Let’s say I am looking for a hands-on position in a data warehousing team (this is very different from looking for a project management, which requires a very different set of skills). How do I screen for resumes?

First, I scan for the Technical Skills section to see if the candidate has the relevant experience with the proper tools. Depending on the specific position we have in mind, this could be ETL tools, OLAP tools, data modeling tools, etc. Let’s use ETL as an example. I would looke for someone who has used Informatica, DataStage, Ab Initio, or something else. A big bonus is if the candidate states on the resume he or she has done ETL without using a third-party tool. I always believe that a person who has had to done something in the data warehousing world without a third-party tool would no question have the deepest understanding of all the possible complexities that may come with the job (and this is especially true with ETL).

Then, I look at the type of work done in this person’s previous two jobs. At least one of the positions need to be very related to what we are looking for. In the data warehousing world, because of the speed of the technological change, being out of the industry for 2-3 years would essentially mean you are out of the loop.

Finally, I look for signs of attention to detail. Are there any spelling mistakes in the resume? Does the candidate spell the product/company names correctly?

That’s it! This simple process, though, weeds out about 2/3 of all the resumes I receive. If you are sending out a resume for a DW position, please make sure you cover these three points.