Screen and Select Top Candidates
A smarter, well-structured screening process sets the stage for everything else, ensuring you’re not just filling seats within your organization but selecting the right people to fill them – ultimately reducing the potential for costly employee turnover.
“A good screening process is one in which we’re helping people make sound decisions…not just us, but the candidate too. And that only happens if they’re getting clear, structured information at every step.
Even if there’s a 5-day gap between steps, a simple touchpoint helps keep the candidate engaged. Otherwise, they assume you’re not interested and they move on…..those small moments matter.”
Spark Hire CEO and Founder
Refining Your Talent Pipeline for Improved Results
According to new LinkedIn research, almost 40% of job seekers say they’re applying to more jobs than ever, yet are not hearing back from more. In comparison, 64% of global HR professionals say the job search is harder than in previous years, highlighting a fundamentally disjointed system.
There are a host of challenges causing this, including sky-high application volumes, frictionless application systems that prioritize quantity over quality, and disjointed hiring processes that slow decision-making or reduce the likelihood of hiring the best-fit candidates.
And that’s only the start.
In this chapter, we’ll provide advice and resources to help you navigate through the primary screening challenges, including:
- Guiding you through the process of refining your talent pipeline, ensuring you identify the best fit while maintaining fairness.
- Exploring how to design an effective application process that balances necessary information with minimal friction, while also addressing legal and compliance considerations.
- Diving into resume review best practices, focusing on developing clear criteria for making informed go/no-go decisions, and establishing consistent rejection reasons and templates.
- Examining interview strategies and tools, and talent assessment solutions.
- Learning how to collect and evaluate feedback, with the use of scorecards and deadlines, as well as establishing decision-making criteria before you begin evaluations.
The Complete Guide to Candidate Screening and Selection
Let's Talk Hiring: Candidate Screening and Selection
Best Practices
Designing an Effective Application Process
Optimize Your Application for Both Ease and Information
Balance the collection of candidate information that is critical to the job, including skills, competencies, background, or technical knowledge, with a user-friendly application process. Eliminate unnecessary steps or overly complex forms to prevent candidate attrition and ensure a positive first impression, without making it too easy for those who are blatantly unqualified to apply.
Adhere to Legal and Compliance Standards for Recruiting
Ensure you have a thorough understanding and consistent application of all relevant legal and compliance regulations, such as those set forth by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Regularly review and update your application process to ensure compliance and mitigate potential legal risks as a result of being misinformed.
Streamlining Resume Review
Establish Defined “Go/No-Go” Criteria for Resume Evaluation
Before the job application is posted, develop clear, objective, and pre-defined evaluation criteria to quickly and consistently review resumes against. This will ensure a streamlined screening process that gets the top candidates in front of hiring managers more quickly, reduces bias during initial screenings, and allows for data-driven decisions regarding candidate progression.
Create Standardized Rejection and Communication Templates
72% of candidates are likely to share their negative candidate experience with the world, meaning it is critical to maintain consistent and fair communication, even with rejected candidates. Develop professional, empathetic email templates for rejection notifications to ensure a positive candidate experience, even for those not selected, and protect your organization’s brand reputation.
Interview Strategies
Adopt a Diverse Interviewing Strategy
Don’t be afraid to test a variety of screening methods, such as phone screenings, live video interviews, and one-way video interviews, to identify which combination works best for your organization. Employing multiple interview types allows for a more holistic understanding of a candidate’s skills, experience, and cultural fit earlier in the process.
Develop Authentic Behavioral Interview Questions
Craft behavioral interview questions designed to elicit genuine, personal responses. Focus on real-world scenarios, past experiences, and problem-solving abilities to assess a candidate’s true capabilities if selected to fill your opening. This will minimize the potential for AI-influenced or scripted answers and allow you to get a better sense of the candidate’s overall fit.
Collecting and Evaluating Feedback
Implement Standardized Scorecards
Utilizing evaluation scorecards ensures the consistent and objective assessment of candidate performance across all interviewers, which in many cases includes a recruiter, hiring manager, and additional leadership (depending on the seniority of the role).
Establish Deadlines
Set clear timelines for interviewing and feedback submission to maintain momentum, prevent unnecessary screening delays, and ensure timely decision-making. This fosters accountability, streamlines the evaluation process, and establishes an experience that is respectful of your candidates’ and your team’s time.
Define Final Decision-Making and Tie-Breaking Criteria
Be transparent and ensure consistency by establishing well-defined tie-breaking criteria before the evaluation stage. If presented with several equally qualified candidates, based on your Ideal Candidate Profile (ICP), what will be the tie-breaker that allows the process to continue moving forward to a swift, objective final decision?