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4 Applicant Screening Methods for effective and efficient hiring
Every company, big or small, is trying to recruit the finest staff it can. For that, they’re careful at every step of the recruitment cycle, during screening as well. Different applicant screening methods are used to narrow down prospective candidates. To choose among these wide varieties of methods could be daunting.
Here are 4 applicant screening methods for more effective and efficient hiring –
Phone Screening
This is the most common and yet effective one. After you’ve shortlisted qualified candidates based on their CVs, you should set up a phone interview.
On this call, you need to gain all the information for screening. First, you should ask about the candidate’s job and academic history, just to double-check. Next, try to know about their current role and responsibilities, expectations, and availability.
You should also make a note of how they present themself on call. Communication skills can be a deciding factor.
Phone screening will save you time by allowing you to narrow down your options and then finalizing only the best ones for an in-person or video interview.
Online Assessments using Proctoring Software
Aptitude assessments and personality tests are quite popular. And on the same lines, there are other options too, such as evaluating coding abilities or testing for cultural compatibility.
Proctoring software allows you to prevent cheating during the test, and ensure a fair assessment. This is a great screening method to narrow down the qualified candidate list.
In-person interviews
When an interview starts, both the interviewer and candidate are trying to make a good first impression. This can cause us to be a bit nervous.
And to be prepared, you can prepare a set of questions. You also should be prepared for questions about the company and the position.
You would like to keep less abstract questions and more role-specific ones. This way you’ll get a better understanding of a candidate’s abilities.
Try to be and make the other person more comfortable during the interview. Concentrate on the interaction and try to understand the candidate’s attitude and outlook.
Background Checks
Another good screening method is conducting background checks. This can highlight issues about the candidate that you may have missed during resume screening, phone interviews, online assessments, and in-person interviews.
But be careful to stay in bounds and follow an ethical procedure. The candidate’s privacy and integrity should not be compromised.
Ishani works as Manager – Social Media & Strategy Big Ideas HR Consulting Pvt. Ltd. and also as a Freelance Digital Marketer. She has a knack for problem-solving and also enjoys writing. She loves to share her views and knowledge with the readers by the medium of her blogs.