As a salesperson, you may be able to spot a good deal or prospect when you see it, but as an entrepreneur working to build your business, you may need some financial advisor training when it comes to building a talented team of people who effectively and harmoniously work together.
Have you ever had a hard time determining who will be the best candidate in practice when faced with a field of applicants who look promising on paper? Does the idea of parsing through dozens, or even hundreds, of resumes seem daunting? There are a few tactics you can take to read between the lines while avoiding getting overwhelmed, wasting time and letting promising candidates slip between the cracks.
The format of the resume can provide insight on how the writer wants the interview to proceed, Anneline Waldman writes for Jobmouse.
Applicants that have a "strong, solid work history" typically submit the chronological resume, Waldman notes, but it may also be used by people with "little or no focus." Be on the lookout for extended periods of unemployment in these types of job histories.
A functional resume seeks to highlight skills and experience (and may be used to conceal gaps in employment), while the combination resume mixes the two previous styles to convey skills and experience at the top of the page, then work experience. Targeted resumes usually take more time to write and are formatted to draw attention to the strengths and past jobs that are most relevant to the desired position.
It is important to not only find people who are qualified for a position, but also who will be of value to your team.
When reviewing resumes, have a copy of the job criteria and responsibilities that you outlined when writing the position description. Check experience against your needs - does the applicant have the background, education, skills and strengths that will help them fulfill their duties?
There are also a few red flags that will help you whittle down the pile of resumes more quickly. Rule out resumes that have typos or grammatical mistakes, or those that show a move that didn't bring greater responsibility or more money. In addition, try to look for clues that are not explicit. Volunteer experience or leadership roles in an organization can be a sign that a person is responsible and driven. One way to identify a person's computer skills is to examine the format of their resume. You may ask applicants to provide a word or pages version of their resume so that you can check the formatting options they used to create it. People who use the space and tab keys instead of creating clean and uniform tables will not be as effective at developing clean and well-formatted documents for your office.
One technique I suggest is to develop a spreadsheet that lists the skills and qualifications you are looking for in a prospective employee and space to rate them between 1-5. The spreadsheet will help you compare candidates and decide who best meets the criteria based on the overall score they receive. Divide the analysis into mandatory skills, work experience, education and perhaps even a "nice to have" list. Include such things as written and oral skills, appearance of resume, computer skills (broken down further to include different software), CRM experience, industry experience, project management etc.
Matthew Asser has spent the last few decades gaining expertise in how financial services firms can optimize their operations, marketing, new products, business development and client relationship management practices. He's well-versed in the challenges that an entrepreneur may struggle with, and as a Senior Coach and Facilitator, helps clients achieve business change through The Covenant Group’s extensive financial advisor training programs.
