Building a resume is not always easy, and finding red flags on resumes as a hiring manager can also be difficult to do. The more resumes you get to look at, the easier it will become to find red flags. As you look to hire financial employees for your company, you need to be cognizant of the most common red flags on financial resumes. Here are a few:
- Too Many Jobs
It is understandable if a financial employee has worked a handful of jobs over the past couple of years, but too many jobs in a short period of time found on a financial resume can be a red flag. As you look to hire a new financial employee, you will want someone who stays loyal to their employer for at least a couple of years, not someone who has jumped from job to job every two years. - Long History
When a candidate puts all of their history on a resume, it can be a little overwhelming and even annoying, especially when it comes from financial candidates. Even though the candidate is looking for a job in the financial industry, he does not need to include a job worked 10 or more years ago. This will only cause confusion and take up too much valuable space. Too much on the resume is also a sign that the candidate is not proud of their current achievements or organized. - Lack of Evidence of Achievements
Any financial resume that does not include evidence of achievements will give off a major red flag. This can be seen when a resume lists only job duties from each job, not accomplishments from those jobs. This red flag signals that the employee did nothing more than the bare minimum at their previous job stops during their career, or did not take enough pride in their work to make any noteworthy accomplishments. - Large Gaps between Employment
When a financial candidate submits their resume to your company, you need to look for the red flag of large gaps in employment periods. A financial professional who has experienced large gaps between jobs could be hiding something. They might have been fired, laid off, or do not have the skills or knowledge necessary to work within the industry for prolonged periods. - Missing Theme for Career
A financial resume that does not have a career theme to it is a major red flag. Moving from unrelated job to unrelated job is never a good thing, so be sure to look for this on all resumes submitted for open jobs at your company — they should contain some for of financial experience, at minimum. - Grammar and Spelling Mistakes
The biggest red flag for a financial resume is a mistake involving grammar or spelling. Even though the candidate will need to be more concerned with numbers than words, they still need to know how to write and create documents for their profession.
There are plenty of financial resume red flags to look for when candidates submit their qualifications to your company. If a resume has one or more of the red flags in it from this post, make sure you throw it in the trash immediately.