Human resources are perhaps the most invaluable asset of any organisation and a significant investment. Hence, before you officiate this investment with an offer letter, you need to ensure that the applicant was screened properly. This blog will provide you with a comprehensive guide on screening applicants to find the best candidates for the job.
So, before you rush down the pages and embark on a screening applicants spree, take a few moments to step back and make sure you have given due thought to these aspects:
So, once you have captured your requirements, you can now move on to the candidate screening process. It includes the following five phases:
So, scan the resumé and find out every notable information such as their work history, education qualification, certification and background. Scan further to find any essential skills or core skills that are relevant to the jobs position. And then compare all the accumulated information with your must-haves and nice-to-have requirements. Does any resumé they fit the bill? If they do, then you can move on to the next step.
Here are some of the aspects of the candidate that you can learn about by screening their cover letter:
If you find the cover letters confusing and unconvincing, then you could send them a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions to know more about the candidate.
After you have successfully screened the resumé and the cover letter of the candidate and shortlisted applicants based on your findings, then you can make the first official move by calling the applicants for a phone screening round.
A phone screening will be your first actual contact with the applicant. As a part of candidate screening, you can ask the candidate about their professional and educational qualifications in an attempt to cross-check that the information provided on the phone matches with the one in the resumé.
At this stage, you will find the first red flags from the candidate, like:
These red flags will help you determine whether to go the next step or to go to the next candidate altogether.
During phone screening in recruitment, if the candidate passes with flying colours, then you can move on to the next step and ask the candidates to undergo an assessment test. You can subject them to several tests, as a part of the process of screening job applicants, to assess their capabilities as per your job requirements. You can customise your tests to get as much information as possible about the candidate. You can even determine whether the candidate is a culture fit for the company with a simple test.
The usual tests that are conducted during candidate screening include:
An interview is the most important part of the application screening process. However, personal interviews can stress out both the candidate as well as the interviewer, as both parties will get evaluated by the other, and each is under pressure to create a positive first impression.
For the interviewer, it is about asking the right questions, which determine the knowledge about the job requirements and roles and responsibilities it entails. On the other hand, for the candidate, it is about giving the best answers most appropriately.
So, interviewers can start by engaging the candidate with an authentic conversation. When the candidate is at ease, and the interviewer has got a hold of the situation, then they can start bombarding the questions, which could include:
If the candidate was convincing and successful during the interview, then it may seem perfectly logical to extend the job offer to the candidate then and there. However, before you decide, conduct a thorough background check of the candidate. This process is an important part of screening applicants and should never be ignored.
An in-depth background check will help you uncover many facts as well as the issues about the candidate. However, make sure that you conduct the background checks ethically and legally without hampering the integrity and privacy of the candidate. Having a comprehensive company policy about background checks helps you navigate through sensitive matters during the screening process when they arise.
You could do background checks on the following:
You can even customise your background checks depending on the nature of the job and the job requirements.
Finally, if you are recruiting for technical roles and have more than one suitable candidate to choose from, then you can opt for job trials. Here, you give a particular task to the candidates and ask them to finish the task within the required time. You can then evaluate them on their technical knowledge and skills and accordingly make your decision.
Screening applicants is important before offering them the job. You could take the help of an applicant tracking system (ATS) to manage the screening process more efficiently. All in all, the secret of an effective screening process lies in the effective assessment of the screening process. An assessment will help you identify the positive and the negatives of the process, allowing you to plug the gaps and make the screening process more efficient.
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