I get so many resumes that come through my office for various positions. With so much information on them, I’m unsure what elements are the most and least important, and worry I’m overlooking things. What should I be looking for during a quick one to two minute resume review?
Thanks, The Resume Reviewer
Hello, Resume Reviewer!
That’s a great question! When we have a big stack of resumes to sort through, it can be exhausting looking through them all. With so many different formats and styles, it can be difficult sometimes to glean the most important information. We certainly don’t want to disqualify a worthy candidate because we missed some good things on their resume. We also don’t want to miss a red flag and waste precious time on a candidate who is not a good fit.
Here are some things our recruiters look for:
Work experience:
How long have they worked at each company? This can make or break a resume pretty quickly. If you receive the resume of someone who has had eight jobs in the last 10 years, there might be a problem there. If you feel the candidate is qualified, it might be worth a conversation with them about their turnover. Sometimes candidates do have valid reasoning. Other times, it’s an indicator that they’re never happy where they are. On the flip side, if you find someone who has had two jobs in 10 years, know that you’ve found something pretty rare these days!
What are the titles at each company? Do they show consistent growth over the years, or show little to no change? It’s good to see upward growth over time on a resume. For example, someone who worked as a water mitigation technician five years ago hopefully has more recent experience as a lead tech or a project manager.
Industry-related verbiage:
Does their resume prove they understand the industry? By reading a few lines under their work experience, you should be able to have at least a small awareness if they know what they’re talking about or not.
Again, skim for “buzzwords” like Xactimate, IICRC, DASH, T&M, and so on.
Skills & Education:
Do they hold any IICRC certifications? While they aren’t necessary for all positions, having them will hopefully give you a better picture of their restoration knowledge level.
Do they have Xactimate or other certifications that make them more qualified for your open position?
If you’re recruiting for upper management, are you hoping for a college degree of some kind? If so, do they have one?
Personality & Character:
Look for terms like “team player” and “team work”. Does the applicant only talk about themselves and what they can do as an individual, or do they talk about their ability to work with others?
Is any volunteer work listed? This can be a great indicator of their values!
Are they a veteran? Again, this can be another indicator of their values and work ethic.
Truly the fastest way to scan through a resume is to know what “buzzwords” you’re looking for, as I mentioned in #2. Searching for terms like Xactimate, IICRC, moisture meter, thermal imaging camera, insurance estimate, and so on will really help you find the qualified candidates more quickly.
