An A+ Resume Doesn't Always Equal an A+ Hire

Employers impressed by a job candidate’s resume often discover the person isn’t such a good match for the position after all, research shows. More than six in 10 senior managers (64 percent) in a survey from global staffing firm Robert Half said it’s common for an applicant with a promising resume to not live up to expectations when interviewed.

The survey also looked at how much time employers spend assessing job candidates. Findings include:

On average, managers review 40 resumes per job opening and spend 12 minutes looking at each one.
Managers interview an average of seven people per open position, and those meetings take an average of 41 minutes each.
Verifying relevant experience is the top reason employers interview job candidates (61 percent), followed by assessing soft skills and corporate culture fit (21 percent) and evaluating technical skills (18 percent).
A lack of technical abilities (51 percent) and soft skills (49 percent) are common reasons new hires don’t work out.

View an infographic of the hiring facts.

“Finding good resumes is just one piece of the hiring puzzle,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director for Robert Half. “The full process can be challenging, but recruiters lighten the load and accelerate the timeline for employers by sorting through application materials, conducting initial interviews, and assessing skills and corporate culture fit. This allows hiring managers to focus their attention on candidates with the greatest potential.”

For additional tips on hiring, see Robert Half’s blog post: How to Hire an Employee: 6 Tips to Head Off Hiring Headaches.

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