What Is Pre-Screening & Its Importance

Duration: 6-7 minutes

The Meaning of Pre-Screening

Pre-screening, in layman''s language, refers to the process that all businesses follow to ensure a candidate has the right credentials. Towards these ends, some employers utilize pre-screening for background checks to ensure a candidate has a record of criminal history.

Pre-screening is a very common term in the recruitment and HR industry. But how important do you think it is in hiring?

Let''s find out!

Here, We Will Discover:

• What is Pre-Screening?
• Types of Pre-Screening
• Best Practices for Pre-Screening

What is Pre-Screening?

Pre-screening is a preliminary evaluation designed to find out if the job or the program is the potential candidate''s cup of tea.

This also enables employers, recruiters, and admission committees to eliminate candidates who do not possess the minimum qualifications, thus saving time and resources in the process.

It may, for instance, determine pre-screening factors that are absolutely disqualifying either through examination of applications and résumés or with the use of standardized test scores.

Pre-screening also eases the rapid recruitment or admission process by filtering out applicants who do not meet the criteria. Therefore, only the best candidates are left to move on to the subsequent step of the process.

Pre-screening is merely the first step in how companies sift through numerous applications.

Types of Pre-Screening

• Credential Verification: This process ensures the academic and professional qualifications claimed by the applicant are valid. It checks the degrees, certificates, or licenses listed on the application form.
• Credit History Check: Many high-income or high-profile jobs require checking the credit history of a new employee. This helps assess a person''s financial responsibility and honesty, providing insight into spending habits and potential risks.
• Criminal History Check: Mandatory for jobs requiring trust, this check reveals whether the candidate has any past convictions and their judicial history.
• Education Verification: Involves confirming whether the applicant''s claims about their educational qualifications are accurate, ensuring that they meet the required criteria.
• Employment Verification: This involves checking the authenticity of an applicant''s past work history, including job titles, dates of employment, and job responsibilities.
• Behavioral Assessment: Tests the applicant''s personality traits and skills to ensure they match the corporate culture and job requirements.
• Reference Check: Involves contacting past employers or professional contacts to evaluate the candidate''s work ethics, abilities, and interpersonal skills.
• Social Security Number Verification: Verifies the applicant''s identity and ensures they are legally permitted to work in the new environment, while preventing identity theft.
• Worker''s Compensation History: Provides information on the applicant''s workplace safety record, particularly useful in jobs with potential dangers.

Best Practices for Pre-Screening

Inform Candidates

Transparency is mandatory during the pre-screening phase.

It is important to inform candidates about the complete pre-screening process, what forms of investigation will be undertaken, and what information will be validated. Providing this information in advance promotes confidence and allows candidates to address any discrepancies in their career experience statements.

Clear communication helps build an open and fair recruitment process, which can be made public.

Screen All

All candidates for a given position should be subjected to the same pre-selection criteria. Bias in the recruitment process can undermine the HR team''s efforts to resolve issues that may arise over time.

A uniform approach ensures fairness and allows organizations to judge candidates based on factual information about their education and experience.

Give a Copy

An ethical pre-screening process respects candidates'' right to know the details of any background check.

Providing a copy of the findings allows candidates to review the results and address any errors or discrepancies. This transparency strengthens the candidate experience and demonstrates fairness and accountability at each stage of hiring.

Conclusion

Hope you now know everything about pre-screening!