The Employer's Resume Evaluation Process Continued...

Following a prescreening process, resumes that do not meet the requirements are generally filed for a period of several months to a year depending on the quantity of resumes received by the organization, and their internal business practices. Contrary to common belief, most organizations do not immediately discard resumes for two reasons:

1) If another position comes available in the near future which your skills may qualify you for, an employer may refer back to these resumes at that time.

2) The legality associated with the candidate selection process. If in fact any questions arise out of an unfair hiring practice, it is within the best interest of the organization to have documentation that can backup their decisions, and a paper trail showing this process can benefit the organization during these times.

Another prescreening category previously mentioned were those resumes that do not meet the requirements but may have other appeal which is passed on for further review. Dependent on the organization and its hiring cycle, there maybe several open positions at different levels and disciplines the applicant was not aware of. Often times a candidate may apply for one position but could be contacted for another job opening. The lesson here is, always apply for your skill level and the skill level one rank above your current position!

Overall, your objective is to pass this prescreening process, but What happens next?

Passing the prescreening process says the prospective employer determines you have the skills they require, and is always the best position to be in. Something on your resume conveyed to the reviewer you may have what it takes. Within the Writing Your Resume section we will examine how to maximize your chances in conveying this message.

Each organization has their own internal hiring practices, but in general, once your resume is prescreened and passes this stage, it typically is forwarded to the hiring or department manager to whom the job position would report to. At this stage, the hiring manager will closely review your resume and disseminate copies to a handful of experienced employees for their input if applicable. This review process is often more formal and specifically is meant to address the needs of the department, so the detailed information provided on your resume must convey a reasonable summary of your skills. Throughout the review process, prospective employers will continually ask the question, 'what contribution can this candidate bring to our organization'.

The length of time this process can take greatly depends on the size and internal requirements of the organization, and also on the time period needed to fill the job opening.