subject: Perfman HR: SCREENING AND EVALUATING RESUMES [print this page] Perfman HR: SCREENING AND EVALUATING RESUMES
When you advertise a job opening, you will mostlikely be flooded with resumes or job applications.To efficiently screen and assess candidates'skillsand to prevent stars from getting lost in amountain of submissionsyou must establish aprocess for evaluating resumes.Evaluating Resumes and Job ApplicationsResumes remain an essential tool for employersin screening job candidates, determining ifthe candidate is a good fit for the position, anddeciding whether or not to go on to the nextstep, an interview.Although resumes tell you only what the candidatewants you to know, they still reveal a greatdeal.
Evaluating Resumes and Job Applications
What is the overall look of the resume?Sophisticated? Sloppy? The visual presentation isimportant. A resume for someone looking for ajob as an art director should be creative, with aninteresting choice of typography that would beinappropriate for, say, a young lawyer's resume. Organization is key, in that it tends to predict howthe candidate would prepare written material topresent to customers or clients. In fact, some saythat the structure of the resumeor lack thereof reveals the working of the candidate's mind.
When you advertise a job opening, you will mostlikely be flooded with resumes or job applications.To efficiently screen and assess candidates'skillsand to prevent stars from getting lost in amountain of submissionsyou must establish aprocess for evaluating resumes.When evaluating resumes, look for stabilityby assessing how long the candidate has stayedat each job. Traditionally, stability is definedas at least three or four years in the same job,although corporate mergers and economictrends such as outsourcing have cost manypeople their jobs and resulted in shorter tenuresin each job. A series of lateral career movescould mean that the applicant has been willingto take on new responsibilities even without anincrease in pay or status.Progress and promotions in previous jobsis often a good sign. Look for statements ofresultssuch as "introduced new processesthat saved Rs. 25 lacsper year"and for anindication that the candidate played a significantrole in achieving them. "Led," "planned,""coached," "collaborated," "coordinated,""motivated," "modernized," "negotiated," andsimilar action words highlight accomplishments;be sure that the accomplishments make sense inlight of the candidate's level of seniority.
Functional resumes are organized accordingto skills used or functions fulfilled and mightindicate job hopping or gaps in employment,particularly for highly qualified executives whomay have been downsized. However, this typeof organizational style is not necessarily a redflag: It can also be used to emphasize skills that aperson hasn't used recently or to summarize thejob history of individuals who have gained theirexperience in an assortment of diverse jobs.
Shaping Your Short List
If you have posted an opening on an electronicjob board and are flooded with resumes andapplications, you may feel overwhelmed. Manyemployers deal with the deluge by feeding therelevant information about the applicants intoonsite databases that can be searched and sorted.These databases vary from sophisticated systemsthat use scanning, optical character recognition,and artificial intelligence, to simple systems thatcontain only manually entered information.Other companies enlist a resume storage servicethat stores information offsite. Larger companiesmay have hundreds of thousands of resumes intheir database. If your company has such a databaseand if a human-resources staffer or otheragent searches the database on your behalf, it'sespecially important for you to communicateyour needs thoroughly.
Depending on the timeyou have for the search, you may prefer to giveyour agent broader parameters, so that you canchoose from a wider selection of candidates.At this pointor if you don't have access todatabase search capabilityyou need to beginreviewing resumes and cover letters personally.As you do so, it's a good idea to review the jobdescription once again. Then scan the submissionsfor indications that the candidate has thequalities and experience needed to do the job.If spelling and writing proficiency and attentionto detail are requirements, reject all thoseresumes with spelling mistakes and typos. Theeditor who claims to have "prooofread" at herprevious job may not be the proofreader for you.If initiative and motivation are required, discardsubmissions that don't reveal specific interest inyour company.Some hiring experts recommend sortingresumes into three piles the "nos," the "maybes,"and the "must interviews." Chances arethat this last stack will yield plenty of potential hires. If not, you can always sift through the"maybe" list one more time. Within your "mustinterview" group, either arrange the resumes inorder of your interest or divide them into severalsubgroups based on your assessment of eachcandidate's potential.Once you've reviewed all the available resumesand organized them according to their viability,it's time to move on to the next phase of the hiringprocess: the interview stage.
Atin Dasgupta is director and co- founder ofPerfman HR.
