When the closing date for applications has passed, it is time to review the applications in order to select candidates to interview. It is not appropriate to interview everyone who applies for a job because:
Often the application form shows that people are not suited to the job. Rather than being interviewed, these applicants should be told that their application has not been successful.
There is rarely time to interview all the applicants. An interview usually lasts for one hour, so it is only possible to carry out six interviews in one day. It is therefore appropriate to select only four or five people to interview.
The people who select candidates to interview should ideally be the people who will carry out the interviews. More than one person should select candidates for interview to avoid bias.
To select candidates to interview, compare each application against the person specification. The form below can be used to do this.
Transfer the ‘essential’ and ‘desirable’ criteria from the person specification into the form. Add new rows for additional criteria. In the next column, write down whether the criteria are essential or desirable. Then allocate a column to each applicant. It can be helpful to give applicants a number to avoid confusion if applicants have the same name. The form below has been filled in using a simple person specification for a nurse.
Go through the application forms and put a score in each applicant’s column against each criterion, using the scoring system below:
When scoring, it is important to be strict. There is no point in interviewing people who may not be suitable for the job. If no-one is good enough to be interviewed, it is better to re-advertise the job.
Once every applicant and their score have been added to the form, cross out any candidate who has a score of ‘F’ or ‘?’ against any of the ‘essential’ criteria. These candidates should not be considered further. In the example above, David’s application would have to be rejected because he has no experience of working with trauma patients. Although Alice does not have computer skills, her application is still considered as computer skills are not essential for the job.
For the remaining candidates, add up each person’s scores for the ‘essential’criteria and then add up each person’s scores for the ‘desirable’ criteria.
From these scores, it is possible to see who strongly meets the essential criteria and who strongly meets the desirable criteria. Spend time discussing the information given in the table to decide which of the candidates should be interviewed for the job.
Look carefully at the employment section of the form. Check that there are no long gaps in employment. There may be valid reasons for such gaps, but these can only be investigated during the interview.
Consider how likely the applicant is to stay in the job. For example, if someone has had a number of jobs over the last few years and has never stayed in a job for longer than a few months, it is unlikely that they will stay for a long time in this job. This means that time and money would need to be spent recruiting a replacement within a few months. If only one person meets all the ‘essential’ criteria, and is therefore the only person who can be selected for interview, they should still be asked to attend an interview. Some application forms make people appear perfect for the job, but during the interview it might become clear that the applicant would not be appropriate.
Personal qualities, such as having a positive attitude and being a strong team player, can be more important than the right experience and skills. Application forms do not show this, but interviews can.
It is common for people to exaggerate their skills and experience on the application form. The interview provides an opportunity to question the applicant face-to-face.
When recruiting staff, ensure that the process is fair and transparent. Be careful not to write thoughts or personal opinions on the application forms and ensure that anything that is written down is factual and fair. It is important to be prepared to explain why applicants were unsuccessful.
Once candidates have been selected for interview, contact the applicants to invite them to come for an interview or to tell them their application has not been successful. Ensure that letters inviting candidates to an interview include:
the date and location of the interview, with a map.details about any tests and presentations that they will be expected to carry out as part of the interview. They should be informed of the length of time these will take.
documentation that they will need to bring with them, such as a passport, work visa and education certificates.