You’ve placed the ad, the response is coming in. Fabulous. This is where it now gets tricky. Unless you have a large recruitment team, a lot of spare time on your hands, or receive very small volumes of applications, the chances are you’ll need to do a bit of filtering. After all, interviewing is a time consuming process – for both you and your candidate, so it’s in everyone’s interest to ensure the shortlisting process is as effective as possible at narrowing down the pool.
Even in the most seemingly simple and straightforward of roles, let alone in the senior level, complex ones, your shortlisting process will need to assess different areas. Not only the skills and qualifications of the applicant; but attitude, behaviour, softer skills and even ‘cultural fit’ for your business.
Unfortunately, ‘gut instinct’ gained through informal chats will have a limited effectiveness as a filtering strategy. Not only can it lead to offers made on a subjective rather than objective basis, but may result in a decision not standing up to scrutiny should things go wrong, with charges of inconsistency or discrimination.
Fortunately, there are some genuinely useful and advisable tools and tips to help with this process, and our best advice is to take advantage of these ones;
Even in the most seemingly simple and straightforward of roles, let alone in the senior level, complex ones, your shortlisting process will need to assess different areas. Not only the skills and qualifications of the applicant; but attitude, behaviour, softer skills and even ‘cultural fit’ for your business.
Unfortunately, ‘gut instinct’ gained through informal chats will have a limited effectiveness as a filtering strategy. Not only can it lead to offers made on a subjective rather than objective basis, but may result in a decision not standing up to scrutiny should things go wrong, with charges of inconsistency or discrimination.
Fortunately, there are some genuinely useful and advisable tools and tips to help with this process, and our best advice is to take advantage of these ones;
1. Relevant online tasks and tests are ideal for narrowing down your search. If designed carefully, these stages can quickly eliminate candidates who don’t have all the skills, aptitude or potential to do the job and differentiate the good candidates at an early stage. They don’t need to be time consuming or expensive but can reduce your shortlist considerably, leaving you time to spend on applicants more likely to meet your benchmark and become your ideal new recruits. These are the people you’ll want to spend time with, selling the job, career move and the benefits of joining your growing team.
2. Consider the skillset required and the most effective way to test it. Need an administrator extraordinaire? Arrange an in-tray exercise. Looking for confidence and sales skills? Ask the candidate to prepare a presentation. Need someone creative and engaging? Request a short video or a portfolio of work. Later on, more thorough and detailed practical exercises will also add great value to the process. Role playing is an excellent way to assess customer service, communication and attitude. Case studies and researched presentations not only will demonstrate ability for problem solving, understanding of the industry and commercial awareness but will convey the level of passion and effort the candidate has put into securing the role.
3. Ensure your interviewers have the guidance and training to equip them with the confidence and ability to take on this important role. Questions must be prepared carefully to test the required skills and be consistent for all candidates. The set up and questioning technique must give the respondent ample chance to demonstrate their skills and qualities, and encourage them to perform at their best. Comprehensive notes must be taken. Interviewers must be capable of listening, probing and being non-judgemental. To this end, training and coaching for any managers involved in recruiting is highly recommended, or consider outsourcing this aspect of the process to a professional interviewer.
If you’d like further advice about any aspect of selection and assessment, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
The Recruitment Team helps SMEs to grow their teams by giving them the tools and skills to recruit the right people. If you would like a review of your Recruitment Process and Skills, please do get in touch. Call us on 07971 511731 or email aliwaters@therecruitmentteam.co. For further information visit www.therecruitmentteam.co .