In this day and age, every minute is valuable and in the role of a hiring manager, there is never enough time in the day. When an applicant applies to an opportunity, the hiring manager has many other applicants to review; how is one going to find the time to review each applicant’s information? Here are some suggestions before scheduling interviews that will help you in finding a great fit to your team.

1. Review the grammar via the communication method they reached out with. When an applicant applies via an online portal or email, reviewing the grammar is the first step. If you have an individual that has bad grammar, that is your first sign that the applicant is not qualified for the job opportunity. Having proper grammar is important in any industry and if the applicant did not check his/her grammar or spelling then how focused on attention to detail will they be in the job they are applying for?

2. Review their resume and pay attention to the tasks on the resume. The second step that you want to take if the candidate passed Step One is to review the resume and the tasks on that resume. You want to check job tenure to see if the candidate is a job hopper, why waste valuable time training someone when they won’t be with you for a long period of time, or worse, take your training to a competitor? Also, there are many times when applicants will change or tweak one’s title to get the chance for an interview but will not have the experience of the job requirements. Reviewing the tasks is such an important part of Pre-qualifying any applicant as it will provide the hiring manager not only basic skill set information on the applicant but their resume will also outline if they meet the job requirements or possess the skills from their past experience that can be parallel to the job opportunity.

3. Create a pre-qualification questionnaire to screen the applicant. The third step is to finish the pre-qualification process is by creating a questionnaire or screening questions to determine if the applicant meets not only the job requirements but also falls within the logistics of the job opportunity. One will send the questionnaire to the applicant with specific questions that align with the opportunity. By creating the questionnaire, the information given by the applicant will provide the hiring manager data that will help them make the decision whether or not to schedule an interview with said applicant. The questionnaire can have questions regarding certain logistics such as salary / hourly requirements, experience in the industry, along with any restrictions that the applicant may have. This data will allow the hiring manager to eliminate applicants that are not qualified for the position or do not meet the requirements of the job. An example of this scenario could be that if it is a high travel job; ask the question on your form what the candidate’s travel restrictions are. This will save time and money for the hiring manager and only focus on the applicants that meet the pre-qualification of the opportunity before scheduling an interview.

With these time-saving tips, you will get the right candidate in the door. After all, who has the time to interview hundreds of different candidates?

Investing in a Lifetime of Success,

Angela Roberts