What is the Hiring Manager Thinking, When He Reads Your Resume?

When writing your resume you want to write for your audience and that is the hiring manager. This guide shows you how to craft your resume for the hiring manager.

If you approach your resume from the perspective of the hiring manager you’ll make better decisions. You’ll create a better resume because of it. So let’s spend a little time getting inside the mind of the hiring manager.

Of course all hiring managers are not alike, but after personally observing several hiring managers combined with my own experience, I’ll paint a picture of what you can expect.

If you have personally hired over 25 people you can probably skip this section.

What do hiring managers want?

Most hiring managers want to find a candidate to help their company achieve their objectives. Plain and simple. Most hiring managers (but not all) would love to find a super star. The person who helps take their team to the championships. A super star does great work, gets along with most people, and does not cause too many conflicts.

My concept of hiring people is this: Hire people who are better at what they do than I am. It strengthens the team. These people help lead us to success. And make my job easier. However, many hiring managers are afraid to hire a super star.

Beware of the following type of hiring manager

Insecure hiring managers fear someone who may outshine and eventually replace them. You should be cautious of these types.

A great hiring manager always looks for their replacement so they can personally move up. And there’s one thing that all hiring managers absolutely do not want. In fact the thought of it send shivers down my spine.

What hiring managers don’t want

The worst thing a hiring manager can do when recruiting is make a “bad hire.” A bad hire causes a great deal of trouble for the hiring manager. Bad hires range from a person who can’t do their job, to a person with severe behavioral problems.

Hiring managers dub someone a bad hire when they finally admit they have made a serious mistake in hiring this person. Bad hires can cost a company a lot of money. Both in damage they cause and in the cost of getting them out of the company.

The worst bad hires are the ones management tries to ignore

The worst “bad hire” is a person who can’t admit they made a mistake. They refuse to take any responsibility. They always look for someone or something to blame. Because they can’t see their mistakes, even when its pointed out to them, they can’t learn from their mistakes. They don’t grow and become stronger as an employee.

These folks cause destruction because there is an illusion they are doing their job when in fact they are not. The bad hire adversely affects fellow employees and people who depend on him to do his job. Fellow employees are the first to notice. Upper management is usually the last to admit they made a bad hire.

Some examples of bad hires:

• The person shows up late and unprepared for most meetings. And turns in work late.
• The person does not have the skills nor the experience to do the job.
• The person just cannot get their job done. They focus more on politics and covering it up.
• The person starts to alienate others rather than bring people together to do a good job.
• The person’s style causes people to leave the company.
• The person causes others to become demoralized and to contribute less.
• The person starts to break or damage a portion of the company that was working well.
• The person is insensitive to cultural differences.

There are so many ways a hiring manager can lose by making a bad hire. He is afraid of making a bad hire. This is a good thing to keep in mind as you write your resume.

How do you write your resume for the hiring manager? Let’s find out...