In Part 1 of this two-part Article, the author provided ideas and suggestions concerning the kinds of information you might want to collect and assess from candidates applying on-line to an open job. Once the data you need has been identified and collected from each candidate, it becomes necessary to weigh the information provided from the candidate to determine who most closely matches the credentials of the “ideal person” for your position.

To handle this correctly, you need to indicate the relationship of each data point you collect against the answer you have judged as “ideal” for the candidate you want to hire. For example, if you indicate that a college education is “required” for this position, every candidate with a college education is judged appropriate for the job, while any candidate with less than a 4-year degree would not receive credit for this specific attribute.

For every educational need, every skill, every past job or industry request, every type of background or past working experience you believe to be important, the candidate applying needs to be automatically judged, against your needs and against all the other candidates who are applying.

If you have a number of “desired” attributes, you need to provide your screening system with a score (use of a 1-10 scoring with 1 equaling “Not Very Important” and 10 equaling “Extremely Important” works very well). Candidates who score close to or above whatever number you select are rated higher than candidates who score less than the number you chose.

As the candidates’ responses are weighed and scored by this automated screening system, they should be available to you for viewing with those who most closely match your criteria appearing first. Every time a new candidate applies, the system must “re-shuffle” the results so the candidates appear in order from most to least qualified based on your criteria.

When you have an “avalanche of candidates” for a job opening, the scoring and listing of every candidate who applies from closest to least close match can save your HR Staff a ton of time by significantly reducing the need to read unqualified resumes. Reviewing the answers to text questions of the candidates who are strong matches can totally eliminate tedious, time-consuming per-screening calls.

A high-quality on-line screener should have additional options available as well such as:
• Ability to ask “Yes/No” questions such as “Are you currently legally able to work in the United States?”
• Option of asking questions that require text answers so you can get an idea of the candidate’s ability to express him/herself in writing.
• Ability to ask every candidate about behavioral traits and to rate themselves on any specific trait, using a 1-10 scale to help determine the candidate’s potential cultural fit in the job and/or in your company
• Option of attaching a resume for the prospective employer to review
• Ability to review each candidate’s submissions in summary or in detail
• Ability to print and forward candidates to others in the company for further review
• Ability to place candidates into folders for further processing
• Option to select and send follow-up e-mails to candidates singularly or in groups

There is a great deal of thought and planning that must be part of a comprehensive screening system to give the user maximum flexibility and a tool that will service the requirements of the company regardless of the job that must be filled. And to perform these tasks at a cost that most small to mid-sized companies can easily afford.