Resume
A resume is the US English word for a CV: a short summary of a candidate's work history, education and skills. Resume screening is the first review of these documents against the requirements of the role, before anyone is invited to interview.
Resume or CV?
The two words describe the same document for most jobs. In US English, “resume” is the everyday term and “CV” usually means the longer academic record of publications and research. In British English, “CV” is used for both. A candidate who sends a resume has sent you a CV; there is nothing to convert. In a job ad for a UK or European role, ask for a CV, since that is the word your candidates use.
Screening resumes against the role
Screening decides who never reaches an interview, so the method matters more than any one reader’s instinct. Acas recommends selecting the people who best match the job description and person specification, in a way that is fair to each of them. Its practical version is a checklist: turn each requirement into a point, assess every application against the same points, and give each one a score.
Two further steps make the result easier to defend. Acas suggests that, ideally, two or more people from different backgrounds choose who to interview, using one consistent decision process. And in Great Britain the Equality Act 2010 applies before anyone is hired: section 39 forbids discrimination in the arrangements an employer makes for deciding to whom to offer employment. Resume screening is one of those arrangements.
What to look for, and what to leave out
Read for evidence of each requirement: what the person did, at what scale, and with what result. A job title alone says little, because the same title covers very different work from one company to the next. Agree before you start how the checklist treats near misses, so that a candidate with four years’ experience against a five-year guideline is scored the same way by both reviewers.
Leave out anything that is not evidence of the ability to do the job. Layout, fonts, a photo or a date of birth are not criteria; if they appear, they stay outside the score. Acas also advises against using what candidates post on personal social media to decide whether to interview them: you may be breaking the law, particularly if they did not agree to that use or if you looked at some candidates’ profiles and not others.
Write one line per candidate on why they moved forward or not. The note is useful when an unsuccessful candidate asks for feedback, and it lets you check, once the role is filled, whether the checklist predicted who did well in the structured interview.