Five Tactics for Successful Hiring Without CVs

Five Tactics for Successful Hiring Without CVs

Does the CV really work for employers or candidates? Feedback from senior in-house recruiters at our recent roundtable events is that fewer and fewer companies are relying on the CV to identify right-fit talent.

In a digital world where we can accurately assess for fit-to-role, and predict future performance, the two-page adjective-stuffed curriculum vitae looks like a relic from a bygone age. Here’s why:

  • Relevance: Recruiters often can’t find what they really need to know from a CV. If you’re assessing an early careers candidate who doesn’t have a long employment history, you’re restricted to the ubiquitous personal summary and academic achievement, for decision-making.
  • Verification: While platforms like LinkedIn allow for peer recommendations, information on a CV is largely unverified, likely embellished, possibly untrue. You might select a candidate over another only to find later on in the process they’re unsuitable.
  • Risk of bias: Humans all have bias, whether it be conscious or unconscious. A CV can include information that may result in biased decision-making. Perhaps racial or gender prejudice, or affinity bias (they remind me of me).
  • Differentiation: It’s quite difficult to distinguish yourself through a two-page CV. Key skills like decision making, teamwork, or working to a deadline can’t be assessed, only written about – which of course everyone does! Making one CV much like the next.
  • It’s analogue: It’s cumbersome to accurately curate, collate, and analyse the data about large numbers of candidates. As a result, if you are not careful, then right-fit candidates can slip through the net. Some of our customers receive 200,000 CVs per year. Imagine the time required to sort through them.
  • Data protection: New regulation, GDPR, comes into effect on 25th May 2018. This will have implications for businesses that store and process personal information, meaning companies will need a clear policy about when they will delete personal data.

For candidates, whether they’re reaching for a new opportunity, moving into another industry, or early on in their career, it’s frustrating to be restricted to the CV format. It’s as clear to them as to us that credentials on paper aren’t a predictor of their future performance.

So, what’s the alternative?

Recruitment technology transforms the way businesses hire and helps them create an exceptional candidate experience. Even without CVs, Harver can sign-post right-fit candidates through a combination of video interviewing, situational judgement tests, and psychometrics. It’s also an engaging way to showcase your brand and personalise communications to candidates.

Here are our five tactics for getting started with CV-free recruiting.

How to recruit without CVs

1. Know your values: You’re recruiting for right-fit so make sure you understand how your company values link to employee behaviours as this will determine the assessments you use. Being explicit about your values in recruitment marketing (such as videos about corporate culture) gives candidates insight to progress or de-select themselves.

2. Select the right assessment: Relevance of the assessment tool is key to ensure you don’t screen out the right candidates. There is a huge variety of assessment available from coding to games and situational judgment tests. Decide on the right combination. Taking an objective look at your end-to-end recruitment process can help you see where you might need to make changes.

3. Go to video: One of our retail clients now has almost 100% attendance rates to interview having switched to video. Some of our clients go straight to video before assessment, using intelligent automation to sign-post right-fit candidates.

4. Set metrics: One of our hospitality clients switched from CVs to 10 online questions and saw a 45% increase in applications – and a better caliber of candidates. As a team, define metrics for success, including key milestones like target time to complete an application and end goals as well.

5. Standardise: Using a platform for recruitment means all candidates have the same experience wherever and whenever they are assessed, regardless of the scale of your internal resource. Map out the candidate journey and ensure it’s consistent for all.

If you’d like to find out more about how Harver can help you map out your end-to-end process and switch from CVs to tech-based recruitment, please get in touch.

Harver Team

Harver Team

Updated on:
May 9, 2023

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