Standard shortlisting forms allow one recruiter/hiring manager to complete a form and, where necessary, display a score against a candidate’s record.

Panel shortlisting goes one step further. Multiple recruiters or hiring managers can complete the same shortlisting form and either the total or average score from all responses can be displayed against a candidate. It is also possible to compare the answers provided by multiple recruiters to review any discrepancies.

What's in this guide

• Creating a Shortlisting Form
• Questions
  • Question types
  • Questions Bank
  • Creating new questions
    • For Shortlisting Use Only
  • Copying Questions from the Question Bank
  • Panel Shortlisting - additional set-up
    • Form setup
  • Scoring
• Editing a Shortlisting Form
• Adding a Shortlisting Form to a job
  • Adding a Standard Shortlisting Form
• Adding a Panel Shortlisting Form
• Using Shortlisting Forms
  • Using a Standard Shortlisting Form
  • Panel Shortlisting Form Process
  • Completing Panel Shortlisting Forms
    • Shortlisting Icons
    • Filter Options
    • Reviewing Completed Shortlisting Forms
• Compare completed Panel Shortlisting forms
• Enabling access to Compare Shortlisting forms
• Enabling anonymity
  • De-anonymised Settings
  • Revealing candidate details when they reach a certain status
• FAQs

Creating a Shortlisting Form

Select Settings.
Go to Assessment Forms.
Then Assessment Forms.

Select New Form and you will then be present with the below page:

• Form Name = add in the name of the assessment form, making sure it’s clearly labelled
• Form Type = Select Shortlisting Form 
  • The form type determines which list of options the form will be associated with on the 'Add a Job: Assessment' page. This ensures that when you're adding or editing a job, the relevant forms are shown in the corresponding selection field.

Please note:  'Form Type' is a new field that was introduced in October 2023 and any forms created before this date might not have a 'Form Type' assigned to them.

If a form doesn't have a 'Form Type' assigned (which could be the case when this feature is first rolled out), those forms will still be visible and selectable in all the options within the 'Assessment' section when you're adding or editing a job.

When editing an existing assessment form with a blank 'Form Type,' the system will prompt you to provide this information before saving your changes.

• Pass marks = This can be left blank as it’s not relevant for this type of form
• Total score = This can be left blank as it’s not relevant for this type of form
• Instructions = Here you can add in instructions that would be displayed to shortlisters (Only required for Screening /Shortlisting forms)
• Shortlisting result to be displayed = If ‘Panel Shortlisting Form' has been selected as the form type, this field will become visible. It enables you to specify whether the score displayed on the list of candidates’ page should be the total score of all shortlisting forms or the average score of all forms. 

Finally, press Save.

Questions

Once the form details have been saved a second page will now be displayed entitled Questions.

Here, you can add all the questions that candidates/shortlisters are required to answer.

Question types

There are 4 different question types that can be used:

1. Multi-Choice (One Answer): A multiple choice question where candidates can only select one answer option
2. Multi-Choice (More than one Answer): A multiple choice question where candidates can select multiple answers  
3. Order of Importance: Requires candidates to rank the answer options in order of importance
4. Text: This question requires candidates/ shortlisters to add their responses as text (This question type cannot be used in Killer Questions or Scored Questions as they cannot be automatically scored)
   

Questions can be added to a form in two separate ways:

1. By creating new questions either from the Questions tab within the assessment form itself or within the Question Bank
2. By copying questions from the Question Bank
   
   

Tip: To avoid adding duplicate questions, we recommend searching the question bank before adding a new question.  

Questions Bank

To access the Questions bank go to Settings > Assessment Forms > Questions Bank.  

The search bar on the page searches the question text to help you easily identify any existing questions. It’s also useful if you are updating any existing questions.  

Creating new questions

• In the Questions tab, click New Question

• Question no: The system will automatically number your question in the order you create them if you’re creating from the assessment form itself. This number is the order that the questions will be presented.
• Question type: Select the relevant question type. These questions typically fall into two categories: text questions and multi-choice questions. For text questions, users input their responses to the question text and select a score. For multi-choice questions, users choose an answer and then assign a score
• Word limit: You can add a word limit here if required
• Instruction: Add guidance for the system users completing the form
• Question Text: Add in the question you are asking the system user
• Maximum points: This can be disregarded as it is related to candidate assessment forms
• Possible correct answers: This can be disregarded as it is related to candidate assessment forms

For Shortlisting Use Only

When creating or editing questions, there is a section at the bottom of the Details tab to complete named For Shortlisting use only.

In this section, decide if you would like the question to be mandatory or if you would like the shortlisters to score the candidate against this information and select a score from 1 to 25 to score from.

• Display Score: Enable this if you would like the shortlisters to score this question.
• Score out of: Select the number you would like the shortlister to score the question out of
• Mandatory: Specify here whether the question should be mandatory

Once you have added the required information, press save.

Please note: When creating a question in the question bank, you won't see the 'For Shortlisting use only' section. This section becomes visible only after you've copied the question into an assessment form of type Screening, Shortlisting, or Panel Shortlisting.

If the question type is multi-choice, then next you need to add in the option answers.

To do so go to the Options tab and then add the wording for the answer options

Points, Correct Order and Correct columns on this page can be ignored for initial sift, screening and shortlisting forms as the autoscoring is only for candidate assessment forms.

Once you have added all the required information, press save.

Copying Questions from the Question Bank

Go to the questions page of the Assessment form and select Copy From Question Bank

A window will open where you can search and select the relevant questions you would like to add into the Assessment form using the check boxes.

Select all questions you would like to add to this form, click Copy then close the page.

The chosen questions will be saved on the questions tab of the shortlisting form.

If required, the order of these questions can be changed by clicking edit against the questions, changing the question numbers and clicking Save. 

If any wording/details are amended on a question in the question bank, these details will automatically update on all forms that the question is attached to.

Copying Shortlisting Questions 

When creating a question in the question bank, you won't find the 'For Shortlisting use only' section. It becomes visible only after you've copied the question into a Screening, Shortlisting, or Panel Shortlisting assessment form. 

After copying the question, you'll need to edit it and choose the scoring options. Please click here for further information on how to do so.

If you make changes to a question added from the question bank once you have added it to the assessment form this will not affect the question saved in the question bank.

Changes made only affect the question in the form you’ve added it to.

Panel Shortlisting - additional set-up

Panel shortlisting forms are created in a similar way to shortlisting forms with some additional steps to follow to ensure the newer functionality works.

The following areas should be completed for initial sift forms, screening forms or panel shortlisting forms.

Form setup

Create a new form: Select Assessment Forms > New Forms.
At the bottom of the Details section, there is an additional Shortlisting result to be displayed drop-down to complete. Select if you would prefer to view an average or a total of all shortlisting scores in the panel shortlisting column.

Scoring

The scoring for shortlisting forms works differently from candidate assessment forms.

For these forms, the scores will have to be manually selected by the user when shortlisting rather than automatically calculated from the scores listed in the Options tab.

When creating or editing questions, there is a section at the bottom of the Details tab to complete named For Shortlisting use only.

In this section, decide if you would like the question to be mandatory or if you would like the shortlisters to score the candidate against this information and select a score from 1 to 25 to score from.

• Display Score: Enable this if you would like the shortlisters to score this question.
• Score out of: Select the number you would like the shortlister to score the question out of
• Mandatory: Specify here whether the question should be mandatory

Editing a Shortlisting Form

• Select the name of the shortlisting form. Make all required changes on the Details page of the form and press Save
• To update the questions, select the Questions tab and click edit against the question to amend. Click Save once complete and Exit the page
• To add new questions to the form, select either New Question (to create a new question for this form) or Copy from Question Bank (to add a question that is already saved in the question bank). 
  Once added, click Save.

Please note: 'Form Type' is a new field that was introduced in October 2023 and any forms created before this date might not have a 'Form Type' assigned to them. 

When editing an existing assessment form with a blank 'Form Type,' the system will prompt you to provide this information before saving your changes.

Adding a Shortlisting Form to a job

Adding a Standard Shortlisting Form

• Create the job as normal or edit an existing job by selecting Jobs > Edit
• In the job, select the Assessment tab

From the Shortlisting Form / Telephone Screening section, toggle the red cross to green to expand this section.

Select the shortlisting form by using the search as you type functionality then Save & Continue or Save & Close.

Please note: The Assessment form type determines the displayed options for each section. If you don't see the right form in the dropdown, check the selected form type in Settings > Assessment Forms.

If a form doesn't have a 'Form Type' assigned (which could be the case as this feature was introduced in October 2023), those forms will still be visible and selectable in all the options within the 'Assessment' section when you're adding or editing a job.

Adding a Panel Shortlisting Form

Toggle to green to expand the Panel Shortlisting section and choose a panel shortlisting form by using the search as you type functionality. Select Save & Continue or Save & Close.

Please note: The Assessment form type determines the displayed options for each section. If you don't see the right form in the dropdown, check the selected form type in Settings > Assessment Forms.

If a form doesn't have a 'Form Type' assigned (which could be the case as this feature was introduced in October 2023), those forms will still be visible and selectable in all the options within the 'Assessment' section when you're adding or editing a job.

Using Shortlisting Forms

Using a Standard Shortlisting Form

When you’re ready to shortlist, click on any column in the job listing page to see the list of candidates that have applied to the job.

Check the box next to the candidate you would like to complete the shortlisting form for, then select Assess > Shortlisting Form or Telephone Screening in the left-hand menu. Candidates can only be shortlisted individually.

Any user assigned to the role who can view candidates is able to complete this shortlisting form – the form can only be completed once per candidate.

A separate tab will become available displaying the shortlisting questions. Complete all answers as required including the screening score, then press OK.

After the form has been saved, the scores will appear in the shortlisting column on the candidate list page.

Panel Shortlisting Form Process

Create a job as normal.

In Job Access, there is a section called Panel Shortlister. To allow users to shortlist, they need to be added to this as well as the Job Access section.

If the required user is not already saved in Job Access, you will need to search for them by using the search as your type functionality and add the correct user. Click Save & Continue and return to add the User to the Shortlister section. 

Top tip
To activate panel shortlisting on the list of candidates page, ensure access has been granted to Shortlisting in Security Role / Jobs & Talent

Completing Panel Shortlisting Forms

Once you’re ready to panel shortlist, click on any column on the Jobs listing page to view the list of candidates that have applied.

Check the box next to the candidate you would like to complete panel shortlisting for, then select Assess > Panel Shortlisting in the left-hand menu.

Candidates can only be shortlisted individually.

A separate tab will become available displaying the shortlisting questions. Complete all answers as required then press OK.

Make sure scores are added to all questions that require one, as this will affect the overall score.

If a user completes the form without being assigned as a shortlister, the below warning will pop up:

To complete the shortlisting form while reviewing a candidate's application, click the candidate's name to view their application.

This will then display the shortlisting form next to the candidate’s application, simply select the edit icon to complete the shortlisting form.

Shortlisting Icons

There are 3 different icons that will be displayed throughout the panel shortlisting process:

Filter Options

A filter option is available to shortlisters, similar to those on the list of jobs page, with three choices:

• Complete: Displays candidates with the blue eye icon and a score. This option shows candidates where all shortlisters have completed their shortlisting.
• Incomplete: Lists candidates with a grey eye icon. These are candidates shortlisted by the user, but other shortlisters haven't completed their shortlisting yet.

For users who aren't designated shortlisters, this option shows candidates whose shortlisting forms haven't been completed by all involved.

• Outstanding: Lists candidates with an exclamation icon. This option specifically displays candidates where the user is listed as a shortlister but hasn't completed the shortlisting form. 

This filter option is only applicable for designated shortlisters.

Reviewing Completed Shortlisting Forms

When all assigned shortlisters have completed the shortlisting form and saved their answers, the 'grey' eye icon against the candidate will turn 'navy blue'. Depending on set up, either the average or total of all scores given will be displayed.

Some users (usually Superusers) can click on the blue eye icon to view when each form was completed and the individual scores given. 

By selecting View next to an individual user's name, the answers given by that shortlister on the shortlisting form will be displayed.

To activate panel shortlisting on the list of candidates page, ensure you have granted access to Shortlisting in Security Role / Jobs & Talent.

Compare completed Panel Shortlisting forms

You might want to compare how one Manager has scored/assessed a candidate against what another Manager has. You can do this by comparing forms.

Against a candidate in a job who’s Panel Shortlisting is complete (the eye icon will be navy blue), press the eye icon. This will display an overview of which Managers have completed shortlisting. Select the checkboxes against the forms, then press Compare shortlisting forms:

Enabling access to Compare Shortlisting forms

To enable a user group to compare shortlisting forms go to Settings > Security Roles.

Click on the relevant security role and navigate to the Jobs & Talent Pools tab. 

Scroll down to List Candidate – Compare Shortlisting and toggle this feature on in the Access, Add & Update columns and then Save your changes.

Once enabled users will be able to:

• Compare shortlisting forms
• See the scores of all completed forms
• View other users completed forms
• View & edit their own form (if relevant)

Note: If List Candidate – Compare Shortlisting is not enabled, users will have access to the above page but will not be able to view the scores & forms completed by other users.

Enabling anonymity

Candidates can also be made anonymous to those performing screening / shortlisting.

To do this, create a new security role. For example, ‘Anonymous Shortlisting Manager’ and follow the steps below to activate the anonymity:

Click Settings > Security Roles

When a new security role is created, the following should be actioned in the relevant sections:

1. Jobs & Talent Pools - deactivate Print & Export against each option
2. Jobs & Talent Pools - deactivate ‘List Candidate – CV’ and ‘List Candidate – Download CV’, simply toggle to red the Access column
3. Jobs & Talent Pools - deactivate ‘List Candidate – History’, , simply toggle to red the Access column
4. Jobs & Talent Pools - deactivate ‘List Candidate - Add Notes’, simply toggle to red the Access column
5. Jobs & Talent Pools - deactivate ‘List Candidate - Forward Details’, simply toggle to red the Access column
6. Jobs & Talent Pools - deactivate ‘List Candidate - Send Email / and List Email / SMS / Letter
7. Candidate Details section *important* - to anonymise candidates see "Remove candidate's personal details" and select from the dropdown options, by choosing which sections of the application form should not be displayed to this security role.

De-anonymised Settings

Candidates can be de-anonymised when they reach a certain status.

• Select which sections you want to reveal when the candidate reaches the target status.

Revealing candidate details when they reach a certain status

In Application Status(s), then Deanonymise column, toggle to green against the Application Status(es) so that once candidates reach this status, their details will be deanonymised. 

In order for this security role to see any candidates at this status (anonymous or deanonymised), the Access column against the status will also need to be toggled to green.

When you are happy with your new security type, simply update the relevant user(s) profiles - linking the user to the anonymous security type.

The result? 

An anonymous shortlister view of candidate lists/records would look like this:

Please chat with your Client Success Consultant if you would like candidate numbers to be displayed alongside candidate names.

FAQs

I can't see the Shortlisting button against a job I want to shortlist for

Is the form attached to the job? Check this on the Assessment Forms sub-tab of the Application Form section.

I can't see the Panel Shortlisting column or button against a role I want to shortlist for. 

Is the form attached to the job? Check this on the Assessment Forms sub-tab of the Application Form section.

Does the security role have access to Shortlisting? Check this in Security Roles / Jobs & Talent / Shortlisting – grant access.

Is this functionality switched on in your Jobtrain platform? Your Recruitment/HR team should be able to help or contact our Support team or your Client Success Consultant.

I’ve completed the Panel Shortlisting form and clicked save however I keep seeing an error message

Are you assigned as a shortlister against this job? If not, your Recruitment/HR team should be able to assign you as a shortlister if required.