Reference Library

Recruitment Sifting is the process of applying one or more processes, or steps, in order to produce a short-list of possible candidates from a large pool of applicants.

The goal is to quickly and effectively remove, from the candidate pool, those applicants who fail certain "key" criteria i.e. education, skills, nationality.

Recruitment Sifting can be a combination of:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Application Form
• Judgment Testing
• Psychometric or Behavioural Assessments

Recruitment Sifting, in one way or another, is used in any Recruitment Campaign i.e. selecting the most appropriate candidates from the pool of applicants. However, the size of the pool of applicants will dictate which methodology is best to use.

A small number of applications may best be handled manually. However, for large Regional, State, or National Campaigns where many thousands of applications are received we would recommend the use of an online automated process like HRworkbench's Placement Business System. Such a System automatically applies the sifting 'rules' and quickly counts-out those applications that do not match.

Best practice involves the implementation of a structured process that is relevant to the organisation and the specific jobs being filled. This process will be dependent on the final method(s) used to make choices from the short list i.e. one-on-one interiews, panel interviews, assessment centres.

Candidate privacy and confidentiality of information collected in the sifting process must be guaranteed and the processes used to make the 'sifts' must be fair, transparent and legal.

Performance Management
Recruitment
Selection/Selection Interviewing