How to Make Your Job Screening Process More Cost-Effective

There’s a central tension involved in any recruitment effort. You want to find the best possible candidates for each open position. At the same time, you want your job screening process to stay as cost-effective as possible. These goals often run contrary to each other. 

Let’s simplify what we mean: 

Business rule #1: hiring the right people is crucial for building a strong organization.  

Business rule #2: maximize efficiency ensures that you aren’t wasting money.  

Fulfilling both these core directives can be complicated. You want to trim the fat in your candidate screening process without losing effectiveness. Threading this needle is difficult…but it can be done.

With that in mind, here’s how to make your job screening process more cost-effective: 

Make a Plan 

Confusion and uncertainty lead to wasted effort. If you aren’t getting sufficient value from your screening process, consider revamping your overall plan. Without the proper structure, you might run into overlapping efforts or squandered time. Get everyone on the same page and see your efficiency improve. 

Contact Previous Applicants 

Want to save money on screening? How about skipping the process entirely? No, that doesn’t mean you should hire people on gut instinct alone. Rather, if you turn to previous applicants, you’ve already completed the screening process.  

Every hiring process ends with worthy runners up. Contact these high-potential candidates before launching a formal search process. If they are available and right for the position, you’ve saved significant time and money. 

Go In Stages 

Don’t run every screening activity with each candidate. That will just waste resources. For some applicants, a quick resume check is enough to eliminate them from contention. Others might drop out at the skills-test stage. A phone screen might be sufficient to scratch others off the list of possibilities.  

Take these steps in turn, making cuts as you go. Concentrate on low-cost steps early in the process (quick resume reviews at the start…lengthy reference checks and in-depth conversations very late). That way, you only have to do the labor-intensive work with the most promising candidates. 

Conduct Automated Skills Testing 

The more information you have about your candidates, the better decisions you’ll make. The problem? It’s hard to know a candidate’s work habits from a resume. That’s where skills testing comes in. It gives you a better view of how a potential employee can perform on a day-to-day basis. 

Find ways to gather this information with the minimum effort on your part. Technology provides an excellent way to achieve this. Turn to an automated online skills test to gather info about your best candidates. It will help you further prioritize your prospects and better target your limited resources. 

Use Phone Screens  

Once you’ve narrowed your field to the best candidates, don’t jump into a full-fledged interview. Add a quick phone screen as an intermediate step. You can gain the information you need to prioritize candidates.  

The people who perform best in the phone conversations become the first ones in line for an interview. If they work out, perfect – you don’t have to spend time with other candidates. If those top prospects end up lacking for some reason, you can work your way down your priority list to other participants.  

Turn to a Staffing Agency 

Running your own screening process can be inefficient simply because you don’t have the optimal expertise in house. You can save time and money by bringing in a third-party ringer. By turning to a staffing agency, you have access to the authoritative guidance you need to get the most out of your recruiting efforts. 

Ready to get started? A top recruiter, like SmartTalent, can bring you the qualified, hard-working workers you need. 

Contact SmartTalent today to learn more.