They posted an ad in their industry journal, the local paper and online. They received 300 resumes. So, there she was, sitting in front of three hundred resumes and not knowing where to start. Could I help? “Could I help? I spend my life reading resumes” I replied. “Come on over.”

We spent two hours scanning the resumes and finally reduced the pile to 22 people for her to phone screen. As we read and sorted out, she was amazed at the process of examination (and elimination) that was used. After eleven years of recruiting, what was second nature to me seemed like magic to her. But, it’s not magic. Not only that—it’s pretty easy to do once you get the knack.

So, here are two tips on reading resumes – whether you’re sitting in front of a stack of 300 or just one.

First - Know what you’re looking (reading) for

From your job description, make a check list of specific attributes that you need. For example, if you were hiring for a marketing director, it might look something like this:

Product marketing experience
PR experience
Corporate Communications experience
Management experience
P&L experience

Always keep these deliverables in mind when reading a resume. Write them on a 3x5 card if you must—but keep them front and center.

And second - Read the resume chronologically

While all resumes are written with the latest experience listed first, I have found that I get a much clearer view of the candidate if I read the resume in chronological order. So, I start on the second (or sometimes third!) page of the resume and read forward.

Reading this way does a few things:

1. It gives you a clear idea of career progression. If you see titles of increasing responsibility, or a candidate who has progressed from smaller companies to medium to larger companies, that means you probably have a candidate who is trending upwards in their career. Chronological reading can also give you some idea of the choices the candidate has made along the way as well. Very important.
   
   
2. It also gives you a clear idea of the duration of each employment. By following the candidate chronologically and watching for the length of time at each employer, you’ll know if you have someone who’s a job hopper or someone who has more stability in their career. (You can also uncover any holes or gaps in the employment experience and address those if and when you interview the candidate.)

While this approach may be counter-intuitive to some of you, you should try it! It works like a charm for me! And, so far so good for my colleague. They’ve narrowed their search down and are about to make an offer. And it really wasn’t as daunting as finding a needle in a haystack!

If YOU have a special technique for reading resumes, click here to let us know!