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The Impact of Competency Statements on Résumés for Short‐listing Decisions
Author(s) -
Bright Jim E. H.,
Hutton Sonia
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of selection and assessment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.812
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1468-2389
pISSN - 0965-075X
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2389.00132
Subject(s) - ranking (information retrieval) , listing (finance) , psychology , selection (genetic algorithm) , inclusion (mineral) , replicate , personnel selection , social psychology , information retrieval , computer science , management , statistics , business , mathematics , finance , artificial intelligence , economics
Sixty‐two managers and human resource consultants rated a series of genuine résumés with covering letters. The résumés were manipulated to contain varying amounts of information about the candidate’s knowledge, skills and abilities (competency statements). This information appeared at different locations in the résumé and covering letter. In addition, half the managers were provided with extra job requirement details beyond the job advertisement. Managers rated the candidate résumés for candidate suitability, decision to interview and overall ranking. The inclusion of competency statements resulted in higher manager ratings. However, the location of the competency statements did not influence ratings given to résumés. Further, the extra information provided to managers did not influence their ratings. The results replicate and extend an earlier study by Earl, Bright and Adams (1998) and challenge the idea that selection decisions are largely based on the notion of applicant fit. The results suggest that the inclusion on the résumé of statements that address job competencies even in a general fashion will boost an applicant’s chances of being short‐listed.