Is it the Best Shortlist?
High volumes don’t always mean high quality. Here’s why it’s worth digging deeper.
Advertise a job right now, and chances are you’ll get loads of applicants.
You might even do ok with a bad advert.
(More on that another time.)
And while getting a big response sounds great, it comes with one major problem:
How are you going to get through them all?
Now, this isn’t one of those “you’ve got no chance, just pay me 25%” recruiter rants.
You can, if you want. But that’s not what this is about.
This is about what happens after you hit publish.
If you’re going to advertise directly, you need a plan to handle the response.
And if you want to build a proper shortlist, not just a filtered list, you’ve got some work to do.
Good candidates are being missed
I keep hearing from strong candidates who are applying for jobs they’re clearly a great fit for, and getting no response.
Not once or twice.
All the time.
These aren’t speculative applications.
These are highly relevant candidates.
With strong track records. And still… nothing.
So why’s it happening?
One reason that makes sense: shortlist criteria.
You’ve got a big pile of CVs, so you start filtering.
Job titles.
Sectors.
Keywords.
Yes, that gets the numbers down.
But are you just cutting people out for the sake of speed?
The aim of shortlisting is to find the best people, not just the quickest way to tick it off your list.
Shortlists come to life in conversation
The best shortlists don’t come from keyword filters or job title matching.
They come from conversations.
That’s where you learn who someone really is.
What they’ve done.
What they can bring.
And that’s the part many HR teams don’t have time for.
But that’s what recruiters do.
We talk to people.
We know who’s good.
We find the ones who might not get past the filter, but would fly in the role.
Don’t have time to shortlist properly?
That’s exactly when you should speak to a recruiter.
Not because you can’t do it.
But because you’re busy. And getting it right takes time.
And that’s what you’re paying for, not just a list, but the best list.
Thank You
Thanks for visiting recruiterpaul.eu
I hope you found this post useful.
If you’d like to connect, share feedback, or talk about your hiring plans, I’d love to hear from you.
Here’s where you can find me:
Or check out some of my videos on Youtube
📌 Similar Posts
If you found this post helpful, you might also like:
