How to Handle Resume Overload
The Find: With so many people out of work, hiring managers are swamped with resumes and struggling to separate out the quality candidates, but a well-conceived online application process can help.- The Source: Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 blog.
Prospective employees should be able to fill out an application online 24/7. Immediately upon submitting their resumes, these candidates should be asked to complete an automated online interview. This screening interview includes job specific filter questions (from as basic as "Are you available to work weekends including Saturdays and Sundays?" or "Have you completed a two-year or four year degree?" to "Describe why you feel you are an effective leader and provide an example"). You can also pre-qualify by asking skill and competency based questions ("Indicate your proficiency using Microsoft Excel").... For the hiring manager, this means fewer phone calls to unqualified, unmotivated and uninterested candidates and faster access to the qualified candidates.Perhaps it's not the most groundbreaking suggestion of all time, but it's got to be better than the quick glance and gut instinct method of sorting through the resume stack.
The Question: How are you handling the deluge of resumes received for any job opening?
(Image of unhappy woman with paperwork by joshuahoffmanphoto, CC 2.0)