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Sharing Economy / Gig Economy 9 Quick Tips For Reviewing Resumes
A few years ago, TheLadders.net conducted a study to find out how long hiring managers spent reviewing resumes. What they discovered was eye opening…
Using eye tracking software, the study found that most recruiters spend just 6 seconds reviewing an job candidate’s resume. Now be totally honest, how long do you spend reviewing resumes before you make a decision about a job candidate? It’s surprisingly quick isn’t it?
A job candidate’s resume is like his or her professional highlight reel. Every job seeker is trying to impress you with their experience, education, skills, contact info, awards, projects, certifications, and other professional accomplishments. It’s absolutely amazing what a job candidate can cram onto a resume.
As a hiring manager, it’s your job to sift, sort, and scrutinize resumes to find the person you want to hire. It’s no easy task and it’s often overwhelming – especially when you’re staring at an endless stack of job applications. How do you streamline the resume review process? Do know what to look for?
To help you maximize your time, here are a few tips for reviewing resumes:
- Know What You’re Looking For – Before you even touch a resume, create a list of the minimum skills, experience, etc that you want.
- Focus On Keywords – When reviewing resumes it’s easy to find and identify keywords that are relevant to the job opening. Often times ATS systems can do this work for you.
- Look For Grammar And Spelling – If a job candidate didn’t proofread their resume, it’s a good sign that they might not have the attention to detail that’s necessary for the job opening.
- Review Experience – Look to see if a resume features relevant experience that includes trends or patterns.
- Identify Quantifiable Data – Hard numbers and facts can show you what a job candidate can actually accomplish.
- Check Dates – Take a look at the dates to ensure that they make sense and align with the candidate’s story.
- Find More Info – Did the job seeker include their contact details? Social profiles? Websites? Can you find more information about this job candidate if you want it?
- Beware of Red Flags – If anything pops off the page or screen that’s an immediate red flag, proceed with caution.
- Examine The Overall Resume Experience – Resumes need to be formatted appropriately and made to be readable. If you feel like you’re looking at a page jam-packed with hieroglyphics, that’s not a good thing.
How quickly can you review a resume? That’s up to you. There’s no right or wrong way to screen resumes. As long as you get all of the essential information and don’t miss anything, you should be good to go. Give every resume a fair chance and you might just find the perfect person for the job.
Every resume tells a story. Ideally, a solid job candidate will use their resume to grab your attention and leave you wanting to know more about them. These are the job candidates that deserve an interview invite.
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