How to screen hundreds of CVs for one role

Why reading from the top of the pile fails

Most recruiters facing a big response open the first CV and start reading. By CV forty the bar has moved, by CV one hundred they are skimming, and the people at the bottom of the pile get a worse read than the people at the top.

The fix is not reading faster. It is separating the decision about what you are looking for from the work of looking, and doing the cheap check on everyone before the expensive one on a few.

The method, step by step

1. 1

   Write the scorecard before you read

   Sit down with the hiring manager for fifteen minutes and agree on three to five must-haves: things the person cannot do the job without, and that a CV can show. “Five years of B2B sales” is checkable. “Self-starter” is not. Everything else goes on a nice-to-have list.

   Add the hard filters: right to work, location or working pattern, required languages, and notice period if the start date is fixed. Write all of it down. A scorecard that lives only in your head drifts by the fortieth CV.

2. 2

   Run a knock-out pass on every CV

   Read each CV for the must-haves and hard filters only. Do not score yet, and do not read the hobbies. Sort into three piles: yes, maybe and no.

   Aim for about thirty seconds per CV. At that pace 200 CVs take under two hours, and on a role that drew a big response most applications fall at this stage.

   • If your applicant tracking system supports it, put the hard filters into the application form as knock-out questions, so this pass is shorter next time.
3. 3

   Score the survivors against the scorecard

   Give each must-have and nice-to-have a simple mark: 0 for no evidence, 1 for some, 2 for clear evidence. Write the evidence next to the mark: the job, the project, the number.

   Score evidence, not keywords. A CV that lists a tool in a skills box is weaker than one that says what the person built or sold with it, and a candidate who uses a different word for the same skill still has it. Allow two to three minutes per CV.

4. 4

   Build the shortlist

   Rank by score, then read the top ten again from top to bottom. Pick five to eight. For each one, write a line on why they are on the list and one gap you want to probe.

   Those gaps become your screening-call questions: “Your CV mentions the migration but not the size of the team. Who else worked on it, and what was your part?”

5. 5

   Close the loop

   Tell the people who did not make it, ideally within a week. Keep the scorecard and your notes with the role so you can explain any decision later, and keep CVs only as long as your privacy notice says.

How the time adds up for 200 CVs

About four hours in total, most of it in the two passes:

• Scorecard with the hiring manager: 15 minutes
• Knock-out pass, 200 CVs at about 30 seconds each: about 1 hour 40 minutes
• Scoring pass, 40 survivors at 2 to 3 minutes each: about 1 hour 40 minutes
• Shortlist and notes: 20 minutes

Common mistakes

• Starting to read before the must-haves are agreed, then changing the bar halfway through the pile.
• Matching keywords instead of evidence, which favours CVs written to the ad over people who have done the work.
• Reading 200 CVs in one sitting. Judgement slips with fatigue, so take a break every forty or fifty and re-read the scorecard when you come back.
• Letting a name, photo, age or address shape a decision. It is unfair, and in the UK and the EU it can be unlawful. If you can, hide those details during the knock-out pass.
• Keeping only a score. Without a line of evidence nobody can check the decision later, including you.

Splitting the work in a small team

With two or three people, agree on the scorecard together, then each screen the same ten CVs and compare. Where your marks differ, fix the wording of the scorecard, not each other. After that, split the pile and use the same piles and marks, so the results can be merged.

One person owns the role and signs off the shortlist, so there is a single answer when the hiring manager asks.

Common questions