How to Review a Resume

A major aspect in the hiring process, no matter how many openings and applicants you have before you, is the resume review. While this is time consuming, the process below will help you to effectively identify the most qualified candidates quickly by knowing what key areas to focus on.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Set aside time where you won't be interrupted. Pull out the description of the position to be filled where you compare the applicant's qualifications against what is needed.

2. Gather resumes of all applicants to review. Comparing qualifications is much easier, and you can better determine to whom you'll be extending an interview.

3. Scan the resume for spelling and grammatical mistakes first. Candidates know this is their first impression of you, and if they didn't even bother to edit, it is likely they will apply this to any documentation they do for you. This doesn't mean you should throw those resumes out automatically, just weigh this information in your decision.

4. Look for easy to spot credentials, such as a college degree if this is what you require. Read the opening statement and see if it grabs you attention. Compare this information to your needs as listed in the job description.

5. Review the applicant's experience, qualifications and skills along with employment history. Keep an eye out for any red flags such as employment gaps, short-term employment, repeated changes in career path or decreasing responsibility. Resumes which are worded in a way to match the job description should be given a higher standing.

6. Compare the resumes of all candidates to each other. Use this combined with your other resume review analysis to determine who to accept into the interviewing process. Begin setting up interviews.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind resumes received electronically may come through formatted incorrectly. This is not the mistake of the candidate and is especially prevalent in resumes you receive from an internal job board.

• The concept of cover letters has also changed due to electronic submissions. Many candidates no longer include one, so it is up to you to determine if this is important to you or not.

• It is a good idea to include any "maybes" in your interviews as never know who may surprise you.

• Don't assume everything on the resume is complete fact. Most candidates embellish slightly.