Advances in Pre-Screening
Hiring managers are often besieged with applications for review, making it nearly impossible to effectively sort through the relevant information on each application. The sheer number of open positions and applicants can easily make this responsibility overwhelming. Pre-screening candidates is a great way to make this task bearable.
Pre-Screening of Ol’
There are many ways to pre-screen potential employees. Some methods that are tried and true in the Human Resources world include:
- scanning cover letters
- reviewing only specific sections of the resume
- completing phone interviews.
The problem with these techniques is that they are still very time consuming. Additionally, these methods leave a lot of room for error and cause managers to overlook a good candidate.
Advances in Pre-Screening
In today’s technologically advanced HR environment, there is a much more powerful approach to pre-screening. Applicant Tracking Systems can allow for pre-screening questions that score, and even eliminate, applicants based on responses. This simple and effective feature can reduce the ‘clutter’ in a virtual stack of applications. For example, under-qualified applicants whose scores do not meet the standard for a position will not even show up in your list of applicants for review–unless you want to see them. And those applicants who do pass the basic qualifications for a position will receive a score based on their answers as well. Therefore, if you have ten applicants that meet the basic qualifications, you can easily look at their scores relative to each other to see who may stands out.
Behavioral assessment tools, like the Predictive Index, are also helpful in determining which candidates to invite in for the final interview stages. Pre-screening candidates in this manner takes the guesswork out of the selection process by defining the behavioral requirements of the job and identifying the natural behavioral drives of the candidate. This allows for a fit/gap analysis between the job profile and the personality profile of the candidate. It also gives key insights into the candidate’s training and coaching needs to support the onboarding process.
Finally, when making decisions on a new hire, many companies find that reference checks can be very valuable. Unfortunately, this step can also be very challenging and time-consuming. Reference check software makes the process as easy as a few clicks. Automating the reference checking process will allow for more accurate, timely, and efficient results.
Summary of Online Pre-screening Benefits:
- Automatic elimination of undesirable or unqualified applicants
- Time savings and streamlined information
- Allows the hiring manager to focus on the most qualified candidates
- Eliminating wasted hours spent conducting phone and personal interviews on poor candidates
- Potentially quicker time to hire
- Reduced hiring costs by hiring the right person the first time
To learn more about how you can create efficiency and value for your organization through the use of ExactHire’s HR technology, contact us today!
Image credit: “amis à lait 
by El Bibliomata (contact)
