Tips for quickly sifting through resumes

It is not uncommon for hiring managers to face a large pile of resumes. Since there are only so many hours in the day, it is crucial for these managers to develop systems to help them sift through the pile as quickly and efficiently as possible to find the most promising candidates for the open position in question.

A recent article on Inc.com offers some suggestions for managers who want to make the task as easy as possible.

First, it is important to consider proper preparation. Managers need to decide whether they would prefer digital or hard copy resumes, and stick with one. It may not seem like it, but it can be tasking (especially on the eyes) to go back and forth between reading paper and electronic resumes. Either place them all on a folder on your desktop, or print them all out and make a stack.

Second, don’t let this task pile up (literally). It doesn’t take long to read an individual resume, so managers should set aside some time every day to consider a few. Maybe you would rather tackle this task in the morning, or perhaps you would like to save it for the afternoon when you are winding down for the day.

Finally, don’t stress about it. Don’t latch onto the first candidates you like in order to get the process over with, and don’t worry about missing the perfect candidate. Take your time, and you’ll end up with a much smaller stack of people to consider. From there, it is time to commence interviews and preemployment testing.