Posted by You might get dozens or hundreds of candidates when you post a job opening on a popular job board. It would take a lot of time to carefully look over each resume. Luckily, there are ways to make it easier to look over resumes so you can hire top candidates faster.
Here are 7 best ways to screen your candidates’ resumes:
1. Start with a clear description of the job
When you know exactly what you need to do and what is expected of you, screening resumes is much faster and easier. Starting with an accurate job description will help you find the right people for the job and stop people who aren’t qualified from applying. This will keep you from looking through too many papers you don’t need to.
Talk with your team to determine the qualifications you’re looking for in a candidate, and then put them on your job posting. Focus on requirements that are easy to spot, such as:
- Years’ experience
- Certifications
- Previous responsibilities
- Past job titles
- Levels of education
- Skills and competencies
Find out which needs are necessary and which are pleasant to have. This will make it easy to put each application in either the “consider” or “pass” pile.
ALSO READ: How to Start an Internship Program
2. Purchase an applicant tracking system (ATS).
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that can help you scan and sort applications based on the data you set up front. This makes the process of checking resumes faster and easier. This program, which is used by 75% of recruiters, makes it easier to find top candidates without looking through hundreds or thousands of resumes.
For example, if you are hiring for an entry-level job and want candidates to have at least a diploma or bachelor’s degree, you can set up a tracking system to eliminate those who don’t have the right amount of education. Some systems will rank candidates based on how often their keywords are used, which makes it even easier to decide who to ask for an interview.
AI, or artificial intelligence, is being used by more businesses and their ATS. The AI works with your ATS software to guess which resumes will make it through the system based on the ones you’ve chosen in the past and the ones that worked out well. As the AI software learns what kinds of people you tend to hire, it uses that information to sort through your applications.
3. Be careful when choosing keywords for screening
It can be hard to find the right mix when sorting through resumes. On the one hand, you want to find candidates who list the skills, qualifications, and experience you want. On the other hand, not all qualified candidates will use the exact language you describe.
You are the only one who knows how strict or loose you can be with your term sorting. However, remember that you might miss qualified candidates if you are too strict. Put your screening keywords in order of how important they are so you can pick the most important ones. Consider which ones are important, nice to have, and a clear no. This way, your review will give you more accurate results, and you won’t waste time second-guessing your choices.
4. Put up a range of your salary
Many companies shy away from this, but more are coming to the idea that it helps weed out people who aren’t interested in the job.
You don’t want to waste time interviewing people who won’t take the job because of the pay range. When you are honest from the start, you can eliminate many people who wouldn’t accept your offer.
5. Toss out applications that aren’t complete
It may sound harsh, but you shouldn’t even think about people who haven’t given you all the requested information. This is a quick and easy way to find out which applicants read your job posting carefully, can follow specific instructions, and are willing to put in the work.
6. Use techniques such as blind hiring
Blind hire is a good way to avoid unintentional bias. Focusing on the skills and abilities of your applicants and blocking out — at least at first — information that could lead you to disqualify people who might be a good fit makes sure you can quickly and fairly go through resumes.
For example, some companies program their ATS to briefly hide applicant addresses, ethnicities, and other personal information so the hiring manager can focus on the candidate’s skills and abilities. It not only helps you build a more diverse and open-minded team, but it also speeds up the hiring process.
7. Plan ahead when manually screening
Even if you use ATS and other automatic tools to review resumes, you should look over some resumes by hand because the technology can miss great job candidates. If you don’t have a plan, you could waste time looking through resumes for people you wouldn’t hire.
If you are going to scan manually, either in addition to your ATS or from start to finish, have applicants fill out a quick form with the must-have and deal-breaker details at the top. It could be a simple quiz or dropdown list that lets you see how to sort them at a glance.
Also, look for numbers and cases that back up the information on the resume. Some people fill their resumes with buzzwords so that they show up in the system, but they don’t have enough experience to be a good fit for the job. With so many papers to look over and so little time, you don’t want to go down every possible rabbit hole just for the sake of it. Being more strategic will help you focus on choosing only the people likely to be a good fit.
Post your job opportunities on Jobstore.com today to attract talented professionals to your organization!
Anisa is a writer who focuses on career and lifestyle topics in an effort to motivate both job searchers and employers towards greater fulfillment in their professional lives.
Reach me at anisa@jobstore.com.