CV selection: what time to devote to it?What criteria to retain?

Upon publication of your job offer, you can see dozens of CVs, depending on your sector of activity.It is therefore better to be methodical in your selection to be effective in the treatment of applications and respond as soon as possible to candidates (in the affirmative or the negative).

Establish a grid of criteria to decide between two profiles will certainly save time in your recruitment process and avoid multiplying unsuccessful interviews.

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When to define your criteria?

The main criteria for selecting your candidates must appear in your ad.You will therefore have defined them before receiving the applications, ideally in concert with the manager concerned, at the same time as the missions contained in the post sheet.

Pierre Laouénan, Human Resources Referent at Crédit Mutuel Arkéa

"At first reading, I am attentive to the duration and consistency of experiences.The "holes" in the CV can be explained and be sources of wealth for the course.Of course, I am interested in controlled technologies, developed skills, followed training, the capacity for synthesis and popularization.What can make the difference?Associative or other commitments which are interesting assets.The time I devote is around 30 seconds for a first filter.I then analyze it more precisely if the CV caught my attention.»»

What criteria to select your future employees?

You can start by determining the essential criteria that will condition the job interview, the important criteria that will allow you to decide between two candidates of your short list and possibly optional criteria, which constitute a plus for the position.Whatever your criteria for a given position, be sure to apply the same assessment grid to all candidates for objective and efficient selection.

This hierarchy of criteria will allow you to classify the CVs received in three categories: the candidates selected, to which you will have a first telephone interview, the possible candidates, whose CVs can be consulted again, and the candidates who do not correspond to, to which you will send an email notifying your refusal.

A candidate management tool (ATS) can help you save precious time, configuring your filters according to the criteria and keywords that you have predefined.

The diplomas

If they are no longer as essential as in the past, by the admission of a majority of recruiters, diplomas can remain a sine qua non condition to exercise in certain sectors of activity.Especially in those demanding a long academic journey like certain branches of medicine, for example.They are often accessible at first glance, in the first or second section of the CV.

Professional experiences

While the pandemic has germinated or confirmed the desires of professional retraining, it is no longer always relevant to demand a past experience at a similar position, because it is often possible to form an interesting profile internally.

In any case, pay attention to the professional environment in which the candidate has evolved (start up, VSE, SMEs, large group, national or international dimension, activity branch, etc.).The number of years of experience can also come into account in your choice, if it seems interesting to integrate a junior or a senior to compose a harmonious team.Finally, the nature of the various employers can give you an index on the type of corporate culture that the candidate affects.

Technical skills

In this chapter, it is better to identify two or three essential skills rather than embarking on a list at La Prévert.While for a developer, mastery of computer language, will undoubtedly be part of the prerequisites, the mastery of one or more foreign languages will prove to be essential in the field of international trade.

Soft Skills

Soft skills take over the years more and more importance in recruiters, because they allow to count on sustainable skills in a world of work where technical skills become more and more quickly obsolete.They can also help you choose a candidate in line with your corporate culture.

In the same way as for hard skills, determine two to three key qualities for the position: autonomy, versatility, empathy, collective sense, good resistance to stress, leadership ...

Admittedly, these soft skills are more difficult to detect in a CV, but you can refer to the section of interests where the candidate often mentions elements revealing this or that trait of his personality (passion for travel, activities ofvolunteering, sports or artistic activities).

What time to devote the selection of CV?

The ideal is to devote, each week, time slots when reading CV.This will allow you to be fully concentrated and will help you better compare the different applications between them.

Depending on the studies, a recruiter spends between a few seconds to three minutes to read the CV of a candidate.So as much to know in which sections to seek the essential information to optimize your recruitments!