One single job advertisement – be it on the company website, a job board or in print, is enough to invite a deluge of applications. Screening thousands of resumes word by word to match them to an open position is a daunting task indeed. Added to this is the fact that many people do not even bother to read the job posting and blindly submit their résumés.
As such, employers and recruiters spend too much valuable time on looking at and sorting applications. That time can be better used for interviewing and hiring top talent. Consequently, the selection process moves at a snail’s pace and weighs down hiring decisions unnecessarily.
Hence, instead of slowly going through scores of resumes for a handful of candidates and finally shortlist the ‘chosen one’, companies are opting for screening techniques that weed out the noise. As hiring managers can view what they need and easily skip the rest, this quickly narrows down the search and fills open positions faster with quality talent to boot. Tossing out the garbage
Traditionally, most recruiters went by the cover letter and if it was not impressive enough, discarded the resume unread. Else, HR staff was specially recruited to sift through innumerable resumes and reject those that did not fit the bill.
Later, companies began using specialised services of recruiting agencies and resume search agents to manually sort job applications and taper down the search to the person they need.
Now, dynamic tools have entered the horizon in the form of electronic application software that automate the sorting process to an unbelievable extent. This presents a channel to attach filters to job postings that match resumes as soon as the candidate applies, based on explicit criteria.
Employers can specify objective measures like industry, discipline, location, skills, age, and years of experience to extract resumes. Qualification tags, availability tags or even presence of specific text strings called keywords, can be used to sort profiles. The key metrics can be based on the unique characteristics they are looking for like, say - travel preference, preferred work location, desired salary range or even visa status. To further narrow down the search, employers can re-filter resumes by setting extremely precise criteria like ‘Ivy League school education’, ‘Sales Manager position’ ‘MSMQ experience’, ‘networking technology’, ‘HR work background’ and the like that they feel applies specifically to what they are looking for in a candidate.
This technique vigilantly retrieves most relevant job search results by eliminating those that do not possess the exact requirements and finding those that do. Therefore, hiring managers receive applications of eligible candidates only, without ever having to look at the unqualified ones.
Experts estimate that resume filters successfully purge almost 75 per cent of the crowd while exceptionally specific criteria can actually cut down the burgeoning list to just 10 per cent. Impressed by the speed and results, hiring managers have taken to filing paper resumes electronically so as to discern their suitability quickly.
So much more…
Advanced filtering tools permit blocking a candidate from applying to the same job again within a specified time period. Other features include further screening based on performance terms to assess candidate competency. Some even provide combinations of different criteria, say, skills and performance needs to generate a better resume pool. Recruiters can use search functions to sift through the remaining ones and organise them based on varying criteria. This displays a rank-ordered list according to how well they match the staffing needs. As such, the first people the company calls are the ones that are most likely to work out.
Apart from the initial screening, filters perform various other activities that make the recruitment process simpler and efficient. The tool can be used not only to reject, shortlist or put a candidate on hold, but also to contact him, forward/print the resume or file it for future openings.
Response management techniques facilitate sending automated, yet customised mails to selected as well as rejected candidates.
Also, companies can keep track of promising candidates who do not meet the criteria for the specified job, yet may prove useful down the road. This will generate a continuous supply of qualified candidates as and when needed.
However, it pays to keep in mind that applying excessively strict or fastidious criteria can backfire by screening out the best applications, thus precluding the organisation from hiring top talent.
As such, employers and recruiters spend too much valuable time on looking at and sorting applications. That time can be better used for interviewing and hiring top talent. Consequently, the selection process moves at a snail’s pace and weighs down hiring decisions unnecessarily.
Hence, instead of slowly going through scores of resumes for a handful of candidates and finally shortlist the ‘chosen one’, companies are opting for screening techniques that weed out the noise. As hiring managers can view what they need and easily skip the rest, this quickly narrows down the search and fills open positions faster with quality talent to boot. Tossing out the garbage
Traditionally, most recruiters went by the cover letter and if it was not impressive enough, discarded the resume unread. Else, HR staff was specially recruited to sift through innumerable resumes and reject those that did not fit the bill.
Later, companies began using specialised services of recruiting agencies and resume search agents to manually sort job applications and taper down the search to the person they need.
Now, dynamic tools have entered the horizon in the form of electronic application software that automate the sorting process to an unbelievable extent. This presents a channel to attach filters to job postings that match resumes as soon as the candidate applies, based on explicit criteria.
Employers can specify objective measures like industry, discipline, location, skills, age, and years of experience to extract resumes. Qualification tags, availability tags or even presence of specific text strings called keywords, can be used to sort profiles. The key metrics can be based on the unique characteristics they are looking for like, say - travel preference, preferred work location, desired salary range or even visa status. To further narrow down the search, employers can re-filter resumes by setting extremely precise criteria like ‘Ivy League school education’, ‘Sales Manager position’ ‘MSMQ experience’, ‘networking technology’, ‘HR work background’ and the like that they feel applies specifically to what they are looking for in a candidate.
This technique vigilantly retrieves most relevant job search results by eliminating those that do not possess the exact requirements and finding those that do. Therefore, hiring managers receive applications of eligible candidates only, without ever having to look at the unqualified ones.
Experts estimate that resume filters successfully purge almost 75 per cent of the crowd while exceptionally specific criteria can actually cut down the burgeoning list to just 10 per cent. Impressed by the speed and results, hiring managers have taken to filing paper resumes electronically so as to discern their suitability quickly.
So much more…
Advanced filtering tools permit blocking a candidate from applying to the same job again within a specified time period. Other features include further screening based on performance terms to assess candidate competency. Some even provide combinations of different criteria, say, skills and performance needs to generate a better resume pool. Recruiters can use search functions to sift through the remaining ones and organise them based on varying criteria. This displays a rank-ordered list according to how well they match the staffing needs. As such, the first people the company calls are the ones that are most likely to work out.
Apart from the initial screening, filters perform various other activities that make the recruitment process simpler and efficient. The tool can be used not only to reject, shortlist or put a candidate on hold, but also to contact him, forward/print the resume or file it for future openings.
Response management techniques facilitate sending automated, yet customised mails to selected as well as rejected candidates.
Also, companies can keep track of promising candidates who do not meet the criteria for the specified job, yet may prove useful down the road. This will generate a continuous supply of qualified candidates as and when needed.
However, it pays to keep in mind that applying excessively strict or fastidious criteria can backfire by screening out the best applications, thus precluding the organisation from hiring top talent.
PAYAL CHANANIA
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