Given the range of possible information that could be considered to be a part of a Resume, we will attempt to reduce it to its bare minimum.

When employment agencies exchange Resume data with the customers in Corporate HR Departments, it is common practice to remove contact information from the Resume and replace it with the employment agency contact information. In this way, the customer is given the ability to assess the qualifications of the candidate without being given the ability to contact the candidate. In these circumstances, contacting the candidate, once the customer has assessed the Resume, can result in a fee of 15% to 20% of the first year's salary for the employment agency. In temporary or contract situations, contact information nets the staffing firm a markup on each hour that the employee works.

So, the Resume contains two components that contribute to its value:

Contact Information

Information that indicates a candidate's viability for a job.

A close look at the behavior of the value of the contact information is instructive. If a candidate is deemed viable as an applicant for a job, the contact information is an extremely valuable component of the Resume. If, on the other hand, the information in the Resume indicates that a candidate is non-viable, the contact information is worthless. It takes a human evaluation of the credential information to determine whether or not the contact information is important. But, insight into the credentials is required to understand the value of the contact data.

As a result, our definition is as follows. Prior to an initial screening, a Resume must contain both contact and credential information to have value. Any item containing credential and contact information will behave as a Resume for commercial purposes. Following an initial screening, however, current contact information constitutes a Resume.

Additional Topics:
   

- John Sumser

---

Home | ERN | Bugler | The Blogs | Blogroll | Advertise | Archives | Careers

---

Contacting Us: