Best Way to Use Resume Excerpts to learn about a Candidate

You’ve already spent considerable time and effort determining what you’re looking for in a candidate.

Appropriately enough, the resume presents the best side of the interviewee; you’ll almost never see anything negative. Interviewees are coached to make their experience sound lofty on the resume. Sometimes they make it appear as if they ran the company during their position last summer. Don’t judge candidates too harshly for doing this. You would do the same thing. This tendency of candidates to gild the lily, though, is one reason it is important to use the interview to probe the candidate’s actual experiences so you can get information on his weaknesses, as well as his strengths.

Of course, as an interviewer you are not limited to what is on the resume. And you will definitely want to dig far deeper than the material presented there. To do that you must become adept at analyzing the information on the resume, and figuring out how you might use that information as the skeleton to build a model of the candidate.

To that end, consider the excerpts below, taken from actual resumes submitted to employers, modified only slightly to change dates and personal references. I invite you to go through each of these resume items, asking yourself the following questions:

• If this appeared on the resume of a candidate you were interviewing, would you be likely to ask about it?
• Why are you deciding to ask or not to ask about this item?
• If you were to ask about this topic, what might you learn about the candidate?
• What assumptions may you be making about the candidate based on this resume item?

By analyzing these excerpts, you will begin to develop your strategy for conducting the interview. You will force yourself to consider not only what elements of a resume you would ask about, but why you might ask about them and what that information might lead to. You will become more aware of the assumptions you may be making on the basis of a resume item, and of the need to challenge your assumptions. Interviewees will understand from this exercise how and why an interviewer may choose to explore a wide range of topics from a resume. That knowledge should help you both in constructing your resume and in preparing for the interview.

In comments below each of these excerpts, I have given you my personal reaction to them. My reaction is not necessarily the “correct” one, only one you may find interesting to compare to your own reaction.

Note that I make a lot of assumptions about what I may learn from these excerpts. Undoubtedly some, perhaps many, of my assumptions will be wrong. Recognize that you will be wrong in some of the assumptions you make, too. For example, if you see that a candidate is editor of The Gazette, her college newspaper, do you assume that she is popular with her peers, a good leader, deals effectively with stress, and writes well? You might be right. But, on exploration, you may find the person was chosen by a faculty member, that nobody else wanted the position, and that she is a prima donna who is primarily interested in the title. Part of the joy of interviewing is the surprises, the opportunities to prove yourself wrong.

Article entitled, “Digital Audio Tape Systems: The Current Challenge to the American Copyright System,” Copyright Industries Journal (April, 1993).

Comment: I’d think this person has technical expertise. I do not, so my natural tendency might be to steer clear of this topic. I would be likely to ask about it, though, because I would want to determine whether this person could explain the article in a way that was understandable to me.

MCI Telecomunications, Inc., Boston, MA       Commercial Sales Representative

Sold long-distance telephone services to small businesses in New York and New England. Managed all aspects of sale, from cold call to equipment installation and customer satisfaction.

Comment: This person has experienced a lot of rejection. I would want to find out how he dealt with it, and learn what elements of the job he liked or disliked, and why. I would expect to learn quite a bit about the interviewee’s ability to deal with adversity and to relate to a customer from this discussion. Note that the interviewee has misspelled “Tele¬communications.” I regard this as a potentially significant— though not fatal—error. I’d explore the degree of care the interviewee brings to his work. (Interviewees beware: Proofread your resume carefully. If you have one page in which to present yourself, that page ought to be perfect.)

Joyce Beverages, Inc., New Rochelle, NY

Plant Line Operator Summers 1987-1989

Operated material-handling equipment and mechanized-beverage-bottling- and canning-line machinery.

Comment: This person dealt with repetitive, routine tasks. I’d want to know how she handled this, how she related to others on the job. Note that this is a position the person held for three summers. I’d like to know what progress, if any, she made during that time. Has she thought about this experience, and how it may help her in another position?

Trends Management Talent Agency Academic Year 1990-91 London, England

Danced with a professional dance company in theaters, nightclubs, and casinos throughout London, and for the British Broadcasting Company.

Comment: My instinct is to assume that this is the resume of a woman. Obviously, this would be a fun experience to talk about. It might be a good icebreaker to open with. However, this item strikes me as such a “grabber” that it would be discussed by every interviewer. That would make me less inclined to spend time on it (depending upon what else was on the resume). I try to avoid talking about the same things other interviewers discuss because I find interviewees develop pat responses to those topics. If I did ask about this experience, I’d try to find a twist the interviewee might not have encountered before. For example, I might ask the person to compare the experience dancing in a theater with that of dancing in a nightclub.

Interests: lap swimming, racquetball, outdoor sports, and contemporary art

Comment: I am a lap swimmer so I might well start the interview by talking a bit about that. The other items listed could also serve as icebreakers.

WIP-610 AM Metromedia Radio, Philadelphia (Sept.-Dec. ’90)

Reporter, covered home Sixers, Flyers, and Phillies games. Responsible for conducting locker-room interviews and writing copy to be aired.

Comment: As a sports fan, I would love to talk about this. I have a little of the same reaction to this as I do to the professional dancing “grabber,” however. Again, if I did discuss this, I would think of an angle other interviewers might not have used. For example, I might ask how the candidate reacted to having his copy revised, or what he thought of the way the on-the-air people performed what he had written.

Cotranslation of Book: Handbuch der Weltpolitischen Analyse, (by Daniel Frei and Dieter Ruloff) from the German, 1988

Comment: I would be fascinated to learn the intricacies and difficulties involved in translation. Note that this is a cotranslation, so I would want to know about the relationship between the candidate and his cotranslator. This seems to me an interesting aspect of the job because I would expect that a lot of quite personal choices go into translating. That would mean the person would have to negotiate a lot with his cotranslator and come to agreements on what might be some rather emotional issues. I would also want to hear how well the person explains what is involved in translating, and how he came to undertake this particular project.

Self-Employed Auctioneer 1985-Present

Auction merchandise in satisfaction of garage and storage liens.

Comment: This person may well be quite an entrepreneur. I would like to know how she got into the business. I would also be interested in knowing the problems involved in being a good auctioneer, and how this person dealt with them.

“Beyond the Factory Walls: Female Factory Workers and the Industrialization of Taiwan, 1950-1985,” April 1990. Senior thesis.

Comment: Though I am not particularly interested in the subject matter, I almost always ask about a candidate’s senior thesis. I am interested in knowing whether he can explain it succinctly and understandably. If a candidate pleads that it’s been too long ago for him to remember, I regard it as poor judgment to have listed the thesis on the resume.

By way of contrast, I almost never asked law students about law review articles they had written. I found students almost always had a pat description virtually committed to memory. In fact, I came to regard dissection of a person’s law review article in an interview as akin to discussing a bodily ailment at a dinner party. I try to avoid both.

PLANNING BOARD MEMBER

Voorhees Township Planning Board, Voorhees, New Jersey Acted on applications that involved subdivisions, site plans, and conditional uses. Worked with engineers, attorneys, planners, and developers. Updated Township Master Plan. Very active in the community.

Comment: This person has worked with a lot of different kinds of people in situations that may well become emotionally charged. I would want to know how she dealt with that. I’d also like to know how she got the position. For example, if it were an elected post, that might suggest a whole range of characteristics the person might possess, such as willingness to get into the fray, toughness, comfort in communicating to large groups, etc.

TRIBUNAL ADMINISTRATOR

American Arbitration Association—New York City, NY

Prepared and supervised administrative details of arbitration cases from initiation to final disposition, attended hearings to assist arbitrators and parties and to ensure compliance with procedural and statutory standards.

Comment: I don’t have a good idea what this person did, from the description. Was this a routine job, or one that involved some real initiative and creativity? What does “supervised” mean? Whom did he supervise, and how? I would probably explore this job experience in detail to try to learn that. Even if it were routine, though, I might learn quite a lot about the person by asking how he dealt with the required tasks.

Special Olympics Coach, 1985-1987 Santa Barbara, CA

Comment: My assumption is that this is a caring, kind person. I would want to know what got him involved in coaching, what satisfactions and disappointments he experienced, and how he dealt with them. I might also ask what caused him to stop coaching.

Carpenter, Austin, Texas 6/89-8/90

Comment: Having absolutely no carpentry skills (other than being a whiz at using cellophane tape), I’d like to know all about this candidate’s carpentry experience. Was he on his own? How did he generate work? What types of projects did he undertake? How interested was he in the artistry involved? In seeing that the job was done perfectly? Did he do this parttime, while in school (Austin is a college town)? If so, how-did he balance the work with his school responsibilities?

CENTURY 21, RAND ASSOCIATES, New York City, NY 1987-1988

Licensed real estate salesperson: Involved in the listing and sale of residential homes.

Comment: I would explore this job experience to find out whether the candidate really related to his clients, or whether he saw it purely as a way to make some money. What qualities did it take to succeed in getting listings? In making sales? Why did he hold the job for only a year or two?

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 2/88-2/89

Puppet Therapist

Created and performed preoperative puppet shows for pediatric patients and their parents to familiarize them with hospital procedures.

Comment: This sounds like a fascinating job. Even though it’s a “grabber” that most every interviewer would talk about, I could not resist discussing it. To avoid getting pat responses from the interviewee, I would try to probe one or two experiences she had in the position in depth.

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE Uniondale, New York, Summer 1987

Customer Relations Liaison: Expedited the retrieval of misplaced packages, coordinated delivery, and established shipping schedules.

Comment: This is somebody who has operated under fire. I’d like to know how she dealt with it. Did she develop empathy for the angry customers she encountered, or regard them as royal pains? Does she have any ideas for making the service more effective, or did she deal narrowly with her job?

National Accordion Champion, 1989

State Accordion Champion, New York 1984-1988.

Comment: I envision Lawrence Welk saying, “A-wunner-ful, a-wunnerful.” I’d like to know what goes into being a champion accordion player, how the person chose that instrument, and whether the pressures are akin to pressures felt by championship athletes. I’d be interested in whether accordion playing is a growing or dwindling art form. I’d also try to learn something about the history of the accordion and whether anyone well-known composed for it. I’d hope to find something to slip into a conversation at my next cocktail party.

LYCEE AL MATAR, Nador, Morocco

Teacher, U.S. Peace Corps 9/85-7/87

Comment: I envision a liberal, do-good, adventurous type. Obviously, the intercultural experience would be interesting to explore with this candidate. I’d try to do that with specificity. For example, what differences in Moroccan society did you personally find it difficult to adjust to? Why? How did you deal with those difficulties?

Summer 1988

Cofounded the FASA Corporation, a game design and manufacturing company, Chicago, IL. Set up office, manufacturing, and distribution operations.

Comment: Appears to be an entrepreneur. I’d be interested in whether the project succeeded or failed, what problems she encountered and how she dealt with them, what were the relations with the cofounder and whether the company is still operating. I would also like to know what kind of games the company manufactured.

MEYER’S MESSENGER SERVICE 6/88-6/90

New York, New York

Full-time and part-time bicycle messenger.

Comment: This person is a daredevil. I would like to know what’s involved in being a successful bicycle messenger, what interesting experiences he encountered and whether he killed anybody in the process.

As you can see from my comments, I might explore any of these twenty resume excerpts—most of them at considerable length—in an interview. In general, any item on a resume may provide fertile ground for exploration in an interview. Of course, probing an interviewee’s experiences is not always without risk. One of my former partners once encountered a candidate who had served in the CIA for several years. My partner said, “I guess I can’t ask too much about your CIA experience because you couldn’t talk about it.” The interviewee replied, “Oh, no, you can feel free to ask. And I could tell you about it—but, I’d have to kill you afterward.” My partner is still living.

The CIA to the contrary, I am always interested in exploring any prior-job experiences because those hold the most promising clues to discovering how an interviewee will perform in the position for which I am interviewing.

For those who may not be familiar with it, I recommend a book called Working by Studs Terkel, which consists of interviews Terkel conducted with people who hold widely varying jobs, from elevator operator to doctor. Through his expert interviewing ability, Terkel gets working people to talk openly about their feelings about their jobs and, in the process, makes his readers appreciate the depth and dignity possible in any line of work—and how much you can learn about a person from discussing any job experience.