Is Referring Contacts Really Boosting Production? Seeking Clarity on Resume Claims

Dear Friends,

My question is about one of my friends who is working as an HR manager. In his resume, he has mentioned that he increased production at his previous company. When asked how he achieved this, he explained that he boosted production by leveraging his contacts. However, the interviewer pointed out that he had only referred people to sell the product, and this could not be considered as increasing sales.

I would like to know which perspective is correct.

Thank you.

First and foremost, the heading of your post is mismatched. Your friend works as an HR Manager. In his CV, he claimed that he could increase production in his previous company through referrals. In that case, the right heading would be Probing the Claim Made by Candidate During Interview.

Coming to your query, you could have given a little more information. What is the nature of your friend's industry? What type of production takes place?

Probing as an Interviewing Skill

Probing is an important skill in interviewing. The simple questions that come to mind are: How could the job candidate increase production? What kind of referrals did he make? How many did he make? What was the conversion ratio? By what percentage did the production increase in terms of value and revenue? In fact, if the referrals are made, then instead of referring to it as an "increase in sales," why did your friend refer to it as an "increase in production"?

We do not know whether the interviewer asked the above questions or not. Therefore, it is difficult to assess who is correct. Possibly, the interviewer was not convinced by the answers your friend gave; hence, he made his own conclusion. If the interviewer was not convinced, what attempt did the job candidate make to convince him by quoting the numbers?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar