What to look for when screening Candidate Resumes
Resume screening can be a tedious job. Every candidate resume will start to look like the next. Knowing what to look for in a resume will help you sort through them a little quicker and give you a good idea of how committed the candidate will be to your company if you choose to hire them.
In some cases, a candidate’s resume may be misleading, especially if they are young. Providing on-the-job training will allow you to help shape their work ethic and future career path. Even a good resume may contain a few mistakes.
Learn to read between the lines and focus on the important questions that come during the interview process. At SOLV HR, we can help you find the right candidates and speed up the hiring process.
Insufficient or Irrelevant Work Experience
A person who is just entering the workforce may not have a lot of work experience to draw on. That doesn’t mean they won’t be a good candidate for the job or won’t learn from the experience. A candidate may be trying to change their career path.
A candidate may not have the right type of work experience, but you can look for longevity and any performance identifiers. If they have a good work history in another industry, they may just need a little training to get them started on the right path.
High Turnover Rate
When you are looking for work history, look at how much time they spend at each job. If they are constantly moving from job to job, they will more than likely do the same to you. Talk to a few of their past employers to find out what their work ethic is like.
High turnover rates usually are the result of numerous “no call/no show”, excessive use of sick days, or an inability to take direction. It’s important to know about these things before you hire an employee.
Poor Spelling and Grammar
Poor spelling, grammar, and punctuation are all signs that a candidate may not have put their best effort into creating their resume. Most of these problems could easily be corrected by using a program like Grammarly. This may be an indicator that their education may not have been the best or that they didn’t apply themselves as they should have.
A good thing to remember is that just because a resume has a few spelling or grammar errors, it doesn’t mean the candidate won’t be one of the hardest workers you have on your payroll. Look at the bigger picture and if their experience and work history are in order, and see what happens during an interview.
Unstructured
A poorly structured resume can be a sign of many different things. It can mean the candidate was in a rush and wasn’t paying attention to the details. It can also mean they didn’t take the time to look up how a good resume should be structured. There are many places online that offer templates for resumes.
A candidate could also hire someone to create a professional resume for them. While this shows initiative, it can hide the fact that this may not be a skill in their wheelhouse. They may be perfect for the position they are applying for and not have the skills you may require for filing reports or creating documents.
Poor Design
A poorly designed resume may not include all of the information necessary to make a good decision about the candidate. The education portion may not be complete, or the candidate may not list all of their additional skills and abilities.
When a resume is not created to include all of the necessary information an employer needs to make a decision about the candidate’s qualifications, it may exclude them from the hiring process before they even get to know them.
Lack of References
A lack of references may also pose a problem. Without references, you will have no way to verify the information included in the resume. References without contact information are often considered incomplete and may lead to a resume being tossed out for being insufficient.
With SOLV HR, you are able to move through the hiring process much faster. We are able to go over candidate resumes and find the ones who will be the best fit for the position you need to fill. When you need quality employees, we make sure you get the ones you need! We are the best HR service in Las Vegas for a reason!
