The resume has been around for over 500 years and perhaps it is time for a change. Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with creating the first resume, although it was closer to a proposal. The main purpose of a resume is to list a person’s past employment history in order to get an interview. Then, you as an employer or Human Resource Professional, can decide whether to:
- Throw that resume in the trash; some people make it easy with just one spelling mistake
- File it for future use or forget about it
- Call that person so that you can meet them or ‘interroview’ them – Yes the word interview is pretty close to interrogate and is equally terrifying to most people, so I have combined the two words.
The problem with resumes is employers get a lot of them, and most do not tell you what you need to know. Some employers find this is very time consuming and frustrating.
Perhaps it’s time for a different method closer to a proposal might work better. As an Employer Liaison with Agilec, I have been using a skill match sheet to help employers match their jobs to candidates.
There are two sides to a skills match sheet. One – needs of the job, and two – how that person proposes that they will meet the needs of the job
Example:
| Customer Service |
I really enjoy helping people. When I worked at ABC, I was stocking a lower shelf. I got up quickly when a customer approached me and greeted her with a smile. The lady said she was very impressed that I was so willing to help even though I looked very busy. I took her right to the area and helped her find the product she wanted.
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As an Employer Liaison, I am in contact with a lot of employers looking to hire and they often ask me to just send resumes of people who I think will fit the job. This doesn’t work always work because I know more about these candidates than what is on the resume, and I am just guessing as much as you are.
What I propose is that you meet with me and other Employer Liaisons, to discuss what type of person you need for your business to succeed. Then, we will meet with the candidate and work with them to create a skills match sheet. We share the results of the skill matching with you and we only suggest a meeting with the person if we believe they are a match. Next, we attend the meeting with the candidate to support both you and the potential employee. In the end, we decide together if this is the right person for you.
By the way, did we mention that this is one of the many services that we offer for free at Agilec through Employment Ontario funding?
by Jill Galloway, Blogger for Agilec
