A Guide to Candidate Screening – Pick the Best Candidates for Your Organization

Hiring is hard, and the cost of messing up is high!

A bad hire can cost between 15-21% of that employees salary. This means, if you hire an unsuitable candidate, you waste the already paid salary, hiring costs and time spent on hiring that candidate. 

Not to mention the cost of hiring for the same role again. That’s why you need a robust candidate screening process that helps you filter the right candidates that suit your company’s requirements and match your culture. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss candidate screening and various approaches to finding the best candidate for every role.

What is Candidate Screening?

Candidate screening evaluates candidates to determine whether they’re best suited for the job. In the screening process, HRs assess candidates’ education, experience, and information based on their resumes. 

The candidate screening process aims to shortlist the best candidates and advance them in the hiring process. 

To properly conduct candidate screening, you can try tools like Peoplebox. The AI resume screening tool in Peoplebox helps you find the true strengths and weaknesses of the candidates so you can pick the best one for your organization.

Why is Candidate Screening Important?

Candidate screening plays a crucial role in your overall recruitment plan. Here’s  how it helps you improve your hiring process:

1. Saves time and resources

65% of recruiters say their hiring process takes 2 to 3 months to finish. A well-structured candidate screening process includes AI screening tools that can quickly identify qualified candidates and reduce selection time with each step. So you find the best fit faster. 

2. Reduces turnover rates

During the candidate screening, you assess the qualifications, character, and work style of candidates. This helps you determine which candidates fit your company culture. Candidates shortlisted in this way better fit the bill, leading to improved employee retention; as such, candidates are more likely to stay with the company.

3. Enhances company reputation

A well-structured screening process creates a positive candidate experience, boosting your company’s reputation. Candidates who enjoyed your hiring and selection process will likely apply again and refer their peers for other roles.

4. Improves quality of hires 

When you thoroughly assess candidates early in the process, you’re more likely to end up with high-quality hires who fit your organization’s needs. 

It’s proven that a study by Brandon Hall Group found that organizations with strong candidate screening processes improve the quality of hires by 70%. This improvement leads to better performance, increased productivity, and a stronger workforce, contributing to your company’s growth.

How to Conduct Candidate Screening?

The candidate screening process is divided into three steps:

Step 1 – Ticking off the Basic Requirements

Here are some basic requirements that you have to match in the first step:

• Education level
• Years of experience
• Required certifications or licenses
• Language proficiency
• Legal right to work in the country
• Availability for work schedule
• Willingness to relocate (if necessary)
• Essential technical skills
• Minimum salary expectations

Step 2 – Scanning for Preferred Qualifications

Here are some qualifications that you should look for in candidates:

• Advanced degrees or specialized training
• Additional years of experience beyond the minimum
• Industry-specific knowledge
• Leadership or management experience
• Proficiency in multiple languages
• Familiarity with specific software or tools
• Relevant volunteer or freelance work
• Professional achievements or awards
• Published work or speaking engagements
• Cultural fit indicators

Step 3 – Matching the Picture of the Candidate to the Role

Here’s how you can match the candidate to the role:

• Align the candidate’s career goals with the position
• Assess problem-solving abilities relevant to the role
• Evaluate communication style for team fit
• Consider adaptability to company culture
• Look for growth potential within the organization
• Check for consistency between resume and online profiles
• Assess the candidate’s understanding of the company and role
• Evaluate soft skills crucial for the position
• Consider the potential for cross-functional collaboration
• Gauge enthusiasm and motivation for the specific role

What are the Different Approaches and Techniques of Candidate Screening?

There are many approaches that you can take to screen candidates:

Skill Testing

Purpose: To directly assess a candidate’s practical abilities relevant to the job. You get to understand how well candidates can do the actual job and make informed decisions based on the skills they demonstrate.

Methods to conduct skill testing:

• Online assessments (e.g., coding tests, language proficiency exams)
• In-person practical exercises
• Simulation of job-specific tasks

Best for: Technical roles (e.g., software developers, data analysts), creative positions (e.g., graphic designers, copywriters)

Resume Review

Purpose: To quickly check a candidate’s qualifications, experience, and career progression. It helps you get an overview of their past work and jobs.

Method of resume review:

• Manual review by HR professionals
• Applicant Tracking System (ATS) assisted screening
• Keyword matching for job-specific skills and qualifications
• Analysis of career progression and job stability

Best for: All positions across industries, as it provides a standardized starting point for candidate evaluation.

💡Pro tip: Sometimes, sorting through thousands of resumes in your inbox is challenging! You can review them with the Peoplebox AI resume screening software. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of all candidates on their resumes and helps you shortlist the best ones for your organization.

Phone Screening

Purpose: Through phone screening, you can evaluate communication skills, verify basic qualifications, and understand the candidate’s interest and fit for the role before investing in more time-intensive interview stages.

Methods of phone screening:

• Conduct structured phone interviews with predetermined questions
• Briefly discuss the candidate’s background and motivations
• Clarify any questions about the resume or application
• Assess verbal communication skills

Best for: Initial screening round for positions that require strong communication skills or customer interaction.

Social Media Screening

Purpose: Social media screening provides insights into a candidate’s online presence and behavior. It can offer a more holistic view of the candidate’s personality, interests, and professional network, which may not be apparent from resumes.

Methods of social media screening:

• Review of professional networks like LinkedIn
• Assess public social media profiles (with legal and ethical considerations)
• Evaluate online portfolios or professional blogs
• Analyse industry engagement and thought leadership

Best for: Customer-facing roles, leadership positions, and roles where the employee will represent the company publicly.

Cover Letters

Purpose: Cover letters allow candidates to showcase their communication skills, motivation, and understanding of the role and company. Through cover letters, you can get an idea about the candidate’s personality and cultural fit.

Methods of assessing cover letters:

• Analyse the writing style and quality
• Evaluate the candidate’s understanding of the role and company
• Assess the letter’s structure and content relevance
• Identify unique selling points or experiences highlighted by the candidate

Best for: Roles requiring strong writing skills, positions where cultural fit is crucial, and jobs needing high levels of motivation and initiative.

Video Interviews

Purpose: Through video interviews, you can connect with candidates face-to-face without having to walk into the office. They also help you analyze the candidate’s communication skills, body language, and overall presentation.

Method:

• Conduct live video interviews using platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams
• Conduct Virtual group interviews or panel discussions
• Conduct Technical interviews with screen sharing for coding or design tasks

Best for: Remote positions, initial personality assessments, and roles requiring strong presentation skills or client interaction.

Work Assignments

Purpose: Work assignments provide a practical demonstration of a candidate’s skills and problem-solving abilities. They offer insight into how a candidate approaches real-world tasks and can be a strong predictor of on-the-job performance.

Methods to provide work assignments:

• Provide job-related projects or tasks
• Have them do problem-solving exercises
• Review portfolio while having them explain the work process
• Time assignments to assess efficiency and performance under pressure

Best for: Creative roles (e.g., designers, writers), technical positions (e.g., programmers, analysts), and roles requiring specific problem-solving or project management skills.

Reference and Background Checks

Purpose: Reference and background checks verify the candidate’s claims and provide insights into their past performance and behavior. Through background checks, you mitigate hiring risks and ensure candidates have the background they claim.

Method:

• Contact professional references provided by the candidate
• Conduct Third-party background check services
• Verify educational qualifications and certifications
• Check criminal records (where legally permitted)

Best for: The final stages of the hiring process for all positions, especially those involving financial responsibility, working with vulnerable populations, or high-level leadership positions.

What are Some Candidate Screening Questions that You Can Ask? 

Asking the right questions during candidate screening can provide valuable insights into candidates’ qualifications, experience, and fit for the role. 

Here are some effective candidate screening questions categorized by purpose:

👉Experience and Skills Verification

• Can you walk me through your resume, highlighting your most relevant experiences for this role?
• What specific skills have you developed in your previous positions directly apply to this job?
• How do you stay updated with the latest trends and developments in your field?
• Can you provide an example of a challenging project you’ve worked on and how you approached it?

💡Cultural Fit and Work Style

• Describe your ideal work environment. How does our company culture align with that?
• How do you prefer to communicate with colleagues and supervisors?
• Can you share an example of how you’ve successfully worked in a team?
• How do you handle work-related stress or high-pressure situations?

🎯Problem-solving and Critical Thinking

• Tell me about a time when you faced an unexpected challenge at work. How did you handle it?
• How do you approach making decisions when you don’t have all the information you need?
• Can you describe a situation where you had to think outside the box to solve a problem?
• How do you prioritize tasks when working on multiple projects simultaneously?
• Leadership and Initiative
• Have you ever led a team or project? What was your approach to leadership?
• Can you give an example of a time when you took the initiative to improve a process or solve a problem?
• How do you motivate team members or colleagues when working on challenging projects?
• Describe a situation where you had to influence others without having formal authority.

🛠️Adaptability and Learning

• How do you adapt to changes in work processes or technologies?
• Tell me about a time when you had to learn a new skill quickly. How did you approach it?
• How do you handle constructive criticism or feedback on your work?
• Can you describe a situation where you had to work outside of your comfort zone?

📚Job-Specific Questions

• [For a sales role] How do you approach building and maintaining client relationships?
• [For a software developer] Can you explain your experience with [specific programming language or tool]?
• [For a project manager] How do you ensure projects stay on schedule and within budget?
• [For a customer service representative] How do you handle difficult or angry customers?

Use Peoplebox for Candidate Screening

Now that you’ve read about candidate screening, you know it involves extensive research. You need to conduct a filter from hundreds of resumes to shortlist a few candidates. Doing this manually will take days if not weeks. 

That’s why you must try the AI resume screening tool by Peoplebox. The AI Resume Screening tool automates the entire screening and shortlisting process for HR managers. In a matter of seconds, it can accurately process thousands of applications.

It provides insights into each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, including attributes from the public domain (LinkedIn, Crunchbase, PR, etc).

You get an instant score assigned to each candidate’s profile based on their skills and company fit. And that means you save time to hire and improve your hiring rate.

Book a demo to Peoplebox today and watch the AI resume screening tool in action.