3 resume screening tips to find the best candidates to interview

Whether you're sorting through 20 resumes or 200, you want to be efficient and thorough. Many hiring managers feel overwhelmed by the volume of applications they receive. With more than half often being irrelevant or insufficient for the advertised role.

So how can you quickly discard irrelevant resumes, without throwing out a diamond by mistake? These three steps will help you reduce the time between advertising and interviewing.

1. Do an initial screening for the "definitely nots" and the "maybes"

During your initial review, don’t aim to find the perfect candidate. Instead, focus on eliminating resumes that lack the necessary skills or experience. Use the person specification to determine the "must haves" and discard resumes that don't have these. Keep the “must-haves” list short and focused on skills, rather than specific education or exact years of experience.

The core question to ask at this stage is "Are they worth a closer look?" 

If you are working with a recruiter then they will take responsibility for this step so you can focus on the next stage. There are also tools such as resume screening software that can quickly filter resumes.  If you use this type of program, ensure your specifications are broad enough to capture various language and phrasing. You didn't want to discard someone with the right skills because they used different wording.

2. Narrow the list even more based on skills and achievements, education, and previous employment

Now your pile of resumes should look more manageable. Take a closer look at these resumes and ask some key questions about each candidate: 

• Where did they work previously and what were they responsible for?
• What did they study? Do they invest in their own skills development?
• What makes them unique? How could that benefit your organization?
• Have they shown that they can set goals and achieve them?

These questions should help you rank the resumes. You know that these individuals have reached the absolute minimum requirements so now you're looking for distinguishers. Is international experience more valuable than an industry-specific degree? Do you need someone with customer service experience, or are administrative skills more important?

3. Look at cover letters and social media as a final step before confirming interviews 

Once you have your short-list, read their cover letter and look at their LinkedIn. The cover letter should be tailored to the position and provide insight into the candidate’s personality, not just their skills and abilities. Look at why they want the role and what they hope to achieve from it. Refer back to your original specifications and consider some of the aspects that are hard to assess. You can learn a lot about a candidate's soft skills, such as communication, from a cover letter. 

When you're looking at a LinkedIn profile, make sure it aligns with their resume. Look out for:

• Recommendations and endorsements
• Personal summary
• Group affiliations
• Types of updates they post

These can indicate how engaged they are with the industry and their career. 

Once you've completed all these steps, you'll have the shortlist and knowledge of each candidate to begin phone screening. Working with a recruiter can streamline the process. Allowing you to focus only on the shortlisted candidates and decide who to meet in person.