The 5 types of screening questions that will help you find the best candidates faster

Hiring can be challenging, particularly when you receive applications from candidates who are not the right fit for your role. That’s why including the right screening questions in your job ad can be so valuable.  

Screening questions can help you spot suitable people much faster by filtering out applications that don’t meet your requirements and giving you a shortlist of candidates well suited to the role, so that you can identify and secure top talent fast.

Choosing the right mix of screening questions can give you a clearer picture of a candidate’s availability, experience, and whether they meet key requirements of the role.  Here are some key types of screening questions that can help you narrow down to the right person for the job much faster.

Why waste your time looking at applications that don’t fit the requirements of the job? By adding screening questions about necessary credentials, qualifications, or training, you can filter out candidates that don’t meet your requirements. Example: Do you have a current New Zealand Driver’s License?

Asking about what candidates can contribute can help reveal the people who really understand the role – and separates those who are interested from those who are applying for any job. It can also give you a clear picture about a candidate’s skills and experience and whether they fit your requirements. Example: What can you contribute to the role of Operations Manager?  

Not all candidates can be flexible with their working hours. Asking about availability will eliminate those whose availability doesn’t match the requirements of the role. For example, if you need someone to work weekends or nights to balance an existing roster, you can filter out the candidates who can’t work these hours. Example: Are you available to work weekends?

Asking about a candidate’s work environment can help reveal what they really want – whether it’s flexibility, creativity, security or autonomy – and can help you to determine if they are the right fit for your workplace culture. Example: What would be your ideal working environment for this role?

Focusing on experience can speed up your hiring process by filtering out the candidates that lack the experience you need in the role, such as team leadership, project management or budget forecasting. Example: Do you have project management experience? If so, please describe it briefly.

Screening questions are a great way to make your hiring process more efficient, which is why your SEEK job ad can include up to eight screening questions to help you select the right candidate. 

To help manage your applications, your screening questions can be used to filter your list of applicants to those that meet your 'must-have' question requirements. 

Find out more about SEEK’s candidate screening and ‘must have’ question features.

• Why it’s a good idea to hire from outside your industry

• 6 simple steps to build a candidate shortlist 

• Caution: 6 warning signs of the wrong candidate