manager, you need to figure out the mistakes, errors, and early indicators of a wrong hire on paper. To help you out, here are a few red flags you need to look at when reviewing resumes. 

Inconsistent Employment 

One of the first signs that a candidate could be the wrong hire is if have multiple employment gaps in their career. Inconsistency can be an early indicator that this professional won’t commit to your company, long-term. 

When surveying a resume, pay close attention to dates included in the candidate’s employment history. Keep track of how frequent they stay on in each company as well as if there are significant gaps in their employment. 

However, it’s important to keep in mind that you can’t fully evaluate a candidate’s entire career through a single piece of paper. There can be valid circumstances and situations that a candidate might have to their inconsistent job history. If an applicant fails to give a good reason for these job inconsistencies, it’s best to let them go. 

Grammatical Errors 

You can tell a lot about a candidate’s attention to detail and competencies through the way they have presented themselves on paper. If a resume is filled with misspellings and grammatical errors this can be a huge red flag. 

These errors can be indicative of the type of work you can expect from the candidate. If a candidate fails to proofread their CV, gives the impression that they are not serious about the job opportunity. Overall, it’s best to steer clear of resumes that are poorly put together.

Incomplete Information

Top applicants never fail to include all of the necessary information you need to ensure that they are right for the role. If you come across a CV that’s incomplete, this is a huge red flag. It is a job applicant’s responsibility that they provide all of the necessary information requested from them. 

Look out for missing dates, educational background, and other requirements you stated in the job description. To hire the right talent, you must be able to tick all the boxes required to fill the role. Applicants who fail to comply, shouldn’t be further entertained. 

Plateau in their Career

One of the best ways to assess a candidate’s job potential is to see how they have progressed in their career throughout the years. It shows the amount of growth in skills and responsibilities they have acquired. 

However, if job titles and descriptions show a decreasing amount of responsibilities, this could be a sign that the applicant has reached a plateau in their career. Instead of growing in their line of work, they have gone backward. This can be a possible red flag for employers. 

Before dismissing such applicants, it’s also important not to base your decisions on assumptions. You might miss out on a qualified hire. If you have found great potential in a specific talent, talk to them about their job history.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to the hiring process, it’s important to pay attention to the small details, like how closely an applicant follows your instructions. By keeping an eye out for these red flags, you’ll be able to sort through your job applicants effectively.