Requirements
4.6.1 Shortlisting must be conducted by the person responsible for the appointment (see Section 1: Responsibilities) and at least one other person.
4.6.2 Applicants must be shortlisted for interview based on the evidence provided in their volunteer application form and CDF and only those who meet all the essential criteria as defined on the person specification must be shortlisted (even where there is only one applicant).
4.6.3 Application forms must be properly scrutinised and any gaps or queries (e.g. in employment/education/church/volunteering history etc) must be highlighted and marked for further exploration if the applicant is shortlisted and invited to interview.
Guidance
4.6.1 – 4.6.3 Shortlisting
Why?
The purpose of shortlisting is to identify, from their application form, those volunteers who best meet the selection criteria for the role and who you wish to take forward to the next stage of the recruitment and selection process, which is often an interview.
Even if there is only one volunteer to be considered, their application still needs to be assessed to ensure they meet the essential selection criteria.
How?
Candidates should be shortlisted by evaluating the information provided on their volunteer application form against the person specification requirements.
Shortlisting Panel
The person responsible for the role (see Section 1: Responsibilities) leads on the shortlisting process, with support from other members of the interview panel (minimum of two people). This helps maintain consistency across this stage of the process.
Incomplete application forms
If an application is not fully completed, or it is not clear how the volunteer meets all the essential criteria, the application would usually be rejected from the process at this stage. There may be exceptional cases where it is decided to shortlist based on the information that is provided and then the issues/gaps etc. explored further during the interview.