There’s a famous saying that you can’t make a second first impression and this certainly applies when talking about resumes. This simple piece of paper provides hiring managers with a detailed summary of a candidate's educational background, work experience, internship opportunities, professional interests and relevant skills. A successful resume is one that grabs your attention and makes you, the hiring manager, want to learn more about this candidate because they have accomplished something that has sparked your interest.

Here are some tips that all hiring managers and employers should use to effectively read a candidate's resume.

1. Time Spans. When reviewing resumes, it is important to look at the time spans of the candidate's past positions. If you find many short-term professional experiences, this may be an indication of a “job jumper” with poor work ethic and who is unreliable and hard to please. Date ranges like, "Winter 2011" or "Summer 2011", instead of concrete date ranges, could mean a desire to hide brief employment periods. Long gaps in between jobs could indicate an unmotivated or undesirable employee. However, keep in mind that some people have been out of work for long stretches of time by no fault of their own due to the difficult job market and economic times.
    
2. “Look and Feel” of the Resume – What can a resume tell you about a potential candidate? Words speak volumes, but so does the overall design of a resume. A colorful, overly-designed resume with lots of fonts and pictures may mean an inexperienced candidate is trying to impress you with creativity, rather than work experience while a professional looking design could mean you are looking at the resume of a more seasoned, and experienced candidate.
    
3. Passion for their Profession – Does the potential candidate seem dedicated to their profession? Do they belong to a professional association, possess certifications or take professional education courses? Do they have any trophies, patents or awards? This could indicate a certain passion for the profession, a willingness to go the extra mile and seriousness about their job that results in a satisfied, non-disgruntled employee that is willing to learn more and expand their horizons.
    
4. Professionalism – The potential candidate should be putting their best foot forward when submitting their resume. Typos, grammatical mistakes and other errors, indicates a carelessness that might carry over to their work. On the other hand, a well-written, targeted résumé is indicative of a candidate with attention to detail. Remember, personal is not professional. The fact that a candidate tells you they are married, loves softball or volunteers is not appropriate on a resume and shows a certain lack of professionalism.
    
5. Know the Good Companies from the Bad - This might seem obvious, but winning companies usually have sought-after, competent employees behind them. If a candidate has worked somewhere you know hires only REALLY good people, they are probably worth checking out.
    
6. Use Social Media to Your Advantage– Use Social Media to review your candidate’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Make sure that you “Google” the candidates of interest using their name and city and state. These steps will let you know if there is any unprofessionalism you should know about before you even interview the candidates. Checking their LinkedIn profile will allow you to learn a lot about the candidate. Check how many connections your candidate has and if they are taking full advantage of their LinkedIn account’s capabilities. For example, if this is a sales or business development candidate you do not want to hire him if he doesn't utilize his LinkedIn opportunities. Compare the LinkedIn profile to his resume to make sure that he didn't "change" his resume in order to sell himself. This action will help you see an authentic view of the candidate and learn about his honesty.
    
7. Tell Me a Little Bit About Yourself – Take a spin on this common interviewing approach by asking the candidate to write one or two sentences about each one of the requirements you have in the job description. In many cases, the exact nature of their job description can’t be told in a few sentences and as a hiring manager you may be unsure exactly what the candidate did and whether they would be an ideal match the position you are trying to fill. Asking the candidate to write something about each requirement can help you get a better picture and in some cases help you to reject candidates who are not a good match even before the interview and save your time. Plus, it makes a good reference point for review purposes.
    

Remember, resumes are used as a filter to weed out the candidates that you aren’t interested in interviewing. It’s not a perfect science, and if there is a candidate that you still find compelling, it’s better to err on the side of giving them a chance.