Fast, Effective and Objective Resume Reviews
Use this 3 category, 4-scale scoring process for to view resumes.
Despite some reports of its demise the resume is still alive and kicking.
Making Subjective Screening More Objective
Many candidates spend significant time and even money on the creation of a good quality resume. The resume will reflect a lot about a candidate so it is worth looking at from several angles. The more objectively you can apply a consistent screening process the better your chances of finding the better and more interested candidates.
When you review a resume your subjectivity plays a real role in your reaction. Factors such as time of day, your mood, the quality of the last resume you reviewed and more really can impact your objectivity. However, if you are using a standard formula to evaluate all resumes you can minimize the impact of different factors. Moreover you can also demonstrate an objective process in the event someone questions your review decisions.
Once you become familiar with the screening process you will learn to very quickly and objectively evaluate resumes based on standard criteria.
Resume Review Process
3 Categories with questions in each category ranked on a 4-point scale
1- Poor 2 – Medium 3 – Good 4 – Excellent
Evaluate each criterion based on how well the criterion matches your needs, preferences and expectations.
Categories of Review
1) Aesthetics: Is appearance fluff? Not at all. It can be a useful clue as to the quality of a candidate and level of interest. Consider these criteria:
a) Effort applied to the resume design and appearance (overall design, layout selection, professional style and quality). Does the resume style, appearance, design make sense for your industry and the role)
b)Accuracy and absence of errors (spelling, formatting, consistency)
Total Value = X out of 8
2) Organization: How well a candidate organizes and categorizes information can help you quickly review and understand his qualifications. It can also reflect the candidates understanding of your needs and required qualities and his understanding of the industry and role. Consider these criteria:
a) Important/relevant information is easy to find (most important should be highlighted well and often placed on the first page)
b) Categories make sense for the job/industry and just make sense. Order of information is logical (if you have to hunt through the resume to find relevant information that can reflect on a candidates effort and knowledge)
Total Value = X out of 8
3) Quality of Content: How well does a candidate select and communicate what is relevant. Consider these criteria:
a) Inclusion of relevant/necessary content: Is basic information included (dates, names of former employers and locations, names of academic institutions), are all the required information/sections included and is irrelevant information excluded or at least minimized?
b) Writing quality (the way the candidate communicates): Is the resume articulate? Are there errors in grammar, do sentences make sense and clearly communicate ideas and relevance? Do you have to work to hard to figure out the relevance of the content?
c) Content: (qualifications match): Rank each point on a 4 point scale (to provide extra weight to the value of these components)
i. Skills and abilities (as required for the job)
ii. Experience (quality and relevance of experience)
iii. Education/Training (required and relevant)
iv. Brand/personality/approach match (how well does the candidate communicate a match to the type of person you are looking for). Look for key words and descriptions related to how the candidate approaches their past work and what they emphasize about their work on the resume)
v. Bonus/Interesting qualities: (A skill/experience that may not be required but would be interesting to learn more about)
Total Value X out of 28
Entire Review: Total score will be X out of 44
Once you add up the scores you can divide the resumes into the three piles: under 25 – the reject pile; 25-34, the maybe pile and 34-40 the look at in more depth later pile.
Do you think it adds time to the process? Less than you would think. Once you understand what you are looking for you can really speed through this process. The criterion that will generally balance out the impact of your speed and subjectivity during the process providing you with a tool to quickly evaluate resumes fairly.