Why do I reject lots of resumes?

Some time back, I have been assigned the responsiblity to scan resumes for Linux requirements in our BU. The Human Resource team sends me a list of resumes which they believe should suit the profile, I go through them and then give my feedback to them. In the feedback, I am supposed to suggest to them about the candidates with whom we should go in for a telephonic interview. A thing which I had not been noticing and was brought to my notice by an E-Mail was that I was rejecting a lot of resumes at the initial scanning stage itself. Now that makes the job of the HR more tough because it means they need to get even more resumes. I was asked the reason on why I reject so many of the resumes. That made me think about what we are focused on.

I am working for the Wireless BU of a semiconductor company which is responsible for delivering sample network drivers for different BUS interfaces in Linux kernel and also other Embedded Operating Systems.

The above line summarizes the logic on the basis of which I shortlist candidates for telephonic interviews:

1. Wireless
2. Network Drivers
   
3. BUS Interfaces
4. Linux Kernel
5. Embedded Experience
6. Operating Systems

If the resume matches 6 out of 6 criteria, then he / she is my first priority. If the resumes matches 5 out of 6, I still shortlist them. Anything lesser would not do.

I am very much inspired by the following excerpt while shortlisting people (and I would be even more choosy if I had to run my own company):

An important thing to remember about interviewing is this: it is much better to reject a good candidate than to accept a bad candidate. A bad candidate will cost a lot of money and effort and waste other people's time fixing all their bugs. If you have any doubts whatsoever, No Hire.

For more details about the article, refer to The Guerilla Guide To Interviewing