People

For many jobs, a business will ask applicants to provide a curriculum vitae (CV). This is a document (often on one or two sides of A4) that the applicant designs providing the details summarised below.

In some circumstances however an applicant may be asked to fill in a firm’s own application form. This is different from a CV in that the employer designs it and sends it to applicants, but it will still ask for much of the same information. It has the benefit over a CV in that a business is able to tailor it to their exact needs and ask specific questions.

Once a business has received all the applications, they need to be analysed and the most appropriate form of selection decided upon. When analysing applications, a business will normally sieve the applications into three categories.

Those to reject - Candidates may be rejected because they may not meet the standards set out in the job specification such as wrong qualifications or insufficient experience or they may not have completed the application form to a satisfactory standard.

Those to place on a short list. Often comprises 3-10 of the best candidates who are asked to interview

Those to place on a long list - A business will not normally reject all other candidates immediately but keep some on a long list in case those on the short list drop out or do not appear suitable during interview. The business would not want to incur costs putting them through the selection process, such as interviews, unless they have to.