How to Design a Recruitment / Selection Process – Sample Job Candidate Evaluation Form

The end goal of a selection process is to be able to present a limited number of job applicants to the superiors of the future employee, in order to ease their recruitment decision. To do so, an assessment form may be used in order to reduce the number of remaining candidates at each step of the selection process, by successively eliminating the applications that do not meet the job requirements. Moreover, it allows keeping a global vision of the recruitment process and allows mitigating the subjective aspects of the final recruitment decision.

TOOLS

The information that is necessary in order to set up an assessment grid may be obtained by analyzing the following elements:

PRACTICE

The selection grid may be used at every step of the selection process:

1) Identifying the job’s success criteria: This consists, based on an analysis of the open position, in determining which criteria will be decisive in order to achieve professional success in this position (notion of “job profile”). Such criteria may refer to:

Professional skills:

  • Training background
  • Technical know-how
  • Managerial experience
  • etc.

Personal skills:

  • Personal balance
  • Resistance to failure
  • Negotiation skills
  • etc.

Personal data:

  • Domiciliation in the area
  • Adequate salary expectations
  • etc.

Please note that the job’s success criteria can also be determined in close collaboration with the future employee’s direct superiors. This has become common practice as the involvement of the management in recruitment processes has grown significantly over the years.

2) Setting up the evaluation form: Once all the critical job requirements have been identified, the job candidates’ application documents may be assessed by using a global evaluation form (sample). Only the job applications that meet all these objective criteria will be retained for the next steps of the selection process.

3) A first selection of max. 10 applicants is invited to a 45-minute interview that will allow them introducing their job applications and answering the recruiter’s questions. This first interview will allow validating the data contained in the candidates’ CVs. It will also allow getting a first impression of the candidates, in particular regarding their vision for the targeted position. The collected data will be used to fill in an individual evaluation form (sample), that more specifically details each applicants’ skills and experience.

4) A second selection of the last 3-4 applicants whose work experience and skills are the most relevant to the open position. The observations made in the previous phase may now be validated with the help of professional tests (skills assessment interview), and even of Assessment Centers (guidelines) (in the case of top managers). These diverse assessment approaches will provide indications on criteria such as the applicants’ management skills, their ability to work in a team, etc.

It can also prove interesting – for top managers at least – to ask the candidates to outline the strategy they will enforce if they get the job. Based on all this data, a training / development plan (guidelines) may be designed for each job candidate. All the information gathered by the recruiters (whether these are employees or external consultants) must then be handed over to the superiors of the future employee, so that they may make the final decision.

5) A final recruitment decision is made by the new employee’s hierarchy, using the individual evaluation form. At this point, the quality of each job application may be quantified by applying weightings to the different selection criteria. This approach may ease the recruitment decision.

CASE STUDY

Here is the example of a global evaluation form (case study) that may be used to assess the applicants to the annexed Bank Branch Manager position (job profile). As you can see, the initial assessment simply consists in checking the list of success criteria whenever the applicant meets the job’s requirements. Except in very specific instances, every candidate who does not meet any of these critical requirements will be eliminated from the selection process.

The next step consists in setting up an individual evaluation form (case study) for each of the remaining job candidates. This assessment form will provide the framework for the second interview, in which the final recruitment decision will take place.

Please also note that, in the case where the applicants are being evaluated by several recruiters, it is essential for the latter to reach a consensus. This is an important point, as this practice becomes widely spread. Indeed, the transfer of HR Management processes to the company’s management is turning into a common practice.