When you begin your search for a new employee, you want to get the perfect candidate. As the resumes start flooding in, you need to quickly decide which candidates are worth interviewing. Many candidates can catch your eye, but it is unrealistic to interview dozens of people. How can you screen candidates quickly to ensure you are only interviewing the best? Use these 5 strategies:

Each application you receive will have its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Decide what criteria you are looking for in each application. The criteria can be divided into 3 groups:

• Technical– Does the candidate have the correct education and skills needed to excel at the job?
• Experience– Does the candidate have relevant experience or the potential to bring value to your business?
• Personal– Is the candidate a good culture fit and will they work well with your team?

Now that you know the criteria by which you will be screening candidates, apply those requirements as you scan a candidate’s resume. Look at the highlights that they have included in their resume. Make a checklist of the most important things you are looking for and compare how each resume measures up to that list.

Once you have chosen which candidates will move on based on their resume, get on a quick call. A candidate can be very different than how they appear on paper and a phone call can give you a better idea of what they are really like. Ask them about the highlights that they mentioned in their resume to make sure they line up. Quickly ask them about their skills to see if they really possess the skills they claim to have.

Send the relevant skills assessments the candidates. These tests are used to assess the skills and abilities they need to excel at the company. Personality tests can be particularly useful in deciding whether or not the candidate is a good culture fit.

Recruiting Firms are dedicated to screening and qualifying candidates every day. Part of Recruiting Connection’s service is to qualify candidates based on the specific criteria you provide. Then, we only present the best candidates to you. We save you the time of screening all the candidates on your own.

If you are interested in using our services or learning about how we screen candidates, click the button below to contact us.