 |
Blunderous CVs head to dustbin knock out jobs:
Recession is in, jobs are a rarity, but applicants are plenty. In
such a cut throat race the need to have an error free CV (Curriculum
Vitae) is very important. "Candidates today are trying to make their
resumes different and impressive, so that they stand out. In the
process, they....
Read Full |
|
Bangalore:
When Yeshasvini Ramaswamy, Managing Director of E2E Practices, an HR
consulting firm heard about candidates boldly boasting their
connections by including their LinkedIn links in their resume, she
was taken aback.
"Companies hire individuals and not
their connections. A person's introduction in LinkedIn will be the
most attractive one, however, the same individual's Facebook account
will flash something quite contradictory, to be at par with the
crowd," she says with a chuckle.
The reaction of Yeshasvini is one of
the quite common reactions of HRs to the recent trend of freshers as
well as senior employees including their LinkedIn profile links in
the resume. The trend brings more suspicion as people become
sneakier to be aware of their online life and a mis-match may create
hurdles.
"If you include your social or
professional network link, there are chances of people checking the
other networks too and if you have maintained two different
personalities then the employer will not try to be at risk hiring
you. You can always market yourself but with cautiousness," said
Anand Kumar Padmanaban, Managing Director of SurgeForth, a workforce
management solutions provider.
In social networking sites, since the
popular norm is to be the coolest 'dude' or 'gal', the introductions
are phrased to mark their cool side and not their serious nature.
As the resumes are expected to be a
crisp description of the individual, candidates have begun to
display their LinkedIn links, under contact information or subtly
mingling it with some other details in the resume.
"You can place the link in your
contact information at the top of your resume or if you had a great
recommendation from a former boss on your profile, you might attach
the link under that job," said a LinkedIn member. He replied to a
popular LinkedIn Q&A topic on 'Would you put a link to your LinkedIn
profile on your resume?' The job applicants feel that it's an easy
lead to elaborate your personality, a thing which is not applicable
in a resume.
"I use it on my business cards, my
email signature, my resume and my letterhead. It makes me more
professional and completes the picture of me as it contains more
information than that will fit on a 2-page resume," says Bryan C
Webb, P. Eng., a Technical Marketing & Sales Consultant. This is a
popular notion among the employees, which the HRs are yet to accept.
There is a sense of resentment among HRs to this trend that tends to
blend social and professional aspects, with the authenticity being
quite questionable. "We are not drawn by such links as they are
mostly pack of lies," says H.C. Chandrashekar, HR Executiive, Digant
Technologies. During the launch of an HR Consortium, it was pointed
out that people can also lose a prospective job due to such
inclusions, if the employer finds contradictory statements in the
resume and the profile.
However, some of them have started
considering it, but the part being considered remains constrained to
the recommendation section. "Senior people now-a-days use these
links quite often in their resumes. When I see such links I mainly,
refer to recommendation section which clearly states the person's
abilities and strengths. As a professional none of the senior would
recommend, unless they really see them to be worthy," says Chetna
Manglik, Head Opeartions - India, plugHR, an HR Consultancy firm.
Though it has gained some traction, yet the resentment continues.
"It could be helpful by seeing the recommendations. Yet I'm
reluctant as even recommendations too may not be genuine. There is a
habit of helping each other that prevails in LinkedIn too i.e. you
recommend me and in return I recommend you. In such cases the value
of the recommendations are of minimal regard," says Prakash .HN
Senior Manager HR & Administration at Xora software.
|