Blog post by Jacqui Barratt, APAC CEO
I had the pleasure of interviewing a wonderful candidate this week and believe me when I say after 25 years in recruitment I still feel it’s a privilege to meet great people and hear their story.
However, in our engaging exchange, he told me of a recent situation where he had been for an interview with a relatively large organisation where the HR Manager advised him that he wouldn’t progress because he hadn’t been a CMO before. I smiled and sighed as it is a common story I hear.
The art of good recruitment seems to have been lost by so many simply matching keywords and I am not simply talking about recruiters but anyone performing the recruitment function or the hiring decision. I was taught from early in my career the value of the transferable skillset and understanding someone’s competencies to know what opportunities or companies they may be able to add value to.
However, it seems more and more today we are seeing the rise and rise of the CV monkey which is focused on those keywords and most importantly the title!
I had a client decline CVs the other day on a role that they have had open for 5 months because no one we presented had that title on their CV. I then had to advise the client that their title was unique to them and hence why she wouldn’t see it on any CV.
Now, this blog may sound like a rant but really, it’s a plea to go beyond the title and drill down. Yes, it will take more time but if we truly believe people are the key to a businesses success, why would we take shortcuts.
Believe me, it’s not about the title!
