The issue of how many candidates should be shortlisted for final interview is often raised early in our recruitment work. Many clients have a set idea that they want to meet say 4 or 5 candidates while others are open to simply meeting the candidate group that best meets the job profile and selection criteria.
Surprisingly, one of the other very common requests we receive is to consider adding a candidate to the shortlist based on their “association” with the employer. More often than not these candidates do not meet the job brief and under normal circumstances would not even be considered for the role. If this is the case and based on factors of merit the candidate is not contestable; our policy is to advise the client not to pursue this path.
People Recruitment has a Candidate Management Policy that all our Recruitment Consultants follow. We value the emotional investment of each candidate as he or she applies for a position, therefore we strive to treat each candidate with care and respect. Bringing a candidate to shortlist when they have no chance of securing the role or the client has already decided not to employ them is, in our opinion, disrespectful. It is a more generous act to advise them they have been unsuccessful and provide meaningful feedback so they understand why they have not progressed.
Our recruitment model is to develop and present to the employer a candidate group we refer to as the Preliminary Group. This Preliminary Group is a larger group which we have qualified, screened and, based on factors of merit, best fit the job profile and selection criteria. Usually a meeting is held with the employer’s Selection Committee/Panel and we work through the Preliminary Group discussing each candidate in detail. The choice of the candidates for shortlist then rests with the employer.
This is an important characteristic of our recruitment model. The employer tasks People Recruitment to build the candidate group and the employer selects the candidates for shortlist interview from those we present. The flow-on of course, is that the ultimate appointment is made by the employer from the candidates they interview at shortlist.
The foundations of a good appointment rely on the success of these early stages of the recruitment process.
If you undersell the job, don’t provide sufficient information and “sizzle” about the role, don’t screen candidates against the selection criteria or base your decisions on other factors outside of merit, you will fail. The cost of a failed appointment is very high.
A simple rule of thumb is the combination of a robust recruitment process, based on factors of merit, incorporating a structured interview protocol and solid background investigation, reference checking and pre-employment testing, will identify the most capable and suitable candidates.
GB – People Recruitment Group