3 Things to Look for When Screening a Candidate’s Resume

Resume screening is a way for employers and recruiters to shortlist candidates and find the right professionals for a job. The process gives them some insight into a candidate’s work history and experience and helps them decide whether the applicant should be interviewed.

Here are what you should look out for during resume screening:

Required & Preferred Qualifications

Every role requires a certain skill set and qualifications. These are the minimum credentials that your ideal candidate must have to be shortlisted for the position. The required credentials depend exclusively on the role you’re trying to fill. For instance, if you’re recruiting for a top-tier role, you’d want a candidate who has relevant years of experience. Similarly, you may also require specific hard or soft skills for the role or need your potential employee to have certain accreditation. These are among the first few things you’ll need to look for in a resume.

Then there are also preferred qualifications, which are desirable but not necessary. For instance, if you’re hiring a marketing manager, you may prefer candidates well versed in Adobe Photoshop. However, if this isn’t a core skill you’re targeting, you can also accept applications from candidates who don’t have experience using the software.

It’s important to keep the job description in mind when screening applicants. Ideally, you should proceed with applications that have both your required and preferred qualifications. However, this may not always be the case. You may come across applications that have preferred qualifications but lack a few required ones, or vice versa. This is where you need to determine how a particular applicant could add value to your company and maybe rethink your requirements and preferences.

Customized Resumes

Another thing to look out for is customized resumes. Yes, an applicant may have applied to five other places besides your organization for similar roles. However, what matters is how they’ve personalized their resumes for your specific job description and eligibility criteria. If their resume appears to be highly customized, it demonstrates that they’ve done their due diligence and are dedicated to the application and interview process. They aren’t just sending out resumes en masse—they actually care about the specific position you have open.

Look out for skills, achievements, accreditations, and work history that directly demonstrate how they’d be a good fit for the role.

Job-Hopping

It’s no secret that employees switch jobs for better opportunities or because of certain circumstances. However, if a resume indicates job-hopping, it’s usually a sign of a lack of commitment.

That said, it’s not wise to make assumptions on this factor based solely on the resume. Perhaps the reason why an applicant changed jobs during a short period of time was that they wanted to learn new skills and got the opportunity to transfer some of their skills and knowledge in a better way. Don’t forget that companies were laying off employees during the pandemic—especially in the energy sector. Other employees may have joined a staffing firm and worked as a contract professional on assignment at different companies. If their resume has other things you’re looking for, shortlist them for the next stage and inquire about their career moves face-to-face.

Brookwoods Group is a top recruiting firm and contract staffing agency in Houston, Texas, whose marketing executive recruiters help organizations find the right-fit professionals to help move their companies forward.

Get in touch with our executive staffing agency near San Antonio today to learn more.