Why do some HR (Human Resource) departments resort so heavily towards CV filtering when looking for candidates? The usual explanation is that they have so many applications, they need to whittle down the number of candidates in some way. Fair enough! However my feeling is it’s used too often, and used as a blunt tool. Therefore circumventing other creative ways of finding the right people.

I’ve met people that are brilliant in person. Exactly the kind of people you want to work with. They have the required skills (enough to do the job), have the right attitude, they are motivated, and have some great creative ideas. Where the hell does that come through on a CV? They might not have all the skills they need for the job…. YET! But they can be trained. They may not have all the information they need… YET! But they will be able to learn it.

You can train people up with the skills they need (within reason). Qualifications are things people can work towards. You can’t train good attitude (easily). Creativity is something that people develop during the whole of their life. It’s not something you really want to be developing in people during company time.

CVs show the skills and work experience. Definitely a handy thing to know. On a really general level, you will want to use this information. But what about seeing if the person is actually going to fit into the team. What about seeing if this person is the next ground breaking whizz-kid in the industry. How are you going to find that out from a CV? The right qualifications don’t mean dot if the persons attitude stinks and aren’t team players.

Businesses are a collection of people. Their energy, passions, creativity and resourcefulness are things that will make the difference as valued staff members. How many potential candidates slip through the CV filtering net that tick all these boxes?

Take a look at my other post on this subject: “If you want motivated staff…

There are many HR departments that do a great job. Maybe the HR departments in question here are understaffed and don’t have enough resources to do the right job. This article is more of a call to get creative with how we find candidates.

I don’t know. Maybe ask them to turn up for morning coffee and bring along their CV. That would be a nice and probably more productive approach, who knows… maybe more fun.

  • What are your thoughts?
  • Are there any HR people out there that have some creative ways of finding recruits?
  • What’s the most creative recruitment programs you have seen?

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