Resume Overload: 5 Steps to Simplifying the Application Review Process

People Reviewing Resumes

Staffing is an ongoing, time-consuming process. It requires recruiting, pouring over resumes, conducting background checks, and setting up interviews, along with a host of other responsibilities! From New York to California, every hiring manager wishes there was a simpler way to find top talent. One place to start is by streamlining your process for reviewing applications. With that in mind, here are five steps you can take to simplify application review!

Write a Clear, Positive Job Description

A focused job description makes the application screening process easier in two ways. First, when you are clear about what the job is, you can automatically eliminate unqualified job seekers. Secondly, a well-written job description that highlights company assets will be more attractive to qualified, enthusiastic applicants.

Simplify Your Application

Making your application simpler may seem counterproductive. Won’t you learn more with a complex application? Not necessarily!

When your applications are lengthy and detailed, you might accidentally eliminate diverse, high-quality candidates who could take their pick of places to work. These in-demand candidates don’t want to waste time filling out old-fashioned, impersonal applications that don’t allow them to highlight their talents.

Consider these tips for paring down your applications the next time your company needs to make staffing changes:

  1. Eliminate redundancies (don’t ask for the same information on written and electronic forms).
  2. Ask for only general background and contact information on the initial application.
  3. Eliminate cover letters or make them optional.
  4. Do not ask for an entire work history.

Not only do convoluted applications make hiring more difficult, but they can also sabotage your recruiting efforts by leaving your teams stuck reviewing mountains of paperwork!

Include a Mobile Application Option

If you have an online application, you’re already ahead of the game. But is it mobile-friendly?

Typing in 20 years of work history on a phone can be frustrating, which can discourage applicants from completing forms. Job seekers might not have their resume files available on every device, either. Offer an application that allows job seekers to include links to online portfolios and profiles on platforms like LinkedIn. Posting links is easier for applicants while reading them is a more efficient way for hiring managers to screen candidates quickly.

Take Advantage of Pre-Screening Surveys

Pre-screen surveys are typically made up of simple but important “yes” and “no” questions that can weed out unfit applicants right away.

For example, if you need staffing exclusively in New York City, include a question about locations in your pre-screen survey. With this technique, you’ll only need to read applications from job seekers who meet your basic requirements. Those who are unqualified will automatically be weeded out.

Pre-screen surveys are typically sent through email as soon as a mobile application is received. However, there’s no reason you can’t incorporate the same tool with handwritten applications, especially if you opt to simplify your company’s application.

Text, Don’t Call

Playing phone tag and hunting for emails in your spam folder is a waste of time. Streamline your process by texting the candidates you want to know more about.

Young or not-so-young, every job seeker carries a phone. If they’re actively looking for a job, you know they are paying attention to every incoming text!

Coordinate interviews, send reminders, and deliver important information like directions to the office via text. This will help you to save time searching for communication threads.

Bonus Tip: Use a Staffing Agency!

At SMART Staffing Group, Inc., we make the hiring process easier than ever by finding and screening qualified candidates for you.  With more than 20 years of collective expertise, we are the go-to experts for talent consultancy and services. We’re a certified minority and woman-owned business enterprise that has served the Mid-Hudson Valley and Tri-State areas since 2014. Let us put our skills to work for you!