I used to rely on a Hotmail account for most of my non-work e-mail but have since graduated to more grown-up e-mail accounts.  Unfortunately, because I’ve yet to figure out how to actually get rid of the Hotmail address, it still exists and continues to collect e-mails guaranteed to provide cheap medications, extend my something-or-other, or cheaply refill my printer cartridges.

Last night I decided it might be time to once again look at that hotmail account and check out the electronic wasteland I’ve let it become.  Amazingly, amidst all the clutter, I found a couple e-mails from old friends.  Thankfully they were easy to identify with relevant subject lines and familiar e-mail addresses.  It was great to read these messages but I hated having to take the time to wade through the garbage to find the gems.

For hiring managers, going through a candidate pool is like wading through my hotmail account.  There is typically far too much “junk” and far too few relevant documents.  My best estimate is that 50% of any candidate pool can immediately be considered clutter.  These resumes either aren’t relevant, contain numerous errors, or just don’t meet the requirements of the position.  Another 30% may be relevant but clearly aren’t deserving of consideration when stacked up against other candidates. 

That leaves 20% of any candidate pool that is worth consideration from the hiring manager (and that figure may be optimistic).  So if 100 people apply for a position, I believe only 20 resumes are worth looking at.  Unfortunately, it takes weeding through all 100 just to identify that top 20!

In my work with one large corporation, I continue to be baffled at the number of managers who elect to review all applicants for a position, rather than utilize a recruiter’s pre-screen to weed out the clutter.  These managers are highly compensated individuals responsible for the performance and results of large teams and multi-million dollar budgets….yet they are CHOOSING to spend the extra time it takes to read through 80 sub-par resumes in addition to the 20 that are truly worth their time.

A hiring manager reading every resume is like using an e-mail address with no junk-mail filter.  If you do either, you’re wasting precious time.  Whether it’s an in-house recruiter/HR specialist, or a contracted recruiting resource you could utilize (such as http://www.octanerecruiting.com), I strongly encourage hiring professionals to let someone else filter out the resume clutter.  Imagine how much more effective managers could be if 80% of every resume review suddenly vanished from their scope of work!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a couple of old friends to catch up with…….