To me, an immediate red flag is a candidate who has 10 years of work history, 1-2 years at each company. That tells me there is a problem of some sort…I mean once or twice could be a bad fit but a half dozen times of that, it’s the employee not the companies.
I had a problem child handed over to me awhile back as a last resort. I too failed and turning this person around and they left the company. While looking through their file, I found the resume this person gave us when we interviewed them. Sure enough, 10 years and not more than 1.5 years at any place. I asked the folks who hired the employee – didn’t you notice this? Why the f did we bring this person aboard? They just shrugged and handed their mistake off to me to handle.
And I agree with conversation above. A wise mentor a long time ago said the point of an interview is not whether the person knows the exact technical skills we need…if they are worth their salt they can pick that up quickly as long as they have the basics in our technology field. What is more important is their thought process, their ability to get along with others and their ability to stick with something…that’s why a degree is important for an entry level person – shows they can stick with something for four or more years.
