Candidate Screening: An Expert Guide

Candidate screening is an essential part of any hiring process occurring just before the interviewing process begins in earnest.

I started my career as a recruiter in headhunting and executive search where screening was one of the most important stages because we didn’t want to send our clients poor candidates and waste their time.

So, how can you make sure that you set up the right candidates for interview and even start to think about closing them at the offer stage?

Here I’ll share my knowledge and best practices to help you develop an effective candidate screening process.

What Is Candidate Screening?

Candidate screening is the stage at the start of the recruitment process that decides who goes through to the first stage interview. This is especially common if a recruiter works with the hiring manager as the recruiter acts as a sieve and an extension of the hiring team’s needs.

The candidate screening process involves reviewing information about the candidate that is available to you (candidate’s resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, etc.) and deciding whether they could be a good fit.

If they seem promising, then the process would also normally involve an initial call between the candidate and someone from HR, called the ‘screening call’, to explore a little deeper and discuss the role.

10 Candidate Screening Methods

Here’s what I typically use to assess a candidate’s validity for an interview with the hiring manager:

1. Screening while sourcing

A lot of judgment goes (or at least should go) into candidate sourcing. This could be as basic as reading a candidate’s profile on LinkedIn and noticing that they specifically say they don’t want to be contacted for new roles right now (and respecting that wish!).

Here are a few things I look out for when deciding whether I should reach out to a potential candidate:

Skills

Are there mentions of the right skills? Sounds simple, but I know so many people who receive messages every day for roles that are completely the wrong fit for them e.g. a developer who’s worked with Java exclusively getting approached for a role that requires 5 years of Golang experience.

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Skills but in unexpected ways

Are there mentions of the right skills in unexpected ways? Keep in mind that not everyone describes their skills the way you want them to or expect them to, especially if you are recruiting across cultures or in an expertise domain different than your own.

For example, you may be looking for someone with project management skills, but a candidate may talk about a time when they “coordinated” a project. The skills may be the same, but the word coordination may lead you astray in thinking that they are not “managing” the project.  

Can you research if they have the right skills? 

Sometimes the skills aren’t visible at first glance so you need to research a bit deeper. When the information doesn’t go into detail, start looking for something that will include them on your list of people to contact rather than exclude them. 

Things to look at:

• Current and past companies—do they have a similar product, size, or tech stack to yours?
• Projects or engagements outside of work—these can also be used in your outreach message as well.
• Education—things like a bachelor’s degree may be less relevant with senior candidates who already have experience, but signs of continual education in a certain area can demonstrate skills too.
• Work experience—seems simple but don’t forget to pay attention to their description of their experience, not just the keywords.

There are some specialist candidate sourcing solutions out there that will help you identify channels, post roles, and compare candidates and sourcing methods.

2. Resume screening

When it comes to applicants, the first piece of information you will see about them is their CV or resume (depending on where you are in the world).

We are so used to them that it’s actually a new thing now for companies to offer accessible applications without CVs. Here are things that I review for each job applicant's CV:

• Has the candidate stated their title and responsibilities in each role clearly?
• Is there a focus on outcomes and understanding of their work’s impact?
• Does the CV clearly outline what their career path has been so far?
• Are the right skills and experience that you’re looking for contained in the CV?
• If the background (e.g., size of company, location, etc.) are important for the role, are those requirements covered?

That is all—not much, but bear in mind that for the moment we’re looking at the very top of the funnel. A CV only tells half the story, so you don’t want to look too much into it and start making assumptions that often turn out to be wrong.

For example, you may be excited that you have an applicant who has only ever worked at a very large company, but then you remember that your position is in a small start-up and you are looking for a sales director who has experience bringing a small challenger product to a new market. 

You can still interview a candidate from a large company, but you have to make sure you delve deeper into how they would approach your particular situation.

Things I don’t give much importance to:

• 1-2 typos (especially if long CV). Others may be a bit more strict but I prefer to focus on skills etc. The only roles where I pay attention to things like this is content marketing, lawyers, and finance.
• Career gaps. Especially with the way the current job market is going, one or two gaps do not concern me. I will cover them during a call, but they shouldn’t exclude a candidate that otherwise has the right experience.

Formatting. Unless it makes it illegible, remember that sometimes your applicant tracking system (ATS) can screw up the formatting of a CV. Especially with candidates using new tools outside of MS Word to create CVs. My own is created using Canva!

Note on AI CV reviewers

I am yet to see an ATS with a well-executed “AI” or even “machine learning” model of CV rating per role. Even roles with the same title can be so different that I don’t see any current tool being able to reliably rate candidate CVs. Most just end up being SEO catchers i.e. looking for keywords and the frequency of their use.

 

For this reason, while it can be tempting to use them to help share the load, I avoid these tools. Instead, my solution is to not let CVs pile up and regularly review them (take 30mins daily). Also, if you have a question that automatically excludes people e.g. your company cannot sponsor visas and the role is not remote, make an automation to auto reject people who indicate that they need visas stating that specific reason.

Bear in mind the following if this will be your first time reviewing international CVs as they may contain these elements which may seem odd:

• Picture of the applicant
• Blood type, height, and weight
• Marital status
• Personal identification numbers
• Exact home address
• Immigration status
• Criminal background check status.

3. Phone/video call screening

If, after reviewing their CV, LinkedIn, etc, someone seems like a potential match, the next step of the screening process is a quick call with someone from HR.

This is likely the first human interaction the candidate will have with your organization as part of their application, so you want to balance assessing their skills with creating a good overall experience. Don’t let it be a conversation where it’s just a checklist of questions.

You have to give potential candidates enough information about the open position and the company culture in an engaging way and also get the information you need from them.

While it may be the first proper conversation, this is actually where the “close” begins in that you’re preparing yourself and the candidate for a potential job offer.

Understanding the motivations of the candidate completes the picture that their skills and experience begin to draw, so make sure you take time to understand them truly. This will help you later on if you end up making a job offer.

For example, if a candidate mentions that they currently don’t do much frontend engineering as part of their full-stack role, but they’d really like to focus on that as a next step in their career and this is something you can offer, you can remind them of that in the offer call to reinforce the opportunity.

To ensure an effective a call as possible, I always center the initial screening interview around an agenda—just like with internal meetings!

I start by giving them an overview of the role and then ask them to give me an overview of their experience plus answer a few questions. I then make sure there’s time at the end for any questions they have.

I’ve found that starting with information about myself, the company, and the role settles candidates better than just rattling off questions at them from the start. 

But, as you want to move over to assessing their skills and motivations, be mindful of how much time you spend giving information vs how much you spend getting information from the candidate. 

My screens are usually about 20-30 mins so I spend around 5-7 mins on the intro and pitch and 15 mins gathering information from the candidate. The rest of the time I try to reserve for the candidate’s questions (which at this stage may not be that many).

I usually create interview questions based on the areas I want to cover in this first call:

• Motivation. If they’re an applicant, why did they apply here? If they were sourced, why did they respond to the message?
• Goals. I want to understand the candidate’s goals for their next role and if it will match our role.
• Communication skills. This is important in most roles, so look at the communication skills of a candidate from the get-go. For example, are they able to explain something technical in simple terms? Can they be concise and keep to the time schedule as the screening call is short?
• Skills. While this is not a technical interview, you can still look for evidence for some skills that should be essential (more on this shortly).

On my side, I talk them through the company, team, role, outcomes for the position, and other essentials that they’d need to know to make a decision.

This discovery process on both sides continues throughout the process, but the screening lays the foundation of knowledge on both sides.

I’d recommend similar approaches when it comes to phone interviews or video interviews at the screening stage. If you need some software to assist you, there are many video interviewing solutions to choose from too.

4. LinkedIn profile

It’s rare for people not to have a LinkedIn profile these days. Some people use it a lot more than others, but it can be useful for getting a sense of how people are engaged with their industry and peers. 

Also, for certain roles (recruiters, for example), you’d expect much more LinkedIn activity than others (developers).

5. Portfolio

This is incredibly important for certain roles e.g. designers and illustrators. In truth, you’ll probably want the hiring manager to help you analyze this as they’re the professionals here.

The developer version would be something like their personal website, Github or activity on Stack Overflow.

6. Cover/application letter

I’m not a massive fan of these but some organizations insist. Some things to look out for in a good cover letter:

• See if they have tailored their cover letter to your specific job and company.
• Motivation and Interest: Look for indications of genuine interest in the role and the organization.
• Evaluate their ability to articulate their experience and motivations clearly and professionally.

7. Social media

Social media can be a great resource to find candidates (read my article on social recruiting for more) and, since you’re there already, you can analyze their profiles a bit.

In certain professions like journalism, a lot of candidates will be highly active on Twitter/X. Designers, illustrators, and other creatives will likely hang out and post their work on Instagram or Pinterest. 

8. Application stage questions

Rather than have them write a cover letter, maybe you want to add an extra step into the application process by asking 2-3 pointed questions e.g. What was it about this job post that enticed you to apply? What are you looking for in a new role?

Just this extra step might put a few people off from applying and help you pick out those who really want the role vs just applying to everything.

9. References and referrals

Sometimes applicants will include reference letters as part of their application, or perhaps they were referred by someone within your organization, maybe you even know someone they’ve worked with in the past. Specialist reference checking tools are useful for helping to confirm these.

You may also consider more thorough HR background check solutions at this stage.

What To Look For When Screening Candidates

As you can see there's a lot you can use to help screen candidates. Getting more granular, these are some things I look for specifically:

• Relevance of experience: Check if their previous job roles and responsibilities align with the requirements of the position.
• Skills and qualifications: Ensure they have the necessary skills, competencies, certifications, and educational background.
• Achievements and impact: Look for quantifiable achievements that demonstrate their ability to contribute effectively.
• Career progression: Assess if there is a logical and progressive career trajectory.
• Technical skills: Evaluate their proficiency in specific tools, technologies, or methodologies required for the job.
• Soft skills: Consider essential soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.
• Past behavior: Use behavioral interview questions to understand how they have handled situations similar to those they may encounter in the new role.
• Problem-solving ability: Ask situational questions to evaluate their approach to challenges and problem-solving.
• Professional references: Contact previous employers to verify the candidate’s work history and performance.
• Background checks: Conduct necessary background checks to confirm the candidate’s credentials and any legal considerations.
• Clarity and articulation: Assess their ability to communicate ideas clearly and effectively.
• Listening skills: Check if they are attentive and responsive during conversations.

• Interest in the role: Gauge their genuine interest in the position and the company.
• Long-term goals: Understand their career aspirations to see if they align with the growth opportunities in your organization.

• Willingness to learn: Check if they demonstrate a desire to learn and adapt to new challenges.
• Flexibility: Evaluate their ability to adapt to changing environments and requirements.

• Collaboration skills: Assess their ability to work well with others and contribute to a team environment.
• Conflict resolution: Understand how they handle conflicts and work towards resolution.

• Practical tests: Use technical tests or practical exercises relevant to the job to evaluate their real-world skills.
• Work samples: Review any provided work samples or portfolio pieces to assess the quality and relevance of their work.

• Preparedness: Evaluate their level of preparation for the interview.
• Confidence and professionalism: Look for a confident yet humble demeanor and professional conduct.

Candidate Screening Challenges

Screening candidates is challenging when there’s a deluge of applicants or you don’t know what you’re looking for. 

• Volume: In reality, this is a bigger issue in larger, prestige organizations that everyone wants to work at. If this is the case, many high-volume hiring platforms can be programmed to automatically filter out and reject unsuitable candidates that don’t meet certain requirements such as salary expectation, location, or visa status.
• Lack of knowledge: Unfamiliarity with the roles you’re screening or lack of professional insight e.g. when being asked to assess a designer’s portfolio.
• Lack of consistency across reviewers: If multiple people are working the same role are they all consistently screening the appropriate candidates?
• Getting an answer from hiring managers: While recruitment should be near the top of everyone’s priority list, it can sometimes be tricky to get feedback from hiring managers which can slow down the process and might even mean you miss out on particularly in-demand candidates.

Candidate Screening Best Practices

With the above challenges in mind, here are some best practices to ensure an efficient, consistent screening process:

• Develop clear job descriptions: Clearly outline the required skills, experience, qualifications, and other criteria in the JD e.g. Python developer with 3+ years of experience to 1) ensure more suitable candidates apply and 2) give screeners a clear guide to evaluate against. More in my article on how to write a job description.
• Use technology wisely: Make use of ATSs and other forms of recruiting software such as resume screening tools to help filter candidates. However, as mentioned above, use these with caution and always review your database of candidates to look for one that may have slipped through the cracks.
• Training: Screening is an essential recruitment skill, so ensure everyone involved is appropriately trained on how to screen and what to look out for when screening candidates for their roles.
• Form close collaboration between hiring managers and screeners: Most will get it, but some hiring managers will need to be educated on the importance of speed in hiring. Close collaboration will result in a faster process and better feedback to help hone it. More on this in the next section.

Setting Up Your Recruiter For Success

If you’re a hiring manager working with a recruiter, you play a key role in ensuring that your talent acquisition partner understands what you need.

They will be conducting the screen on your behalf, so it’s crucial they understand how you think about the role.

An easy way to give guidance is to think about what information you need to consider a candidate suitable for the role, what information isn’t present in the candidate’s CV that you’d like to know, and what information the recruiter can realistically assess e.g. it’s unlikely the recruiter will be able to assess the quality someone’s code.

This ensures the recruiter has the knowledge and screening tools needed to turn talented applicants into qualified candidates to progress through the interview process.

The Art And Science Of Candidate Screening

Candidate screening is part art, part science but a well-designed screening process will ensure that you set the tone for skills testing early on and understand the candidate's goals and motivations.

If you take anything away from this, remember to anchor the screening on objective criteria and primarily look for evidence of the candidate’s skills. This is important as unconscious bias can creep in during these early stages.

And don’t forget that, especially on that first call, you have the opportunity to set the tone for the kind of candidate experience you want to create—make it excellent!