marketpoint whitepaper - hiring - a game of cat and mouse 2016 july

7/25/2019 MarketPoint Whitepaper - Hiring - A Game of Cat and Mouse 2016 July

1/8

A MarketPoint Whitepaper

Hiring: A Gameof Cat and Mouse

Hiring: A Gameof Cat and Mouse

20162016


2/8

2

There are many business aphorisms

related to employees. (If you dont

believe me, check your LinkedIn feed,

where most of them seem to be at-

tributed to Richard Branson.) My personal

favorite is Hire slow; re fast. Im not quite as

fond of People are your greatest asset too

simplistic. But one I think we can all agree on is

Talent is expensive. So if talent is so expensive,

why do so few employers invest comparatively

little focus on screening and interviewing?

Well, thats not true for us! you say. We spend

a lot of time, from the executive level down,

screening and interviewing our people. And it

would certainly seem that way, given the fact

that most of us feel its a signicant interruption

to our daily operations. But thats precisely the

problem: Hiring is not an interruption to our

operations it is central to our missions. And

in recent years, it has become increasingly chal-

lenging.

Assuming youve done everything in

your power to identify and attractqualified candidates (and your

job oppor tunity is potentially re-

warding), you should find yourself swimming

in a sea of resumes and applications. Unfor-

tunately, the sea in which you are swimming

may present grave, hidden dangers for your

organization.

According to Career Builder, 58 percent of em-

ployers have caught applicants lying on theirresumes, and one-third have seen that number

increase since the economic recession, which

began in 2008 (Career Builder). False claims

include names of previous employers, dates

of employment, job titles and responsibilities,

skills, awards and recognitions, credentials and

degrees and even military records (Olson). All

industries seem to be affected, from nancial

services to manufacturing, to nonprots, to re-

tail, to healthcare and accounting.

Hiring: A Game of Cat and Mouse

Resumes: Fabrications, Deceptions and Lies


3/8

3

But lying might be a good strategy for the applicant.

While more than half of employers surveyed report

catching somecandidates in lies, they likely dont try to

validate every applicants claims before the rst phone

screen or interview. Whats more, only 51 percent of

employers said they would automatically dismiss a

candidate caught lying. 40 percent said that it would

depend on what the candidate lied about, [and] seven

percent said theyd be willing to overlook a lie if they

liked the candidate (Career Builder). Recognizing the

obvious fact that not all exaggerations and misrepre-

sentations are caught and often, a candidates claims

go unchecked the lying applicant has better than a

50/50 chance of being successful.

Keep These Federal

Regulations in Mind

Organizations doing business with

the federal government face stringent

record-keeping and reporting require-

ments. Equal opportunity and afrmative

action are no longer feel-good recruitingeuphemisms. Government contractors,

for example, may be required to have can-

didates self-identify, with respect to race,

ethnicity, gender, disability and veteran

status; they may be required to report

on the diversity of their workforce and

to take compensatory action to achieve

or maintain a balance of representation;

and they may need to keep logs of all

applicants, tracking their classications

to ensure that recruiting practices pro-

vide equal opportunity to all potential

candidates (U.S. Equal Employment Op-

portunity Commission).

The requirements for all other businesses

are much simpler. All employers, regard-

less of size, are required to provide equal

pay to all genders, for equal work. Or-

ganizations with 15 or more employees

may not discriminate on the basis of race,

color, religion, sex (including pregnancy),

national origin, disability or genetic infor-

mation, and employers with 20 or more

employees may not discriminate against

candidates age 40 or above (U.S. Equal

Employment Opportunity Commission).

Individuals or organizations with

fewer than 15 employees are not spe-

cically covered by Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or af-

rmative-action standards, unless they

contract or subcontract with the feder-

al government. However, all employers

are encouraged to consult with legal

counsel to determine how federal regu-

lations apply to their organization, and to

contact the EEOC for nal determina-

tion.

Fabrications, Deceptions and Lies

of employers

have caught alie on aresume

7%40%

of employers have

seen an increase inresume

embellishmentspost-recession

58% 33% 51%

of employers said

that they wouldautomatically

dismiss candidatescaught in a lie

of employers say it woulddepend on what thecandidate lied about

say theyd be willing tooverlook a lie if they liked

the candidate

(Career Builder)
https://www1.eeoc.gov/contact/index.cfmhttps://www1.eeoc.gov/contact/index.cfm


4/8

4

As any human resources professional will attest,sorting through applicants is a tedious process.

Or, to introduce another aphorism, Narrowing

can be harrowing.

Forty-two percent of employers report spending at least two

minutes reviewing each resume they receive, and 86 percent

have more than one employee review each resume. By the

time a hiring decision is made, one in ve employers will in-

volve four or more employees in reviewing that candidates

resume (Career Builder).

Telephone screens, skills tests, intelligence tests, personality

tests, drug tests, background checks (including social media)

and candidate presentations are just a sample of the screening

processes used by employers. Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, chief

economist at Glassdoor, reports that the percentage of job seek-

ers reporting background checks has grown from 25 percent in

2010 to 42 percent in 2014, and nearly a quarter of todays ap-

plicants receive drug tests and/or skills tests (Glassdoor).

In the U.S., 56 percent of qualied candidates applicants

who have been selected to advance for consideration of em-

ployment receive telephone interviews, and two-thirds of

those who advance are screened in person" (Glassdoor).

These kinds of screens perform many important functions.

Alison Green, who publishes the Ask a Managerblog, cites

seven basic objectives. Some of them should be obvious

to the applicant: ensuring your salary expectations are in

line with the position being offered; validating your under-

standing of the job; clarifying issues from your resume or

application; conrming availability; and establishing quali-

cations. But some may be less anticipated, including making

sure that you're sane and reasonably intelligent, and seeing

if you'll say or do anything obvious that takes you out of the

running (Green).

Screening and Interviewing

Applicants

What Do

Candidates

Lie About?

Skill sets

57%

Awards and accolades

18%

Companies worked for

26%

Responsibilities

55%

Academic degrees

33%

Job title

34%

Dates of employment

42%

(Career Builder)
http://www.askamanager.org/http://www.askamanager.org/


5/8

5

In the U.S., employers take an average of 22.9

days interviewing the successful candidate

(Glassdoor). Of course, the successful can-

didate is seldom the rst one interviewed,

so the entire process can take several months.

As evidence, 39 percent of employers report

having jobs that stay open at least four months,

for lack of qualied applicants (Career Builder).

Positions that have the longest interview cy-

cles include police ofcers (128 days), assistant

professors (59 days), senior vice presidents (56

days) and program analysts (52 days); where-

as the shortest interview cycles are enjoyed

by entry-level marketers (4 days), entry-level

sales (5 days), servers and bartenders (6 days),

entry-level account managers (6 days) and dish-

washers (7 days) (Glassdoor).

***At this point, any self-respecting marketing

major should be wondering why employers would

invest two more days hiring a dishwasher than an

entry-level marketer.***

Thirty-eight percent of employers require can-

didates to interview with a C-level executive; 23

percent will dismiss candidates they feel do not

t the organizations culture; 18 percent will l-

ter candidates based on salary expectations; and

a commanding 58 percent will expect a thank-

you letter after the interview (Career Builder).

The Waiting Game

Candidates Wait for the Call

127.6 days

for PoliceOfficers

87.6 days

for PatentExaminers

60 days

for GovernmentEmployees

58.7 days

for AssistantProfessors

55.5 days

for SeniorVice Presidents

51.8 days

for ProgramAnalysts

(Glassdoor)

Employers Take Their Time(Career Builder)

require candidatesto interview with

a C-level executive

dismiss candidateswho dont fit their

company culture

eliminate candidates

whose salary expectationsaretoo high

expect athank-you note

after an interview

have held jobs open four

monthsor longer, for lackofqualified candidates

38% 58%

39%

23%

18%


6/8

6

Employers expectations of a candidate

may be patently obvious. They usual-

ly include job competence, likability,

cultural t, work ethic, team orienta-

tion, probable longevity with the organization,

and willingness to endure the negatives of the

job (Green, What Employers Are Looking For

When They Hire). But a survey of 1,200 of the

worlds top employers reveals that a majority

of large employers look for ve other determin-

ing characteristics in a successful candidate:

professionalism (86 percent), high energy (78

percent), self-condence (61 percent); ability to

self-monitor (58 percent) and intellectual curi-

osity (57 percent) (Casserly).

And as the world is becoming increasingly social,

employers are raising their expectations about

a candidates social skills, connections and net-

working experience. Ninety-three percent of

employers now report checking social media

proles, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twit-

ter, as part of the vetting process (Harris). In

fact, 44 percent of employers surveyed report-ed nding candidates through social media.

Applicants beware: Employers have come to rely

on social media posts as windows into a candidates

true personality, as indicators of a candidates

probable behavior on the job or in the commu-

nity, once employed. For example, a candidates

network may be viewed as an indication of her

level of connection or prominence in her eld. Or

a prole picture may provide clues as to whether

a candidate is sensible, or approachable, or cre-

ative. Some employers will read what a candidate

shares, to determine whether he is insightful and

articulate. And 42 percent of employers surveyed

said they have declined to make a job offer, based

solely on what they have seen online (Harris).

Clearly, the evidence suggests that both the em-

ployer and the job applicant have upped the ante

in this cat-and-mouse game we call hiring. Yet, as

each side struggles to gain the advantage, victory

becomes harder for both to attain. Perhaps, one

day, new systems and technologies will make it

easier for organizations to achieve their ultimate

goal: putting the right person in the right job, for

the good of the employee and the organization.But in the meantime, may the best players win.

Great Expectations

What Do Employers Say Theyre Looking For?

Professionalism

High-energy Ability to self-monitor

Confidence Intellectual curiosity86%

78%

61%

58%

57%

(Casserly)


7/8

7

Tracy Giordano contributed research for this whitepaper.

About the Author

Michael Zimmerman is the Senior Marketing Strategist at MarketPoint

LLC, a business consulting rm specializing in strategic communica-

tions, brand management and outsourced marketing. Calling on 36years of management experience, including two CEO positions and

several marketing leadership roles, Michael is a regular contributor to SmartCEO

Magazine(New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC editions); he has been pub -

lished in Social Media Today, Technorati, The Social Customer, and Sales and Marketing

Management Magazine, and speaks frequently at area universities.


8/8

8

WORKSCITED

Career Builder. Fiy-eight Percent of Employers Have Caught a Lie on a Resume. 7 August 2014. Press Release. 3 June 2016.

.

. New CareerBuilder Study Reveals Nine Lessons for Job Seekers and Recruiters That May Surprise You. 17 October 2013. Press

Release. 3 June 2016. .

Casserly, Meghan. Top Five Personality Traits Employers Hire Most. 4 October 2012. Column. 3 June 2016.

.

Glassdoor. Why Is Hiring Taking Longer?June 2015. Andrew Chamberlain. Research Report. 3 June 2016.

.

Green, Alison. What Employers Are Looking For When They Hire. 10 October 2012. Blog. 3 June 2016.

.

. Why Employers Do Phone Interviews. 9 September 2012. Blog. 3 June 2016. .

Harris, Peter. The top three things that employers want to see in your social media proles . 5 April 2015. Arcle. 3 June 2016.

.

Olson, Lindsay. The Top 10 Lies People Put on Their Rsums. 2 October 2013. Blog. 3 june 2016.

.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Coverage of Business/Private Employers. 2016. Regulaons. 3 June 2016.

.

. Employers. n.d. Regulaons. 3 June 2016.

Please pass it on!

Copyright 2016, MarketPoint LLC, Havre de Grace, MD. Reprints by permission: 410.942.0600

marketpoint whitepaper - hiring - a game of cat and mouse 2016 july

Documents