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.
