Key steps in the screening and recruitment process

A typical candidate selection process involves multiple steps. These structured phases often include the following:

• Initiating a job requisition and defining the open position
• Deciding which recruitment strategies you’ll use to find and connect with qualified professionals
• Planning a smooth and efficient recruitment process for candidates, beginning with the job application
• Reading candidates’ CVs and cover letters carefully to assess hard and soft skills, relevant experience and how well they align with your company culture
• Deciding on interview questions and conducting interviews to evaluate the best candidates
• Conducting skills or aptitude tests to assess areas such as communication skills or problem-solving abilities
• Carrying out reference checks to verify candidates’ qualifications and experience
• Conducting online research and background checks, including areas such as a candidate’s social media presence
• Making hiring decisions and reaching out to successful candidates with a job offer

Defining job requirements

Before beginning the hiring process, aim to clearly define your requirements for the role. This includes outlining the necessary technical skills, as well as soft skills such as leadership, problem-solving abilities and relevant experience required.

To craft an attractive job description, it’s important to include the salary or salary range and benefits. A well-crafted job description also provides a benchmark for evaluating applicants throughout the selection process.

Streamlining the application process

A streamlined application process that isn’t time-consuming helps you attract and retain the best candidates. Consider simplifying application forms, clearly communicating each step and providing timely responses to ensure you don’t lose the candidates’ interest.

An efficient process also helps recruitment managers quickly identify and move forward with qualified applicants.

Using recruitment metrics

Use recruitment metrics like time to fill, application completion rate, and candidate net promoter score (CNPS) to evaluate your process and identify areas for improvement.

Over time, you’ll be able to optimise hiring outcomes so that the best candidates progress efficiently from one stage to the next.

Assessing a candidate’s work ethic

Candidates may have impressive CVs, but assessing their work ethic ensures they can effectively perform the role. Consider crafting interview questions about how candidates handle a heavy workload or changes to their workflow. Soft skills to look out for include diligence, perseverance and the ability to self-motivate.

Reference checks from past employers and a background check can provide insights too.   

How to evaluate a candidate’s experience and accomplishments

Learning about the accomplishments a candidate is most proud of can bring unique insights to the selection process. Perhaps they won an award or were employee of the month at their previous workplace, or perhaps they overcame a particularly challenging situation.

A good way to gather information about candidates’ past accomplishments is by structuring interview questions that follow the STAR method. Let’s break this down:

• Situational: the candidate describes an achievement within a specific situation
• Task: they describe the task they accomplished
• Action: they detail the action they took to achieve a successful outcome
• Result: they describe the results of their accomplishment.

You can use the STAR framework throughout the interview process to assess soft skills like communication, conflict management, and problem-solving.

It can also help you assess the candidate’s potential for growth and how they handle complex, real-world tasks and people-oriented situations.

The importance of a commitment to learning

Employees at the start of their careers are often eager to learn new skills. However, lifelong learners can be more difficult to find and represent a significant asset to your company.

If a candidate’s CV shows that they’re consistently good at picking up new skills, they’re likely to do the same while working for you.

To assess a commitment to learning during the interview process, you could ask questions on how they feel about training or how they’re hoping to develop in the role.

Determining whether they’re a cultural fit

Asking informal questions about hobbies and interests can help you determine if a candidate is a good cultural fit for your team and company.

How they convey this information can provide additional clues about their communication skills.

Assessing emotional intelligence, soft skills and personality helps determine if a candidate fits your team and culture.

Additionally, discussing personal interests can reveal their motivations and which benefits might appeal to them.

Encouraging candidates to ask questions

The questions candidates ask during the interview can reveal their deeper motivations and priorities. They also allow you to find out how assertive, analytical and curious they are and how much they have researched the role and the company.

Encouraging candidates to ask questions helps both parties make informed decisions about fit and expectations. Focusing on the candidate experience can also enhance your employer brand and make your organisation more attractive to top talent.

Competency-based interview questions

Competency-based interview questions are a great way to find out more about entry-level candidates as part of a structured process guided by clear selection criteria. While entry-level candidates may lack specific technical skills, their personality and attitude may still make them a great fit.

You can find out more about candidates via competency-based interview questions such as:

• Can you describe a time you handled a difficult issue at work?
• Imagine a particularly busy day. How would you prioritise your workload?
• Can you provide an example of successfully handling a conflict with a colleague?

Conducting aptitude or skills-assessment tests

During the interview process, you can assess technical proficiencies and problem-solving skills through practical tests or sample tasks. For example, if you require candidates for an administrative role to demonstrate their spelling and grammar proficiency or typing speed, you can use a typing test. For a social media role, you might set a short written task to assess their understanding of your brand’s identity and tone.

Practical tasks during the interview reveal a candidate’s personality and their ability to solve problems under pressure. Such tasks can also help democratise the selection process, giving skilled candidates who may not have extensive experience the opportunity to show that they can handle the role.

Before you decide

After reviewing applications, take time to reflect on what you are looking for from the candidate pool. While requirements vary by role, the goal is to find the candidate who will best integrate into your team and contribute to its success.

To make a confident hiring decision and avoid selecting the wrong person, ask yourself these questions about your top choice:

• Are they able to complete the tasks necessary to fulfil the role?
• Are they motivated and eager to learn?
• Are they likely to be a cultural fit for your team?
• Do you believe that their values align with your company?
• Have you completed all relevant reference and background checks?
• Are they interested in building their career with your company?
• Are you confident in their potential for growth?

Other points to consider before deciding

Choosing the wrong candidate can impact existing team members by increasing their workload or reducing overall productivity. The cost of a bad hire varies, but generally includes their annual salary and the time lost to the recruitment process.

When making your final decision, consider the candidate’s performance throughout the process, their long-term potential and the investment represented by their salary. Once you have identified the right person, extend a job offer. Keep in mind that you’ll likely need to train your new employee and provide a thorough onboarding process.

Tips and best practices for the screening process

In an evolving recruitment landscape, a structured recruitment process helps identify the right candidate and also ensures a positive candidate experience, which can strengthen your employer brand and help you attract top talent. Here are a few other things to keep in mind during the selection process:

• Be mindful of the UK GDPR: when recording or sharing your notes, remember that personal data collected on candidates during evaluation needs to be stored in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.
• Involve hiring managers: these employees can be a useful resource to help you conduct structured job interviews, assess skills and evaluate candidates’ suitability.
• Monitor selection process funnel effectiveness: do this at each stage to confirm that the right candidates are progressing toward job offers.

Employee development after onboarding

After the onboarding process, an annual performance appraisal can be used to evaluate the progress of new recruits to ensure they’re adapting and making valuable contributions.

New employees who can assimilate quickly and demonstrate consistent performance are especially valuable to an organisation. You can boost this process by investing in quality training and providing development opportunities. You can justify these investments by weighing the new hire’s salary against the long-term value they bring to the company.

How to choose the right candidate for the job is a key question in any recruitment process. By implementing a clear and structured selection and interview process, evaluating candidates thoroughly and focusing on both skills and cultural fit, you can secure a new employee who is primed to contribute to your company’s success and long-term growth.