The reason a CV is not the best measure of candidates

As the founder of Higher, a recruitment tool that focuses on paperless recruitment, I have observed and reflected on the shortcomings of the traditional CV-based recruitment system for many years. My experience has shown that while CVs serve a purpose, they are far from the most effective method of assessing candidates' suitability for a role.

The traditional CV, despite its widespread use, offers a limited and often two-dimensional view of a candidate's skills and potential. It is a static representation that fails to convey a person's full personality, drive and potential.

In a competitive job market, I've seen how easy it is for applicants to embellish their resumes. This creates a challenge for employers to distinguish between authentic qualifications and exaggerated claims.

During my time in the recruitment industry, I have also observed how unconscious bias can affect the assessment of a CV. This can lead to a skewed recruitment process that favors some candidates over others on the basis of irrelevant criteria.

I have found that many candidates, in an attempt to condense their professional life into a single document, often leave out important experiences and skills that would be relevant to the job.

A resume can never fully reflect a candidate's enthusiasm or commitment to a specific role. These qualities are critical to a candidate's success, but remain invisible in a CV-centric recruitment system.

So to meet these challenges, I advocate a more holistic and comprehensive approach to evaluating candidates. By using recruitment tools that include competency tests that measure knowledge, attitude, experience, personality tests and the opportunity to watch a short video, we can get a more balanced and fair picture of a candidate's abilities and potential.

By moving to a more multifaceted recruitment system, we can not only improve the quality of our employment decisions but also promote a more inclusive and fair recruitment process. It's time we redefine how we look at and evaluate talent in the workplace.

Author: Stefan Lidén

Reviewer: Moa Jacobsson