How Startups Can Use Résumés to Find Reliable Help

If your startup has grown to the point that you need to hire one or more people, get ready for the wild world of résumés. You’ll need to know how to read them, track them and use them to select candidates. Be warned, even if your business is a micro-sized local web design firm, for example, you’ll receive hundreds of résumés in response to a single job posting.

In the tech-heavy world of today’s human resource environment, a gorgeous, well-written résumé won’t land anyone a job or an interview. Today’s company owners view résumés as just one piece of a gigantic portrait. And in the hierarchy of those elements, résumés are not at the top of the stack. For one thing, they are not objective documents; they’re created by job candidates and much of the data is not readily verifiable.

What does that mean if you are searching for a new staff member, whether it’s an accountant, attorney or tech person? It means you’ll have to know several things about how to hire people. No, it’s not rocket science but there are specific, precise steps you need to take to stay on the right side of federal regulations. Jot down the following points before you begin your quest for that perfect employee:

Storage

Make sure you have the tech to store all the pertinent interview data like cover letters you receive, email responses to job listings, candidate résumés, interview notes (it helps to inform every candidate that interviews are video and audio recorded, just to stay on the legal side of things) and an applicant tracking system (ATS) software package to act as a central database for all the data. A Linux log analyzer, or whatever logging software your system uses, can be a huge help if your ATS crashes.

Let the ATS Do its Job

That means it will scan résumés based on the keywords you choose. Your other option is to read every résumé you receive. While you’re still new and micro-sized, that’s an easy chore. Once you grow a bit, it will become impossible. You can download free ATS software or buy a proprietary product if you need lots of bells, whistles and customer support. The freebies work well for small startups, so opt for a free download at first and see if it meets your needs.

Save Every Video-Audio Recording

This is your armor against future legal actions. Don’t think you won’t need it. In some states, it’s mandatory that you keep whatever you record on file for at least three years. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ll never be the target of a lawsuit. Do the right, and smart, thing by recording all interviews and retaining the data in a safe place.

Use Résumés as Points of Departure

Try to ask the same types of questions in all interviews, but key your ideas off the résumés. You’ll learn a lot more about people when you ask open-ended questions based on specific résumé points, like, “I see you graduated from XYZ University with a degree in Business. Why did you choose finance as a concentration?”