Master the art of reviewing resumes

If you are working in recruitment, you probably must review a couple of resumes every week. If you are a hiring manager, you will be reviewing a couple hundred resumes a month. Learning how to quickly and effectively review a resume will reward you when the new year hiring boom starts. So, let’s have a look at how you can make your resume review process effective.

How to Master the Art of Reviewing Resumes

1. Learn to spot the unqualified applicants

If you have a pile of resumes stacked up on your desk, the chances are that there will be several unqualified candidates in the mix. First, give the resumes a quick scan to determine whether the applicants have what you are looking for. You can make a few checkboxes for this step, including a few crucial skills and requirements. Using the checklist, you can sort resumes into three piles: yes, no, and maybe.

2. Don’t look for perfection

You spent hours perfecting the job description so that your dream candidate will apply for the position. You hope that they will have no shortcomings and will be exactly what you are looking for. This doesn’t happen that often in the practical world. Consider the job market around you. There are hundreds of employers looking for the same set of talents. Therefore, take the candidate’s potential into account when you make decisions.

3. Keep an eye out for resume red flags

Resumes can tell you a lot about the candidates who applied for your advertisement. When reviewing resumes, keep a lookout for potential red flags. Let us highlight a few of those for you:

• Unexplained resume gaps – Long breaks between jobs are acceptable when the candidate provides a reasonable explanation, such as military work or maternity/paternity leave.
• Job hopping – Job hopping is more common today than it was before. Therefore, keep an eye out for excessive job hopping. You don’t want to spend a huge budget onboarding someone who’s going to leave in just three months.
• Stagnant career progression – Has the candidate never been promoted? If a job seeker has stayed in the same position for years, it can indicate a lack of interest in upskilling and professional development.
• Obvious resume mistakes – Does the resume start with a misspelled sentence? Are there grammatical errors galore? Mistakes on a resume show the lack of attention to detail and carelessness of a candidate.
• Unnecessary details – If the resume mentions unnecessary information about the candidate, including unrelated hobbies and personal information, that means they lack summarizing and prioritizing skills.

4. Look for generic content

Looking for tailored resumes is a big part of a successful resume review. If you want to hire a candidate that fits in well with your company culture and business values, they should have applied for the job with a tailored resume. Pay attention to the resumes in your ‘yes’ pile. When you dig deeper into them, some will appear generic. The tailored resumes are the ones that should have your full attention. These are the people who walked the extra mile for their job application. This indicates that they are willing to put in a bit of extra work for you.

5. Pay extra attention to the chosen resumes

When you go through your ‘yes’ pile, you will come across the tailored resumes we discussed above. Take your time reviewing these resumes. Check whether the candidates have all or most of the qualifications you have required. If you are hiring for on-site work, you should pay attention to their location as well. Consider whether the candidate shows potential and if they have the right experience for the job. Soon enough, you will find a few great applicants who check all your boxes.

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