Pre-Screening Definition
Pre-screening, in simpler words, is the process companies utilize to check the credentials of a candidate. Some companies use pre-screening for background checks to ensure that a candidate has a criminal history.
Pre-screening is a common term in the recruitment and HR industry. However, do you know how important it is in the hiring process?
Let’s dive in and find it!
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 program is the potential candidate’s cup of tea.
Pre-screening also allows employers, recruiters, and admission committees to dispense with those who lack the minimum qualifications thereby saving time and resources in procedures.
Pre-screening can decide for instance which factors are absolute disqualifiers –whether it is by reviewing applications, resumes or standardized test scores.
Pre-screening also speeds up recruitment or admissions processes by identifying candidates who meet the organization’s requirements and letting only the most promising individuals advance.
Pre-screening is really just the first step in handling the thousands of applications.
Types of Pre-Screening
Credential Verification:
Credential verification is a pre-employment process, during which employers make sure that the academic and professional qualifications claimed by applicants actually exist. This ensures that an individual has the approximate degrees, certificates or licenses listed on his application form.
Credit History:
Many high-income or high-profile jobs involve checking the credit history of a new employee. This pre-employment process assists in evaluating an individual’s financial responsibility and integrity prospects, letting employers glimpse their spending patterns as well as potential risks.
Criminal History:
A criminal history check is essential for any job where trust is important. It can inform an organization about a candidate’s overall suitableness for the position if there are any convictions in his past, as well as any judicial history.
Education Verification:
Education verification is checking whether job applicants as claimed on the application for the degree, diploma or certificate in formal studies received traditionally. This step serves as a forerunner to guarantee that individuals who meet specific requirements possess equivalents to those with lower requirements.
Employment Verification:
This kind of pre screening involves checking the accuracy of an applicant’s past work treasure record. It investigates job titles, dates of employment and job responsibilities, so that the candidate may give the organization a clear idea of who they are dealing with professionally.
Personality and Skills Assessment:
In order to evaluate an applicant’s personal traits and the proficiency required for a certain job, one must test both their behaviour and skills. This pre screening method can match candidates with the corporate culture and job requirements well
Reference Check:
Reference checks involve contacting former employers or professional contacts to obtain comments on a candidate’s work ethic, capabilities and interpersonal skills. This pre-screening method offers an additional broader perspective into the candidate’s potential and capabilities.
Social Security Verification:
Checking the social security number of an applicant is an act of identity confirmation. In addition to preventing identity theft, an applicant is legally permitted to work in this new environment.
Worker’s Compensation History:
Investigating the worker’s compensation history of a job applicant gives institutions information on his or her record of safety in the workplace. It is particularly useful for this type of pre-employment screening conducted in organizations which have jobs or duties that carry potential dangers to maintain things good and skillful.
Best Practices For Pre-Screening
Transparency is vital during the pre screening phase.
It is important to inform applicants about the complete pre screening process, what forms of investigation will be undertaken and what information is validated.
Supplying such information in advance promotes confidence and permits candidates to rectify any problems or inconsistencies they may have in career experience statements.
Through such clear communication, an open and equitable recruitment mechanism can be developed and advertised to the public.
Wherever an employer is recruiting, all candidates for a given position should be subjected to exactly the same pre-selection criteria. If not, it’d be unfair to someone else and such bias all through the recruitment process would wipe out any attempt on behalf of HR teams to solve problems that might surface over time. Using a uniform approach leads to fairness, and makes judging people on facts about education and experience they possess possible for an organization.
An essential part of an ethical prescreen is to respect candidates’ right to know the details of any background check.
When given a copy, candidates have the chance to read through what has been found: for instance, an error might show up or there could be some discrepancy in the findings.
That openness strengthens the candidate encounter and assists in making clear to all involved that fairness and responsibility are obligatory at each stage of hiring.
There you go!
Hope you now know everything about pre-screening!