Shortlisting candidates for the skills you require
The first and by far the most important stage in identifying candidates is understanding the job content of the vacancy that you are planning to fill. Shortlisting should not be completed alone, but by a minimum of two people. For many of our commonly advertised roles (Referrals Team, Engagement Team, Family Support Team) we have clear role descriptions and person specifications.
Our person specification defines “essential” (the candidate must possess these criteria to be shortlisted) and “desirable” (the more of these criteria that the candidate has the better)
When you have created the list of requirements you are looking for in a candidate (“person specification”) you can proceed to the selection phase.
For those requirements you deem to be “essential” any candidate must have all these criteria in their application form to be shortlisted for interview. If any essential criteria is missing you should not shortlist them on that basis.
For criteria that is “desirable” make a note of all desirable criteria that they have, and this can be used to tie-break candidates for shortlisting.
Responding to Candidates / Inviting to Interview
Once you have shortlisted candidates; send a brief email to those who have not been successful, thanking them for their application but informing them that unfortunately, they have not been successfully shortlisted. If the applicant replies to ask for feedback, this is not something that we offer at this stage in the process.
Those who have been successful should be invited to an interview and marked on the staff database as 'shortlisted' (this will ensure any references that have permission to be sent at this stage are sent automatically). The invite to the interview should be done via email and should include:
- Date, time and location of the interview including approximate length of interview and who will be involved
- Information about the interview (anything that needs to be prepared in advance e.g. values question and what to expect from the interview - see wording below to describe informal interview)
- A question clearly asking If there are any adjustments that they need for the interview. e.g. a candidate may have accessibility needs or dyslexia - we should make reasonable adjustments.
- For them to confirm their attendance by a particular date (If you do not get a response to confirm / decline the interview telephone the candidate).