Employment and Job Search Information, Tips and Advice

Once you have received the applications for the position you have available, it’s time to sort through them and narrow them down to a shortlist of candidates to invite for an interview.

If you have provided an application form for candidates to fill in, it will be easier to sift through the prospects as you will have asked for specific information to be provided that will assist you in matching skilled candidates to the job description.

If you have relied on people sending in their CVs, you will probably need to spend some more time assessing people’s skills and experience – although the quality and presentation of the CV itself can reveal a lot about a candidate without even having to read the text.

Who goes on the shortlist?

There are some key steps to follow in order to make sure you pick the cream of the crop, so here are some pointers to help you make the all important decisions:

• Compare their qualifications to your requirements. It should be easy to weed out those who aren’t suitable.
• Consider the overall quality of the CVs and/or applications you have received. Are they professional looking CVs or are they filled with spelling mistakes and incorrect grammar?
• Look for practical experience. If there is evidence that certain candidates have skills that they could bring to your vacancy, put them on the shortlist.
• Is there any information (or lack of information) that might throw up a red flag? Look for gaps in a candidate’s work history that are unexplained, or any jobs they have been fired from.

How long is a shortlist?

Most recruitment advisors, HR managers and recruiters agree that a shortlist of around half a dozen is ideal for a single vacancy. Less than this and you run the risk of not finding a suitable candidate for the role. Any more and the decision on who to employ becomes harder to make.

Points to remember when shortlisting candidates

All candidates who are potentially suitable for the role should be invited to an interview, regardless of any other factors. If they have a disability, for example, this should not affect their chances.

It’s also good not to be too inflexible when considering who to include on your shortlist. Many a job has been successfully filled by someone who did not match the job description exactly, but proved to be excellent in the role.

Back to articles...