Panel members must read the applications
"We didn’t read the CV" is not a defence. It’s a defect.
The MPC has reviewed cases where candidates raised concerns that panel members at interview stage had not read the applications or CVs, and declined copies when offered. In the case examined, the MPC found that while having copies available would have been preferable, the process was not defective overall, because every candidate faced the same panel conditions.
That is a narrow escape. The fact that the MPC engaged with the complaint at all signals the risk. A panel that has not read the application is a panel that cannot probe specific claims, cannot verify stated experience, and cannot ask follow-up questions grounded in the candidate’s own material.
Read the applications. Read the CVs. If the volume is too high, design shortlisting stages, do not cut reading.