Step 3. Screening

The third step in the safer recruitment process is to compare the expressions of interest or application forms to the role profile and person specification. This is your first opportunity to assess how suitable a person is to fulfil the role.

For formal processes with several applicants, this is known as 'screening' or ‘shortlisting’. This involves narrowing down the number of applications for a role, and deciding who you will invite for interview based on the criteria in the role profile and person specification.

Why is this step important?

For informal processes, especially if you don’t get many people applying, comparing someone’s expression of interest to the role profile may seem unnecessary. However, it is still a good way to ensure that your safer recruitment process is fair, and to enable people to serve in the area that best suits their skills.

For example, you may not have considered a particular person in your community for the role to which you're recruiting, but their expression of interest shows skills, experience and values you didn’t know about. Alternatively, someone’s expression of interest might make you realise they probably wouldn’t be suitable for this role, but there’s another area of community life that they could really contribute to.

It's important that all expressions of interest and applications are treated fairly and equally and that the criteria for choosing who will move to the next stage of the process is recorded and used for everyone.

Information given on the Self-declaration form cannot be used at this stage.