Hire People, Not Paper

I’m lucky enough to work with Mike Martin, our Vice President of Search here at Highline, and let me tell you—Mike has seen it all. Not only is he an accomplished executive search professional, but he has a wealth of experience when it comes to landing outdoor companies the absolute best talent for their leaders. Recently, he reminded me of a story that I felt deserved to be shared with everyone out there struggling to find their next exec. We were working with a world-leading company as they attempted to place a new Global VP of Marketing. The client had asked for a very specific profile that included what we call an “academy background,” meaning they wanted big-name global brand experience. This particular client and role were very attractive so the process of identifying a deep candidate pool was going well. As we moved toward the candidate presentation with the client, the hiring authority casually dismissed the resume and profile of a candidate who didn’t have that “academy” pedigree but had the necessary technical skills and was a significantly better culture fit than the rest of the group. Eventually, Mike sat down with the president and told him straight,

“I don’t know if you’re going to hire this person. But you will do yourself and your company a huge disservice by not just sitting down to talk with them. I’m not doing my job if I don’t strongly advise you meet with them for a chat.”

Long story short? They sat down and had an interview. Long story a little less short? They got the job. After speaking with the candidate, the president could immediately identify what Mike had seen in them. They were capable, interested, driven, and, most importantly, passionate for the brand. Had it not been for Mike’s shrewd intervention, this company would have missed out on hiring the right person, and it all comes down to one vital truth in the executive search industry: You don’t hire paper, you hire people.

This Is the People Business

We’ve all heard the phrase “You can’t judge a book by a cover.” The same goes for judging candidates by their written resumes. A common struggle we face when either working with a hiring manager at an outdoor company is a tendency to be exclusive and screen people out. This could be due to any number of reasons, like poor past experiences or a mandate to get the edge on rival companies by hiring an elite executive. So, it’s understandable why these folks might be quick to dismiss a candidate right off the bat. However, the early stages of hiring should be a much more open time for stakeholders. When we get started in an executive search, we’re simply trying to refine the background of who we’re looking for. And in the end, what we and our clients are looking for are people who have passion for the brand and for the work—and the skills to back that up. There are such a huge number of factors that might go into the right person and you just cannot surmise that from a few paragraphs and bullet points on a paper or PDF. And that’s because…

Dirty Secret: People are Terrible at Writing Resumes

Even where we at Highline operate, here at the highest level of employment, folks often make huge mistakes on these CVs. Studies performed by TheLadders showed that leading reasons for no-hires come from important elements like mistakes in former job descriptions, miscommunications of skills, or omitting important professional accomplishments. Even the writing itself can be an issue, as 77% of hiring managers will instantly toss out a resume after finding grammatical errors or embarrassing typos. But the big takeaway here is that if we’re to assume that even the men and women who act as industry leaders in the outdoor market have trouble penning resumes, what does that mean about the ones you immediately say no to? Or what about the ones your hiring manager isn’t even reading?

Relying on Resume Scanning Doesn’t Work

On average, a corporate job opening will receive 250 applications, and only 6 to 8 candidates will receive an interview. With the massive interest these positions can attract, it’s easy to see why companies are continuing to utilize resume scanning technology like Peoplesoft. These applications will scan CVs for keywords and phrases, and immediately eliminate any ones that don’t seem to have the right stuff. While this process might work for lower-level openings, executive and management positions are much more nuanced. Resume parsing discounts all the important “x factors” that make great leaders.

Not to say that software developers aren’t trying. In my previous professional endeavor, I worked in Silicon Valley. A company I was programming for had 2 data scientists—one of whom was an actual rocket scientist—with PhDs leading a team of 22 people attempting to refine resume search automation with machine algorithms. But the fact is that by trusting AI to deliver the next important leader in your company, you’re skipping the first 2/3rd of the entire process.

Trust Highline to Deliver

When your company partners with an accomplished and reputable recruiter like Highline, we’re not just picking wildly from a stack of papers. Our goal is not to waste your time, but to make the most of it and deliver the best possible people for your business. In a common executive search, we make calls to 200 people and then deliver to you our top 3 or 4. Our years of experience are no match for a simple paper resume or an automated system that picks them for you based on keywords. Why? Because you’re not hiring a piece of paper, you’re hiring people.

—Tony O’Neill, President

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