Short-List.com

The Perfect Candidate

If you get your recruitment advertising right, you will only get a few job applications, as your advertisement should also be used to screen your applications.

However, most recruitment advertisements don't do a good job, because not all hiring managers are great copy writers, and even if they were, well, space is limited and of course, the marketing department always want their say too.

So, instead of receiving a small number of relevant applications in response to your job advertisement, you end up with 50 or more.

That presents a problem, because somebody has to read those CVs and make a decision about who's going to be chosen for interview, as it's usually not feasible or cost effective to interview every candidate is it?

So how do you short list and identify the perfect candidate?

First of all, you need to be absolutely clear about the skills you require and the sort of background you're looking for.

When you see it on a CV, it should be recognisable, but of course, we're dealing with people here and they won't all have submitted identically formatted CVs - the information will be all over the place.

Sometimes there will be two pages, others there might be twenty two.

Here's what I think.

The perfect job application will have a well written cover letter.

The cover letter will contain a reason for applying (motivation), a brief synopsis of relevance (experience summary) and direct contact information.

If it's a standard generic job application letter, duplicated for use anywhere, this is not the perfect candidate.

Similarly the CV of the perfect candidate will instantly scream out the relevance of the application with skills and most recent experience being right at the start.

It should be directly related to your particular vacancy - as that's what tells you who's the keenest for the job.

The initial application though, is only a guide. A first impression.

So many people make bad first impressions that it's relatively easy to spot the good ones. But of course, they might have used a third party to compile both the CV and the letter.

The candidate might not actually match up to the CV.

This is where our application screening service really starts to come into it's own, because each suitable looking candidate on paper is called personally for a lengthy telephone interview.

This is how the perfect candidate is identified.

There are no stock questions and answers, like some recruiters employ. Instead, it's an informal discussion that covers all of the bases and delves quite deeply into the real motivation of the candidate.

It questions experience to the degree that many candidates find it uncomfortable - but not the perfect candidate.

The perfect candidate enjoys the process, because he or she knows that they are not being quizzed or tricked, but are being asked to explore every aspect of their current or last job to find likes, dislikes, motivators and de-motivators.

It's like a tennis match - two way communication, not just questions and answers. Wouldn't you have liked to have been interviewed like that?

The perfect candidate knows when he or she is talking to a professional and that will be demonstrated at final interview with the client.

You will see the difference, even before the interview starts.

In short, your perfect candidate will be keen to secure a position with your company before he or she ever sets foot in your premises.

That's because in addition to screening the candidate, we're also selling your opportunity in a way that most recruiters wouldn't even know how.

It all comes down to credibility and experience.

If you'd like to experience such a service, please call David Carter on 01564 824554 or 07800 790427.

Remember, this is a screening service, not a full recruitment service. If you're looking for a full recruitment service, with fees charged in the usual way, please see www.freelance-recruiter.co.uk.