When it comes to recruiting for a position in the care industry, it can be a rather tedious task, which requires time and an eagle eye.
However, to successfully shortlist candidates isn’t always easy when you’re on a tight schedule and you have a huge pile of CVs to work through.
According to SocialTalent, the minimum number of CVs a recruiter will receive for a UK based role stands at 54.
So it’s hardly surprising to hear that an average recruiter takes just 10 seconds to decide whether they’re going to take an application forward or not.
The key to success in the care industry is combining both speed and precision. If you take too long, you’ll end up making mistakes further down the line and miss out on top care professionals.
Or if you only spend a couple of moments, you could also make the wrong decision immediately.
With these consequences in mind, what are the best ways of identifying a top candidate’s CV?
To give you a hand, we’ve put together some very useful tips to help you quickly and accurately shortlist care candidates within only 30 seconds.
Use shortcut keys
One of the quickest ways to separate the inexperienced from the experienced is to use a keyword shortcut to find certain keywords in a CV.
Start by writing down five or six keywords which are absolutely imperative to the care role you’re advertising for.
For example, if you’re looking for a carer for the elderly, a few of your words could be:
- Attentive
- Personable
- Elderly
Instantly, this will allow you to jump to certain sections and recognise who has the potential to be a new temp.
Alternatively, if the advertised role needs someone with a certain qualification or DBS check, you can use these in your keyword search.
If you’re unsure on how to carry out a search, simply press the CTRL and F keys at the same time on your desktop or laptop. Or if you have a Mac, hold down Command and the C key.
Look for mistakes
While poor grammar, typos and punctuation errors aren’t necessarily one of the more important elements of recruiting a care professional, it can certainly help you separate candidates if you can’t make a decision.
According to CV Library’s research, recruiters and HR professionals view spelling mistakes as a cardinal sin, with 71% of them stating that it’s their biggest bugbear in CVs.
You see if a care professional doesn’t take the time to search for these simple and avoidable mistakes, what’s to say that they won’t act in a careless manner within the workplace?
And as you know, making silly errors in the care industry can sometimes be the difference between life and death.
For a quick and reliable option, download the grammarly.com plugin for free. You can then paste the content of a candidate’s CV into their programme and see if any significant errors appear within seconds.
Checking for employment gaps
Now, this shouldn’t be an excuse to discard an application, as some of the best care industry professionals often take time out between temporary contracts for a number of reasons.
What you should look out for, is a candidate who has bothered to tell you why there’s a gap in their career history.
Just a simple line stating why their employment come to an end can put your mind at ease. Or if it’s a long absence, they should at least insert a section giving you a just reason for the gap.
If they haven’t done this, you may start to wonder whether they are as good as they say, or if they are trustworthy at all.
On most occasions, there’s usually a simple reason, so you can either discard the CV altogether or simply ask them on the phone.
Look for qualifications
As previously mentioned, searching for necessary qualifications is very important with some care jobs. Shockingly, in 2014, the Independent revealed how one in three employers never check their applicants’ qualifications.
This is simply unacceptable when it comes to helping other peoples’ lives.
Furthermore, the same article also said how a large fraction of candidates admitted that they had embellished their skills and experience on their CVs.
If you’re filling a longer temporary position, it might be worth checking all of your shortlisted candidates’ credentials by calling their universities, colleges and so on.
However, if you’re going to look for multiple professionals throughout the year, it might be worth investing in Prospects Hedd. This very useful website enables you to type in a candidate’s name and for just £12 per person, you’ll receive their university/higher education information.
Naturally, the cost might put you off – but is it a risk you’re willing to take when you’re going to trust someone with the care of another person’s life?
Get a recruitment agency to help
An alternative option is to ask a professional recruitment agency like ourselves to do all of the hard work for you.
This way, you can just focus on the interview stages and make sure that you have everything in place ready for the chosen new employee’s first day.
Final thoughts
To find a top care professional CV in just 30 seconds isn’t hard when you implement these top tips. The art of shortlisting quickly and accurately is prepping.
Assemble your keywords and qualification requirements, then take the necessary shortcuts to find the experienced individuals who have the most potential.
You can then dedicate more time to read all of the chosen CVs in greater detail.
For more help finding the right care professional, take a look at the rest of our blog or get in touch with our expert team.
