This guide is part of a progression set comprised of Core, Advanced, and Emerging Candidate Screening and Selection practices.

What it is 

In some organizations, recruiters spend up to 40% of their time reviewing resumes and profiles to determine who to move deeper into the recruiting process. While crucial in determining who to hire, this step is often considered mundane and time-consuming. In the past, companies have tried to hand this task off to less senior staff or even move it to lower-cost geographic areas (e.g., offshore). While this can be done, it also adds an extra handoff in the process, introducing unnecessary complexity. With advancements in technology, particularly in machine learning (ML) integrations within applicant tracking systems (ATS) and candidate relationship management (CRM) systems, vendors are developing solutions that accelerate and enhance the accuracy of this resume/profile review process.

Similarly, the use of technology to simplify scheduling has largely eliminated the frustrations of back-and-forth “telephone tag” for recruiters, administrators, and job candidates alike. When well-configured and executed, these leverage online calendars to identify open spots for phone, video, and onsite screening and interview sessions.

As the job interview remains the most common approach to detailed candidate evaluation, many issues and challenges plague its administration and the accuracy of its evaluation. Improved techniques can make these assessments more systematic, structured, and accurate as predictors for hiring managers, teams, and recruiters, and provide meaningful and informative feedback for candidates. At the same time, while interviews remain a staple of any candidate assessment process, employee selection outcomes can be improved by using other assessment techniques validated by objective methods. These techniques require hiring managers and recruiters to understand how they work and require training and practice, but the payoff of fewer poor hires has been proven to be substantial.

Why use it

Assessing and selecting talent is one of the most consequential responsibilities of leaders. Therefore, investing in the process that produces top hires makes sense. Utilizing formally validated assessments and advanced technologies can help expedite initial candidate reviews while improving their accuracy. While some of the technology solutions are imperfect, the underlying algorithm in these intelligent (AI) screening tools can self-improve as they 'learn' over time. Using an algorithm enables a quicker narrowing of the candidate funnel, focusing on candidates most likely to be a good fit for the job. This, in turn, can free up time and effort for further, more detailed assessments of candidates before making a hiring decision.

Predicting whether a candidate will be a strong future performer in an open job still requires assessment by people who know what is required to be a strong performer and how to assess future performance. There are some options to improve the predictive value of the assessment process. Behavior-based questions rely on the notion that past behavior best predicts future behavior and that more detailed explanations help validate candidate skills, contributions, and accomplishments. By exploring a specific situation with the candidates that is likely to occur in the new job and is relevant and essential to performance in that job, interviewers can assess whether candidates have demonstrated the desired behavior in the past. Another technique that helps evaluate and predict future behavior is to simulate a situation in which a particular behavior is needed to succeed. Simulations of job-related activities and tasks are more complex and time-consuming to design and conduct, but they also have a high predictive value.

One part of the overall assessment process that is time-consuming is interview scheduling. It typically involves a lot of back-and-forth between candidates and interviewers. In the last couple of years, new technology tools have been developed to streamline this time-consuming process and allow candidates to self-schedule interviews based on interviewers' availability. A leading provider is Calendly, which integrates with Microsoft and Google email and calendar systems, allowing interviewers to identify availability and share it with selected candidates. Some leading HRIS or HRMS systems integrate with Active Directory and interview scheduling systems and similarly support scheduling between candidates and interviewers.

Lastly, measuring and tracking the outcomes of the assessment and selection can help validate the level of success the process generates, assess the candidate evaluation skills of the people involved, deliver the desired outcome, and result in highly performing hires.

Outcomes

These practices are designed to generate heightened process efficiencies, handle a higher volume of candidates in a cost-effective manner, and the most crucial outcome of the assessment and selection process—high-quality hires. The practices are designed to produce more predictable and reliable processing of candidates through the deployment of advanced technologies, more comprehensive candidate assessment techniques, and the management of a pool of more skilled selection interviewers, significantly improving the accuracy of hiring decisions.

While there is no universally accepted definition of “quality of hires,” most agree that quality manifests itself by how quickly a new hire can come to perform all of the required tasks competently, maintain a high level of performance over the long term, experience and maintain high engagement, align their values with those of the company, remain in long-term tenure with the company, and advance their career progression over time, including promotions to senior roles.

Practices at this level

Understanding advanced technologies that speed up pre-screening and make it more accurate.

Defining how available technologies can support a more effective and efficient candidate pre-screening process in a disciplined and measurable manner.

Leveraging technology to simplify and speed up interview scheduling.

Identifying how calendaring and scheduling technology can create a simpler, more efficient, and candidate-friendly interview scheduling process that reduces frustrations.

Conducting advanced interview techniques to improve assessment accuracy.

Installing multiple interviewing styles and techniques that best meet the assessment demands of different types of roles.

Using formal multi-dimensional assessments to enhance candidate evaluation objectivity and accuracy.

Increasing the accuracy and reliability of candidate assessment decisions by using multiple methods and criteria to assess their skills, level of proficiency, and suitability for employment in the role and organization.