Screening and Shortlists for Recruitment Agencies
Screening is the call where a recruiter decides whether a CV is worth a client reading. What was asked and answered is written on the candidate record.
What a screening call records
Building the shortlist
Rated candidates for a mandate sit in one list, ordered by the recruiter, with the screening note and the asked salary visible beside every name. The order is the recruiter call. Profiles already submitted to that client show with their earlier date, so nothing goes twice. The shortlist is what the submission step picks up, and a candidate taken off it stays on the mandate as screened.
Keeping the reason
A candidate dropped at screening carries the reason: band mismatch, notice too long, location or no interest. That reason is what sharpens the next search, because the recruiter can see what this client has already turned down. Reasons are kept, not discarded. Candidates who said no today are often open six months later, and the note explains why they were parked.
Limits and agency choices
No rating here replaces the client panel. A shortlist is only the agency view, and the client may reject every name on it for reasons the panel never writes down.
- What the rating scale means on each mandate type
- Whether a team lead approves a shortlist before submission
- Which screening fields are needed before a profile moves on
- How many names go to the client for one seat
Frequently asked questions
Are screening notes visible to the client?
No. Notes stay inside the agency, and only the profile summary written for submission goes out to the hiring contact.
Can a shortlist be approved before it is sent?
Yes, where the agency wants that step. The lead reads the shortlist and the screening notes, then releases it for submission.
Does the system reject candidates by itself?
No. A recruiter marks every drop with a reason, and the candidate stays searchable for later mandates.
Is a rejected candidate shown again?
Yes. A later search finds the profile with its earlier reason, so the recruiter knows what the client said last time.
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