"CVs are a pack of lies. That includes mine"

I often say this when I talk to someone about CVs and recruitment.

Why? Over the years, I have looked at a significant number of CVs and sent mine to apply for jobs. And I have seen all sorts of "creative writing" in those CVs. From people with perfect track records, to CVs that have been completely rewritten to match the job vacancy and not the actual career of the applicant.

So, it makes me wonder why we still rely on such a flaky approach.

Appointing a new person to join the company is one of the most important decisions a manager can make. So, I wish we would try to find better ways of finding those people.

Here are some things I do:

• I am always recruiting even if I don't have a vacancy to fill or I am not looking for work. I think recruitment should be done when we are NOT looking for people.

• I always have a list of people I would like to work with and when the opportunity arrives it is a question of calling those people and see who may be available and interested.

• What the person publishes on LinkedIn, blogs, YouTube, etc is as good (if not better) than any CV. Use those channels learn about people and interact with them.

• If I'm recruiting people to join a team, then the team is deeply involved in selecting their next colleague.

• The probation period is the actual interview. Those 3-5 months will show how well the person fits in the company...and if the company is good for the person. It goes both ways.

What do you think? How do you find new people? How would you like people to find you?