How do you deal with 30 resumes per day?

At our last Tech Leads Mentoring group, we discussed how to handle a load of reviewing 15-30 resumes per day.

My primary suggestion was to create clearer filters that HR/recruiters could use to test for what you cared about: culture, tech skills, etc.  This would allow you eliminate many unqualified candidates quickly, and pursue the best ones.

Thinking more about it this weekend, I believe I overlooked another way of dealing with this problem: delegation.

Here are some ideas about how you could delegate part (or all) of the process of screening these resumes. Not only would this reduce your load, but provides an opportunity for others who want more leadership experience.

Idea 1:
Ask 1-2 Team Leads to review the resumes first, and split them into “Consider hiring” and “Not interested” groups. Briefly, review all resumes with the Team Lead and then move forward with the ones worth pursuing. This not only helps them improve at reviewing resumes, but will quickly cut down your workload.

Idea 2:
Allow all Team Leads to review resumes, decide which ones they would like to interview, and have them compete for positions. You could also create a “point” system where each TL gets x points to “spend” on a candidate, and they use their points to prioritize who to interview. This takes a bit more work, but also exposes the TL’s to the hiring process and introduces the idea that they are more responsible for fighting for the people they want.

Remember, some of your team members want to be in your shoes someday, and they would love to have this learning opportunity.

What other ideas can you think of to involve key team members in this process?

Which idea would be a fit for your company?