I’ve run into this resume issue many times and have realized I may be missing the boat here. When I look at a resume, here is what I believe I can learn:
-Work History – Obviously, where they have worked, positions they have held, successes they have achieved, how long they have earned a paycheck in an industry. Oh, and it is probably embellished. And next-to-impossible to completely verify.
-Education – I can find out where they attended college, what degrees they earned and whether they graduated magna or summa cum laude. And this is the section that contains the most falsehoods on any given resume. The information must be verified.
-Organization of Thoughts – I like to see how the candidate presents their employment information. Structure is well-defined here. They may have paid for resume-writing services so I cannot assume it is their creation.
I suppose if I wanted to be snarky, I could mention that I can learn their contact information too. But what else?
By now, you probably get my point. A hiring manager can assume many aspects of a candidate from their resume. But the actual data that you collect to support your assumptions about that person is minimal. And that is the trap of overreaching on pre-interview decisions based primarily on an applicant’s resume.