Many recruiters and employers get bombarded with applications and CV's when they advertise a new position. The sheer number of applications can be overwhelming. So what is the best way to shortlist candidates for a new job role?


If the job has an official closing date, don’t wait for this date to pass before reviewing the applications. Reviewing CV's as they arrive will make the process easier and less daunting.

Review each candidate against the job specification and design a grading system for each candidate.

Example:

0 - Does not meet criteria

1 - Meet some criteria

2 - Meets all criteria

3 - Exceeds all criteria

For candidates that do not meet any of the criteria for the job, it is courteous to inform them that they have been unsuccessful and will not be selected for interview on this occasion.

Candidates in category 2 and 3 should be short listed for interview, but before requesting a meeting, consider their location and salary expectations. If the candidate lives more than an hour’s drive from the office location they may be less favourable that a candidate that lives in the same town. Similarly, if a candidate’s salary expectations appear considerably higher than the salary on offer it would not be appropriate to shortlist them. For candidates in category 1, it may be advisable to seek a second opinion from a colleague and then either disregard them or add them to the shortlist.

If your shortlist for interview is considerably large, a telephone interview may be the best option for a first stage interview as it is less time consuming for both the hiring manager and the candidate. Successful candidates from the telephone interview can then be taken for a face-to-face interview where a decision on the successful candidate is usually made. If you are undecided between 2 or 3 candidates after meeting with them, it may be worthwhile setting up a job trial, where the final applicants come in for a day to undertake tasks associated with the job. Not only will it help with the decision making process, it will also give candidates a taste of the role and a further insight into the company culture.

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As one of the UK’s leading recruitment agencies, CV Screen have specialist divisions focusing on Accountancy, Marketing and IT Recruitment.