Red flags to look out for in resume

Shortlisting a candidate based on resume alone can be challenging as it may not fully reflect the person's real capability or intent. Its hard to find a resume that is 100% truthful, and that is expected. With good and creative writing skills, it is not difficult to make an average or below average job applicant look good on paper. Assuming on paper the potential candidate has the relevant work experience and qualification one potential red flag I would look out for in a resume is

Continuity of Job History

This is an indicator of how long the potential applicant is likely to stay with your company. I have known people who have made it a point to move every 3 years. I have also known people who cannot stay long on jobs. All these shows up in the career history. As rule of thumb, I normally would not shortlist anyone with average of 2 years with each company. To me training is expensive and it may take up to half year to train up a person. Also for an average person who wishes to move up to the next level, he/she needs at least 2 years on average - half year training, 1 year to show he/she is good at what he/she is doing and half year to prove that he/she is ready for the next level.

However, there are valid reasons why people do not stay long on their job, for example contract ended, incompetent bosses, demanding working hours, lack of guidance/direction, lack of advancement opportunities, etc. This is something that is difficult to tell from the resume. However, I would have my apprehension about hiring someone who could not stay more than a year (on average) in his/her last 5 jobs if the person I is for a permanent position.