1. Before you start to review resumes, make sure you know the most important qualifications for the job (education, experience, skill) so you can review resumes for those key items.

2. Then create a list of preferred qualifications for the job so you can be on the lookout for the highest qualified candidates.

3. Resumes should have the inclusive dates of employment for each position. If there are dates not accounted for, see if the cover letter explains. Or, if it’s a highly qualified candidate, you can ask him or her by phone.

4. If supervision is important for the position, then look for examples of position titles that indicate supervisory experience, and the number of employees the candidate supervised.

5. If it is important that candidates have experience in an organization similar to yours, then pay attention to the size of the organizations they worked for and the types of service or products provided.

6. Also check to see if candidates have experience with specific tasks or skills related to your industry and the job in question.

7. Set up a system to grade the resumes based on qualifications, education, skills, similar experience, etc. You can assign points for the different categories, or grade them on an A, B, C system, like in school. The candidates with the highest scores or overall grades are called in for interviews.

8. If a resume is hard to read or doesn’t provide enough information to evaluate, then go on to the next one since you should have plenty of good candidates–especially in this economy.

2. Once you’re familiar with the basic required qualifications, create a list of preferred qualifications that will help you screen further for the highest qualified candidates.

You’re bound to receive resumes from candidates who have additional requirements above and beyond the minimum requirements. For example, the minimum requirement may be a Bachelor’s degree but a person with a Master’s degree might have more to bring to your organization. So if the Master’s is a preferred degree, add it to your list of preferred qualifications. The candidates with the Master’s will be considered more highly qualified.

You may also want candidates to have experience in your specific industry. Again, this is a plus and makes the candidates more highly qualified. If a specific certification is not currently required for the position but will be required in the future, add the certification to the list of preferred qualifications. A candidate who is already certified will save your organization training time and money.

Make a list of these preferred qualifications for the job at hand, and check them off for each candidate. This will help you create a list of highest qualified candidates whom you may want to interview first. Then look at your minimally qualified candidates if needed.

 
3. Resumes should have the inclusive dates of employment for each position. If there are dates not accounted for, see if the cover letter explains. Or, if it’s a highly qualified candidate, you might ask him or her by phone

If there are no inclusive employment dates given for past positions, this could be because the candidate didn’t stay very long. You may want to eliminate candidates with no dates from consideration–perhaps they’re not reliable–or take the extra time to check with the candidate if he or she is otherwise highly qualified.

And if candidates changed jobs often, you will want to know why. Were they laid off and hired elsewhere, or did they move to a more responsible position?

You’ll also want to check the dates in between positions to make sure there is not an unexplained gap in time. Candidates often take time off to be with their children or to take care of an elderly or sick relative. This is all acceptable, but if the cover letter doesn’t explain the absence then you should ask. In this economy, candidates could have been laid off or unemployed for long periods of time, through no fault of their own.

So if the candidate has the minimum and preferred qualifications and consistent employment experiences, put him or her on your positive list.

 
4. If supervision is important for the position, then look for examples of position titles that indicate supervisory experience. Also look for the number of employees the candidate supervised.

Review the job description: does it require supervision of a few administrative staff or supervising a large division or department? Once you know the level of supervision, review the resume for appropriate titles or descriptions that indicate they supervised employees.

If the position is a Division or Department Head, you want to see significant supervisory and administrative/management experience in past jobs, as well as how many people were supervised (1, 10, 25 or 100). Sometimes Department Heads directly supervise only 3 to 5 division heads but are responsible for a department of 30 people, which demonstrates their supervision/management experience.

Again, in order to rank the candidates, establish both a minimum requirement and a preferred requirement for supervision

 
5. If it is important that candidates have experience in an organization similar to yours, then pay attention to the size of the organizations they worked for and the types of service or products provided.

Many organizations feel that candidates must have experience in their field to be qualified for the position. If the hiring manager requires matching experience, you can easily screen resumes for relevant jobs. However, if the hiring manager is willing to consider candidates with similar experience, then your task is quite different.

For example, is it important for candidates to have experience in a large company, but not necessarily in your industry? Is it important that they have sales or retail experience, but not necessarily with the product your company sells? You’ll need to do a careful review to see if the candidates have relevant experience when it comes to the size of the companies they’ve worked for, types of services provided, processes used, organizational culture, etc.

Another example: if you’re searching for a Human Resources Director at a university, the candidates should have experience with a diverse population, be able to work with PhD’s, have experience with recruitment of faculty as well as security officers, facility directors and policy makers. So, determine the level of “match” that’s important to your organization.

 
6. Check to see if candidates have experience with specific tasks or skills related to your industry and the job in question.

Every industry or profession has terminology specific to their product or services. It’s not too difficult to screen the experience section of a resume for your specific industry terms in order to see if candidates meet the minimum requirements. If specific terminology isn’t used, it could mean the candidate’s experience is not appropriate.

For example, if you’re screening candidates in the accounting field, you’d be on the lookout for terms like AP for Accounts Payable or GL for General Ledger, or for experience balancing an account through trial balance.

However, there are also new practices in each field or profession and you want to make sure the candidates have worked in an organization that is forward-thinking. For example, police officers obviously must respond to calls and participate in investigation of crimes. But some police departments go beyond traditional methods, using new community policing methods and technology that are more proactive. So, it’s important that you’re up-to-date on what’s new in your own industry.

 
7. Set up a system to grade the resumes based on qualifications, education, skills, similar experience, etc.

If you have more than 25 resumes to review, you’ll need a system to keep track of the candidates’ qualification. I recommend you set up a rating system to determine which candidates are the most qualified for your particular position. A rating system also allows you to defend your decision if a candidate asks why he or she was not selected–you’ll be able to say, “The hiring decision was based on a fair and equitable system applied to all candidates based on qualifications.”

There are a number of rating systems, but I suggest two for your consideration:

• The point system is pretty straightforward. Let’s say for the job in question reqiores that a Bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement and a Master’s degree is the preferred requirement in the education category. Assign 1 point for education for all candidates who have a Bachelor’s degree and 2 points for those with a Master’s degree.

 

• Do the same for all the specific job qualifications for the position in question: skills, level of experience, experience in your industry. Assign candidates points for their appropriate experience in the field, for working in similar organizations, for having specific talents or skills (such as balancing the general ledger or handling Workers’ Compensation).

 

• The ABC system is similar to the grades we all received in school. Assign candidates a “grade” based on their overall qualifications for the job: education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities. This method is more subjective–like when we were in school, each rater has his or her own bias to what merits an A, B or C. This is a method used by seasoned resume screeners since they have years of experience.

8. If a resume is hard to read or doesn’t provide enough information to evaluate, then go on to the next one since you should have plenty of good candidates–especially in this economy.

It’s the candidate’s responsibility to prepare a resume that demonstrates his or her qualifications, experience, skill and abilities. So if you cannot find the minimum qualifications for education, years of experience, certifications, etc., on the resume, then you should move on to the next resume.

Of course, you should read a resume carefully to give each candidate a fair opportunity. And for technical, professional or management positions, you’ll have to devote more time to looking for details like tasks completed, projects implemented, responsibilities, efficiencies and objectives reached. These positions may also require a telephone screening process to make sure the candidates are the right match for your organization. Believe it or not, there are still a few jobs for which employers don’t receive hundreds of resumes! For a position like that, you’ll need to screen very carefully if you have a limited number of candidates.

If you aren’t getting enough resumes, it could mean one of two things:

• There is a shortage of people in the field.
• You didn’t do a good job of advertising and recruiting.

In either case, you may want to advertise again and find the right professional organizations to approach about your position.

Remember, finding the right person for your job opening will mean success for your company’s goals and objectives.