Nonprofit Leadership, Innovation, and Change

What a Resume Doesn't Measure

If you hire people on a regular basis, you know the main thing that determines whether you interview someone for a job or not is based on his resume. A resume sets the tone for an interview and it places presuppositions and assumptions in an interviewers mind.

Often times the interviewer is looking to learn certain things and affirm what they think they already know about the person.

But here’s a reality check: a resume is not always a reflection of someone’s talents, skills, and strengths.

But you already knew this, right?

So, what does a resume show and measure?

It measures experience and successes that a person probably has. These are all great to know and use when hiring someone, but what you really need to know when you’re hiring someone is the stuff that’s not on a resume.

A resume naturally resembles the success and good qualities a person has. However, it does not measure someone’s integrity, their ability to work well with others, if they make the people around them better, how much they have learned, or their future potential.

Next time you stare blankly at a resume, think about what's not shown and how that can affect your decision.

Risk

A leaders' success heavily depends on his ability to face and deal with risk.

One thing that establishes someone as a leader is his courage to take risk. For the simple reason that when you take risk, you’re seen as a leader because there aren’t many people doing what you’re doing.

Most people like to play it safe. That’s why they stay at boring jobs making a modest wage to enjoy a mildly enjoyable retirement.

When someone takes a risk he is suddenly seen as a leader because not many people are doing what he is doing. Several years ago remember reading a quote stating, “Sometimes you have to go out on a limb because that’s where the fruit is.”

When you take risk it means you’re stepping into the unknown and it tests your leadership influence with people. It’s easy to lead when everything is smooth and easy. But when you have to take risk and step into the unknown, it shows your true level of leadership.

When you take risk it will determine if you actually have the leadership influence to lead people.

Learning in a new position

Last year began working in a new position at United Way. It is a new position, in a new department, with a new person to report to, and new peers to work with on our team.

As I have had to learn so many new things in this position, it occurred to me it’s not just skills that I have to learn, I have to learn how to work with my peers as a team.

There are two things a person must learn in a new position:

• The skills needed to get the job done
• How to work as a team with new coworkers.

The skills can be learned in a training room, training manual, or software program. However, the people skills are much more difficult to learn. It takes experience, failure, intuitiveness, and some team building activities before you can really work effectively with other people as a team.

Working effectively as a team starts with finding out the needs and desires of the person you are working with. What do they value? Do they need to be affirmed and recognized for their work? What is their style for communicating and interacting? Do they prefer email over telephone?

This is the basic stuff that takes a long time to learn about the people you work with.