Screening is the stage that narrows a full set of applicants down to a shortlist worth interviewing - reviewing CVs against the job specification, and often a short phone or video screen, before committing to a full interview process.
What it means
Screening exists because interviewing everyone who applies does not scale; it trades some risk of missing a good candidate for the efficiency of only progressing those who clearly meet the core requirements.
Where it fits in
Screening is one of the narrowing points in the recruitment funnel, and the ratio of applicants who pass screening versus those who do not is a common quality-of-process metric for a recruiting team.
Key rules
- Narrows applicants to a shortlist worth interviewing.
- Measured against the job specification, often via CV review and a short screen.
- A necessary efficiency trade-off against interviewing every applicant.
- A key narrowing point tracked in the recruitment funnel.
