Shortlisting and interviewing

Slowly but surely, you should start receiving applications.

If you're hiring for entry-level or unskilled roles, expect to receive dozens of applications — if not hundreds! Even if you're using fancy applicant tracking software (ATS), it's difficult to keep track of all those candidates.

But your next task is to create a shortlist of candidates that will proceed to the next stage of the hiring process — usually this is the 3-10 candidates who you want to interview.

Cutting down applications from dozens to a handful takes time. A lot of time. If you’re a busy manager, it’s tempting to take shortcuts with shortlisting to save your valuable time.

However, to get the best results when recruiting, it’s wise to invest some time at the very start. Once you’ve done this, you’ll save time throughout the rest of the process and whenever you hire staff in the future.

Detailed here is just one way you can approach this daunting mountain of paperwork.

Build a spreadsheet

Yes, as with many aspects of business, building a spreadsheet is a good place to start.

Using the spreadsheet software of your choice, create a blank spreadsheet. This'll be where you'll track the progress of applications for current and future vacancies. Each row will store a candidate's details.

Include columns for contact details, application source, and the current status of their application. Download an example applicant tracking spreadsheet, which you can use as a template, below.

From now on, whenever you receive an application or make any shortlisting decisions, enter or amend the candidate's record in your spreadsheet.

If you receive applications through a site like Indeed, you'll find that they have their own built-in tools to manage applications — by all means use them. However, if you're accepting applications from elsewhere, it's best to create your own central spreadsheet to keep applications from multiple sources all in one place.

If you want to manage applications directly, set up a Google Form as your application form with the responses automatically sent to a Google Sheet, saving you time on data entry.

Initial screening

The first pass of screening should discount any candidates who don’t meet your essential criteria. Mark these candidates as ‘Rejected’ on your spreadsheet. If that leaves you with no candidates at all, relax the criteria slightly and repeat the process.

Next, it’s time to weigh candidates based on your desired criteria. Assign scores for each criterion (you can double the value of criteria you deem more important), and count up the scores for each remaining candidate. Rank applications and choose the top 3-10 to proceed to the next stage. You can skip this step if you only have a handful of applications remaining after the first pass.

Social media screening

One of the most significant changes to the screening process in recent years is the use of social media. Recruiters can now search through candidates' online profiles as part of the screening process.

It’s easy to see why so many recruiters and employers use this screening method. LinkedIn lets you check a candidate’s qualifications against those provided on their CV. Facebook and Twitter profiles might warn you off hiring a candidate who’s previously moaned about their job or coworkers, or even promoted criminal activity or hate speech.

While these methods are certainly enlightening, it does run the risk of discrimination. For example, it’s easy to find out a candidate’s age or location from their social media profiles. Skip to the final chapter for details on how to avoid this.

Many employers carry out social media screening as soon as applications are received, but it’s often fairer to leave this stage until after the interviews.

Phone, video, group and in-person interviews

Depending on the number of applications you receive and how quickly you want to hire your new employee, you might choose to use several rounds of interviews to help you narrow the field.

Let’s look at the different types of interview and how they’re best used.

Phone interviews

Phone interviews are quick and relatively informal. Whether carried out as a traditional phone call or over a platform like WhatsApp Skype, phone interviews remain a popular option with many businesses.

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Live video interviews

This type of interview is conducted over the internet using software like Google Meet, Teams, or Zoom, but in all other respects is the same as a traditional in-person interview. Questions may be asked by one interviewer or a panel, with the candidate also given a chance to ask their own questions.

Companies sometimes use live video interviews to shortlist candidates, while others may use them to make the final hiring decision.

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Recorded/on-demand video interviews

In this style of video interview, candidates are sent over a list of questions (either in an email or through specialist interview software) and must record their answers to each question. You can then review candidate answers at a time that suits you.

Bear in mind that recorded answers are likely to be heavily rehearsed, so be sure to pair this style of interview with in-person interviews for your final shortlist.

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Group interviews

Often used by larger businesses to quickly narrow down a selection of candidates into a more manageable shortlist, group interviews usually consist of similar questions to solo interviews, but asked to a group of candidates at the same time.

There may also be additional activities that aim to test teamwork and leadership skills.

Bear in mind that group interviews tend to reward the strongest personalities, so introverts will struggle. It can also be a challenge to conduct these interviews and make sufficiently detailed notes to make a decision.

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Individual in-person interview

These are the traditional type of interview that we’ve all been through. You know how they work: a single candidate meets with a panel or an individual interviewer, and the candidate gets the chance to ask their own questions at the end of the interview.

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How to conduct effective interviews

Before planning any interviews, think about the information you need to get out of the process. This might seem obvious — but one of the most common mistakes inexperienced interviewers make is failing to plan their questions, meaning they miss out key information.

Therefore, if you’re new to interviewing, we highly recommend using a structured approach — in other words, asking the same questions in the exact same order for every candidate — to make sure you stay on track and get all the information you need.

For those with more experience with interviews, starting with an unstructured segment could help candidates relax, whilst also giving them the opportunity to reveal their personalities.

Once you’ve decided on the structure of your interview, it’s time to write your questions. Refer to the person specification you created at the start of this process. Now try to write 1-3 questions covering each of the criteria.

Aim to keep your questions:

• Open-ended
• Neutral, non-leading
• Fair, non-discriminatory
• Short, clearly worded

This’ll give you the best chance of receiving accurate, honest, useful responses from candidates.

Here are some examples of questions you might ask:

You can see more ideas for interview questions over on our blog.

Your interview conduct

Remember: candidates will be judging you and your business, too. The way you conduct the interview will tell candidates a great deal about your company.

• Is your body language (or phone manner) open and friendly or cold and distant?
• Is the interview room (and any other parts of the workplace candidates will see) clean and tidy, or dirty and cluttered?
• Are you and the other interviewers organised? Have you read the applicant’s CV and cover letter?
• Do you show a genuine interest in the candidate’s answers?
• Are you honest and open when answering the candidate’s questions, or do you try to hide information to protect the company’s interests?
• Do you provide next steps for applicants without being prompted?

Try to see the interview from the candidate’s perspective, and adjust your interviewing process and technique accordingly so that you give the best possible impression of your company, and an accurate portrayal of your brand values.

Portfolios, competency tests, and trial shifts

For technical or creative roles, an interview alone isn’t enough to see if a candidate has the right skills for the job. It’s safest to ask candidates to provide proof of their abilities by asking them to complete a short competency test, and/or provide a portfolio.

Set assessments that reflect the nature of work that candidates will be working on in their new role, with a focus on tasks that you’d expect them to complete on a regular basis.

When assessing a portfolio, we recommend paying particular attention to the variation in each candidate’s work as well as its quality, so that you can be confident their skills are flexible enough to be applied to whatever projects you have in the pipeline.

In the hospitality industry, short trial shifts are commonly used to assess a candidate’s competency.

Candidate tiebreakers

Most of the time, recruitment decisions are easy. One candidate stands head and shoulders above the rest, or there’s only a single candidate that you think meets the essential requirements for the role.

However, sometimes you’ll have to choose between two (or more) candidates that you’d be more than happy to hire. If you can’t hire them both, you’ve a difficult decision to make.

First of all, double-check that they’re both equally qualified. Refer back to your person specification and see if one candidate edges the other.

Assuming that they’re equally qualified, you now have to look at other factors to make a decision. These could include:

• Long term potential. Consider each candidate’s ambitions and where they might fit into your company in three, five or ten years time. Look at their leadership potential, and any other skills they have that might be applied elsewhere in your business in the future.
• Enthusiasm. While we all try to seem enthusiastic at interviews, in many cases this interest in a role is exaggerated. Favour those candidates showing real enthusiasm and interest in the role. For example, they might have asked you more interesting questions at the interview, or followed up quickly afterwards.
• Cultural fit. In this context, by cultural fit we mean suitability for the working environment and way of working on the team that your new hire will have to slot into. For example, if a copywriter you’re hiring prefers to work in a quiet environment and you have a noisy open plan office, they may struggle to reach their full potential.
• Motivational fit. Do the candidate’s values align with the company’s values? Will this alignment motivate them to achieve more at your business?
• Highly specific experience. Your company may use software or operate in a sector that’s so specific that you didn’t even list it on your person specification as a desired criteria. If it turns out that one of your top candidates does have this super-specific experience, offer them the job.
• Your top criterion. If you really had to decide, what would be the number one requirement for your new employee? Weigh up your remaining candidates using this criterion only. Delve into the details, and if necessary, contact the candidates again for more information.