How to streamline your resume screening process

You’ve advertised the available role at your business, you’ve had an influx of great resumes (hopefully), and now it’s time to sort through the piles to get to the best-of-the-best.

For organisations with the budget and size to warrant an online e-recruitment system, resume collecting and organising is made all too easy, but SMEs don’t always have the luxury of online screening questions and high tech systems. Manual resume sorting can be the hardest part of recruitment for a small business so it’s important to get organised.

1. Create an ordering system

Ensure you have a process to follow before you even post your job ad so you’re prepared. Once resumes start arriving arrange them by last name and assign them all a numerical code. A numbering system will ensure anyone who reviews the resumes will do so in the same order and will speed up any communication.

2. Stick to your review process

Having a review process will make the process of sorting resumes far easier. Choose one member of the review team to be responsible for establishing an assessment grid that everyone will use. The assessment grid should be simple with one axis stating key criteria and the other numbered one to five. Each hiring manager can rank candidates to record scores fairly against key criteria.

3. Choose a timeframe

Set your timeframe before you begin your process. Ensure everyone on the team is aware of the timeframes you need to work to and set reminders in hiring manager’s calendars. While plans often change, it’s very important to know when your incumbent is leaving and what handover period you might have available.

Streamlining your screening process by organising resumes and sticking to timeframes will help you find the right candidate for your company efficiently and quickly. Most importantly, it will ensure you don’t miss a great candidate in a sea of paper applications.

Saxon Marsden-Huggins is the managing director of Recruit Shop, which offers recruitment services to small businesses in Australia and New Zealand.