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Hiring Smart Process - Resume Reviews

Jun 24th, 2008 | By Lola Kakes | Category: Employee Hiring, Lead Articles

Most companies request that applicants send their r?sum?s to either an email address or a business address because it is a quick and simple way to check skills and qualifications. This information will help you to determine if you wish to continue to the interview stage. Regardless of how many you receive, it is important to review all of the r?sum?s consistently.

ABC's of R?sum? Reviews

As you begin the process of reviewing the r?sum?s, it might be helpful to have three separate piles;

A - those r?sum?s you know don't fit your criteria,

B - those r?sum?s that may need a second look, and

C - those r?sum?s that are definitely interesting.

Establishing which r?sum?s fall into which category can be done by going through these steps:

1. Is there a cover letter? For the most part, unqualified applicants fail to write a cover letter or a cover email message (depending upon the position).

2. Scan the r?sum? to obtain an overall impression of the applicant.

3. Identify the easy-to-find qualifications. For example, if your position requires a college degree, does the applicant have one? If not, reject the r?sum? or place it in your "maybe meets qualifications" pile or electronic folder.

4. Read the description of what the candidate says they are looking for in their next job This could tell you how seriously the candidate is taking the job search and how carefully they are reading the ads.

5. Look for a summary statement of qualifications and experience. If the candidate has taken the time to customize their summary, it will enable you to quickly find the characteristics you seek from your job description. Make a note to check on the accurate, actual dates of employment. These r?sum?s quickly fall into the "further review" or "B" pile.

One rule of r?sum? review that will never change is to look at proper spelling and grammar. Your quick, first skim of the r?sum? should yield an overall impression of your candidate's grammatical style and attention to detail. A r?sum? can be a simple way to assess a candidates worth. Assuming the candidate's r?sum? passes an initial inspection, the Hiring Smart process can move forward.

At this point, you should have found enough similarities between the applicants' r?sum? and your job description or requirements for the position. Place the r?sum? in your A, B, or C piles. Red flags are items that are not clearly explained on the r?sum? or in the cover letter, and may include:

? employment gaps,

? evidence of decreasing responsibility

? short-term employment at several jobs

? multiple shifts in career path

Next, you can conduct a telephone screen interview or set up a face-to-face initial interview with the prospective qualified candidates.