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Recruiters’ Inferences of Applicant Personality Based on Resume Screening: Do Paper People have a Personality?

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Abstract

Research shows recruiters infer dispositional characteristics from job applicants’ resumes and use these inferences in evaluating applicants’ employability. However, the reliability and validity of these inferences have not been empirically tested. Using data collected from 244 recruiters, we found low levels of estimated interrater reliability when they reviewed entry-level applicants’ resumes and made inferences regarding applicants’ personality traits. Moreover, when recruiters’ inferences of applicant personality were correlated with applicants’ actual Big Five personality scores, results indicated that recruiters’ inferences lacked validity, with the possible exceptions of extraversion and openness to experience. Finally, despite being largely unreliable and invalid, recruiters’ inferences of applicants’ extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness predicted the recruiters’ subsequent employability assessments of the applicants.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jeremy O. Stafford for his assistance with the data collection and Robert S. Rubin for vetting a draft manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, M.J. Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, 76109, USA

    Michael S. Cole

  2. Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    Hubert S. Feild, William F. Giles & Stanley G. Harris

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  1. Michael S. Cole
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Correspondence to Michael S. Cole.

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Cole, M.S., Feild, H.S., Giles, W.F. et al. Recruiters’ Inferences of Applicant Personality Based on Resume Screening: Do Paper People have a Personality?. J Bus Psychol 24, 5–18 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-008-9086-9

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