5 Tips for Effective Resume Screening

One of the most time-consuming aspects of any recruiting process is resume screening. It can take a hiring manager up to 24 hours to read and screen resumes just to recruit one person. This, however, does not have to be the case! Continue reading to learn how to improve your resume screening process and make it more convenient for yourself.

Candidates struggle to produce the perfect resume that will grab the reader’s eye and keep them from falling in the hiring manager’s wastebasket through endless rewrites, keyword stuffing, and stressing over the precise alignment of bulleted lists.

1. Accuracy Check

You may want to run some background checks on the candidates you’ve narrowed down to a shortlist. This could be a structured background check to ensure that the information on their resumes is accurate, or it could be a quick social media check. In the latter case, it could be as simple as going to their LinkedIn page and verifying that the details there match what they say on their resume.

2. Examine candidates to see if they meet the preferred criteria

In most cases, the preferred conditions are often mentioned in the job description. They are sometimes written as ‘it is preferred if the candidate’ or anything along those lines. There are characteristics, abilities, or other characteristics that are beneficial to the role but are not necessary. This category would encompass a wide range of abilities and characteristics. Be aware that these may be difficult to find in the resume, but they may be included in the cover letter.

Don’t consider any resumes that don’t meet the minimum requirements when screening for preferred criteria. Those resumes should have already been eliminated from consideration. You’re now on the lookout for someone who fits the ideal standards. You have the option of rejecting applicants who do not meet these criteria or being more flexible. You may decide to let some people in even though they don’t meet all of the preferred requirements because they possess some valuable skills.

3. Make Personalized Applications a Top Priority

You should be on the lookout for applicants who have customized their applications to your role. Many work seekers simply copy and paste their resumes into various job postings. If someone is passionate about the job you’re hiring for, they’ll take the time to personalize their application for you. This could involve stuff like addressing their cover letter to you if your name is on the work posting. They should also include the working title and company name in their application, as well as the basic characteristics and skills listed in the job description.

You should already have a shortlist of candidates ready to interview. If there are still so many applicants who have passed all of the screening steps, you may want to add a psychometric test to the mix. This offers you a straightforward way to compare applicants and put them to the test on job-related skills.

4. Red Flags

Depending on the qualities you value in a new employee, a variety of items will raise red flags. Typos, for example, are also used as a red flag because they are unprofessional. It demonstrates a lack of attention to detail and indicates that the employee did not proofread documents or emails before sending them out.

A resume that is poorly formatted or difficult to read is another red flag. This may mean that the person is disorganized or has difficulty writing clearly. It seems that they haven’t put much thought and effort into their CV.

5. Applicant Tracking System

You’ll need an applicant monitoring system if you’re having trouble keeping track of applicants and determining who is moving on to the next stage of the process. These services are intended to make the hiring process easier for both you and the applicants.

Many of them allow you to search for applications based on keywords. This is a convenient way to find the conditions you’re searching for. Candidates can read the job description carefully before incorporating the keywords into their cover letter or resume.

Conclusion

You will save a lot of time and effort when screening resumes if you follow this guide to successful resume screening. Make use of technology to complete tasks much more quickly!