How to Master the Art of Reviewing Resumes

You’ve been a hiring manager for a while now, so you know how to review a resume with little more than a glance, right?

Not so fast.

The reality that lies within the application materials you receive is usually more complicated than you might think. When reviewing resumes, there are several subtleties you can miss if you’re not careful. And that opens you up to the risk of creating hiring headaches that could have a ripple effect through your entire team or company.

By the time your job vacancy is posted, you should have an excellent grasp of how to evaluate a resume so thoroughly — and quickly — that you can compare candidates fairly, spot red flags and recognize potential diamonds in the rough. Here are our top tips to help get you there.

1. Quickly separate wheat from the chaff

Even if you’ve written an effective job description and a detailed candidate profile, you’ll likely have to review resumes from unqualified applicants. Create a checklist of the absolute minimum skills, experience and education required to do the job, whether it's remote, hybrid or in-house. Use this as a framework to efficiently sort the resumes into piles of yes, no and maybe. Then you can dig down to the more nuanced filters.

2. Take the hiring market into account

As you consider how to review the resumes you’ve received, remember the possibility that the perfect candidate may not be out there, especially with today's hyper-competitive hiring market and talent shortages. That’s why managers should hire as much for potential as they do for skills or job history.

Sometimes it’s best to provide professional training to take care of any gaps.

3. Watch for potential red flags

Some resumes contain warning signs of potential problems that may outweigh a candidate’s abilities and experience. These are the biggest red flags to look for as you evaluate resumes:

Excessive job-hopping — Job-hopping can be a sign of ambition. But too many employers in too short a time span could indicate an uncommitted worker. People do leave jobs quickly for good reasons, but since you’ll be spending significant resources on onboarding and training new hires, you need to know it’ll be worth the effort.
Static career — A vague resume with just a series of jobs listed and no increase in responsibility or emphasis on accomplishments could suggest a lack of career direction or drive.
Not being qualified for the position — It’s one thing if an applicant meets 80% of the criteria listed in the job posting and indicates an aptitude for learning and a willingness to do so, but if someone sends a resume that fails to list skills, experience, degrees or certifications at least tangentially relevant to the position, that’s a pretty good sign you should move on to the next resume.
Unexplained employment gaps — As you’re reviewing an applicant’s work history, look out for long breaks between jobs. While there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation, such as military service, any serious candidate should be prepared and willing to explain these gaps in an interview.
Careless mistakes — If you notice that information on the resume contradicts information found on a LinkedIn profile or other online profiles, it could mean the person lacks attention to detail, which is a liability in most fields.

Be prepared for salary inquiries from candidates by consulting the Robert Half Salary Guide to ensure your starting pay ranges are on par with, or better than, what your competitors are offering.

4. Look for tailored messaging

Some resumes may pass your initial review but fail to impress as you dig deeper. If the resume and cover letter appear generic, it’s likely the applicant is sending the same document to multiple employers.

Serious contenders customize their resumes, emphasizing those skills and qualifications that are most relevant to the job description you posted. When you review resumes, look for ones that have been crafted with that specific job posting in mind.

5. Pay attention to word choice

Some candidates use ambiguous language to camouflage a lack of experience or knowledge. Phrases such as “familiar with” and “participated in” can leave you with more questions than answers. Someone who was “part of” a team devoted to identifying cost-saving opportunities may have played a key role in the effort — or simply took up space during meetings. Also, watch for jargon and buzzwords that are designed to make a candidate sound smart but may cover up a lack of expertise.

6. Eye the details when reviewing resumes

Great candidates don’t just tell. They show. Rather than simply describing their duties, savvy job seekers include examples of how they added value to their company: by saving money, streamlining a process or negotiating discounts with vendors. This might be represented as data, percentages, dollars or other expressions of quantitative impact.

Your mission when hiring new employees is to improve your firm’s bottom line, so don’t settle for resumes that are heavy on the right keywords but short on specifics.

Does all this look daunting? Teaming up with a talent solutions firm gives you access to hiring experts who can help.

7. Be rigorous but not rigid

While a checklist helps narrow down applications in an objective way, try to keep an open mind. Not everyone has followed a traditional career path, and their experience could be all the richer for it. Be sure to differentiate between essential qualifications needed to do the job and knowledge that can easily be gained in-house.

It can help to zoom out from the fine details and critique resumes in their broader context. For example, even in a tight job market, an employment gap isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker. It could disguise a candidate who has off-ramped to care for a child or aging parent, or who went back to school to pursue another career path. An applicant with that level of responsibility or inner drive, even if they aren’t yet proficient with the latest cloud software, could be a better choice than someone who has a long resume but casually moves from post to post.

The bottom line: Candidates who pique your interest might be worth pursuing, even if their professional background is nontraditional.

While reading resumes can feel like a daunting task that you just want to get through, don’t lose sight of the little things. Those are what could make the difference between adding a great team member and having to start the hiring process over after a couple of months.

Contact Robert Half to find skilled candidates for open positions in your company.