Effects of Applicant Personality on Resume Evaluations Gary N. Burns • Neil D. Christiansen • Megan B. Morris • David. A. Periard • John A. Coaster Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract Purpose This study examined the extent that personality information in resumes impacts hiring judgments through applicant’s resumes. Study 1 examined lay theories regarding relationships between resume cues and the applicant’s personality and hireability. Study 2 examined how the applicant’s personality impacted hiring judgments through resumes. Design/Methodology/Approach Data for both studies were collected in the context of a managerial position. For Study 1, participants assessed resume cues in regards to their relationship with personality and hireability. For Study 2, Human Resource personnel evaluated each resume in regards to personality and hireability. Findings Results for Study 1 highlight several connec- tions between applicants’ personality and resumes, with strong links between resume content and perceptions of conscientiousness and agreeableness. Results for Study 2 indicate that personality was largely unrelated to ratings of hireability but perceptions of personality were strongly linked to hireability; actual personality was linked to the variability in cue information related to hireability, and conscientiousness was indirectly related to hireability through judgments of conscientiousness. Implications Results from these studies suggest that personality and perceptions of personality play a greater role in resume development and screening than has been previously suggested. The pattern of results reported sug- gest that there are a number of resumes cues that accurately reflect an applicant’s personality and influence perceptions of hireability. Originality/Value By taking an exploratory approach, the current studies were able to explore a large variety of cues linked to personality and ratings of hireability. Results have implications for both applicants and HR personnel evalu- ating resumes. Keywords Applicant personality Á Personality judgment Á Resume Á Selection Introduction Resumes are widely used to help organizations identify the most qualified applicants for a given position. Each year in the United States several hundred million resumes are sent and reviewed, with estimates indicating that large organi- zations receive tens of thousands of resumes a month (Bradford 2012). Recent technological advances have made the distribution and collection of resumes easier than ever before. A single internet database might offer as many as 25 million resumes that can be searched by keywords or phrases. As a result, resumes are an important factor in the hiring process and the mechanisms involved in resume evaluation deserve attention. G. N. Burns (&) Á M. B. Morris Á David. A. Periard Department of Psychology, Wright State University, 3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy, Dayton, OH 45435-0001, USA e-mail: gary.burns@wright.edu M. B. Morris e-mail: morris.156@wright.edu David. A. Periard e-mail: periard.2@wright.edu N. D. Christiansen Á J. A. Coaster Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA e-mail: chris1nd@cmich.edu J. A. Coaster e-mail: john.coaster@gmail.com 123 J Bus Psychol DOI 10.1007/s10869-014-9349-6