You have requested resumes for an open vacancy and received a considerable number of applications. Now what? Regardless of how emphatic you are about unqualified persons not applying for a vacancy, there will still be a large amount of chaff to sift through before finding what you really need from the heap. If you desire to find the best candidate in a reasonable amount of time, you need to know certain things before you begin the process of shortlisting.
- Length Of The Shortlist
Consider the sensitivity of the position you are hiring for, and how much time is reasonable to interview applicants for the position. Based on that, decide how many people can fit into the allotted time for interviews. With a number in mind, you can decide how many resumes should make the shortlist
- Search Criteria
One way to streamline the search process is to go back to the search criteria and decide what exactly you are looking for. Make a list of the essential criteria; qualities you are unwilling to compromise on. This is the big chop, where you take out all applications that do not meet the essential criteria. Make another list of preferable criteria; qualities that will make a candidate stand out in the essential criteria list.
- Deal Breakers
Make a list of resume deal breakers that immediately knock an applicant out of the process. This will further trim your shortlist. Some of the deal breakers could be in the form of bad fonts, bad formatting, unexplained gaps in the candidate’s employment history, location in relation to the working premises, and other factors.
- Most Recent Role
Depending on the position being advertised, a recruiter should pay attention to an applicant’s last or last two roles to see if they speak to the requirements of the candidate. This way, if a large number of applicants qualify, the number could be further reduced by giving preference to those who have performed in a similar role most recently.
- Give Feedback
While creating a shortlist, an employer needs to pay attention to the common errors that run through the rejected resumes. That way he or she will be able to draft a constructive rejection letter for all the candidates who are unable to make it. Sending a rejection email is important and is a standard practice that all employers should take seriously even if it is a generic one.
The recruitment process is unnerving for all involved, and recruiters the world over have sought ways to simplify the procedure and save time. Many programs and platforms have been created to effectively optimize candidate shortlisting. AMCAT is one such computer adaptive test which measures job applicants on critical areas like communication skills, logical reasoning, quantitative skills and job specific domain skills thus helping recruiters identify the suitability of a candidate. A recruiter looking to save resources should invest in AMCAT and make the best hires.
