Resume Review: Making it through the first review to the telephone interview!

You've worked in the Human Resource Department for a couple of years. You've reviewed job applications and interviewed prospective employees for hourly positions. Now your boss comes to you with a box of resumes for the position of financial analyst in the Comptrollers Office. He asks you to review the resumes and pick out the best 20 for telephone interviews. He wants it done by the end of the week.

You count the resumes and find there are 182 in the box, with many having a cover letter. But how do you select the 20 best and reject the balance? You know that finding great employees is never easy but you don't want to miss a potentially outstanding candidate. What to do?

After thinking it over for a few minutes, you meet with three senior HR specialists in your department and ask their advice. From your notes of the three meetings here is the summary of their approach in carefully reviewing the resumes.

Then you have a meeting with a manager in the Comptroller's office to learn more about the job opening. They tell you what are the most important skills and abilities they are looking for and why. Now you go to work reviewing the resumes.

Cover Letter Review: If there is a cover letter does it specifically address the job requirements? Do they reference something about the company perhaps that pertains to the job? If so, the candidate receives credit for their research and interest. However, it the cover letter does not reference what job they are applying for and seems to be a one-size-fits-all it will be considered a negative.

Functional Resumes: You know that functional resumes focus attention on major skills and specific accomplishments, but provide no chronological record of employment. Unless the talents and achievements they highlighted are exceptionally noteworthy, you were advised to view these types of resumes with a cautious eye.

Often, job seekers who use a functional resume are trying to hide gaps in employment. If the candidate still seems to have enough qualifications to make it to the interview phase, you may want to use that time to ask them specific questions about their dates of employment

Excessive Language: For many candidates, their resume is their one chance to make a great first impression, so they want their achievements to really stand out. This means their resumes will be filled with the most eye-catching verbs, adjectives and buzz-words a thesaurus has to offer.

Let's face it, many candidates are going to embellish on their accomplishments, so be on the lookout for dramatic action verbs such as, "Managed," "Streamlined," Achieved," etc. If the candidate makes it to the next round, you should examine them further during the interview process: "Tell me, specifically, how you 'streamlined' costs for your company," "What did your duties include as a manager?"

Fluff and Stuff: Just as you should look out for exaggerations and over-the-top vocabulary, you should also be wary of too much detail about degrees, interests and hobbies. This type of information is more "filler" than anything and usually means that the candidate is missing some relevant experience or significant successes.

A Proven Track Record is Key: Companies exist to make money, so pursue candidates who communicate on their resumes that they understand this concept. Have they quantified their achievements? If so, is it believable? Claiming they increased sales by 35% while in charge of the mail room does not ring true, for example.

These candidates make it a point to not simply recap the duties of their last job, but instead, prominently feature accomplishments that benefited the bottom lines of their previous employers. (Once again, the legitimacy of their claims can be determined in an interview.) You will at least know you're going to be interviewing someone who knows what it takes to succeed and takes pride in their results rather than someone who just goes through the daily motions.

Focus on the Task: Confronting a huge stack of resumes on your desk can be intimidating. But, finding the few most qualified candidates in that pile isn't so hard when you know what to look for. There is one more thing to remember when reading resumes: it is a task that should be taken very seriously and, therefore requires a tremendous amount of focus. Try reviewing them in small doses. That way you won't overlook a potentially outstanding employee because your concentration has faded.

Overall, the advice provided the relatively inexperience HR employee is excellent guidance in drafting a resume and cover letter to make the "first cut."

John Groth is a Career Coach and former HR executive. On his site find Career Planning Ideas, valuable articles and a Free seven day career planning guide. Discover up to date career and recruitment strategies at his Resume Writing Guide; all to assist you in advancing and managing your career. http://employmentnetworkplus.com/writing/