Shortlist faster without cutting corners

Most teams hit the same wall: a flood of applicants, a small recruiting team, and pressure to move fast without lowering the bar. The shortcut is rarely speed; it's clarity. When your criteria are explicit, scoring becomes mechanical and humans can focus on judgment calls.

Define ‘good’ before you read CVs

Write down three to five must-haves and two to three nice-to-haves. Add knockout rules (e.g. ‘must be eligible to work in Lagos by start date’). The list goes into your role blueprint so every CV is scored against the same standard.

Score in passes, not on first read

• Pass 1: knockouts only (eligibility, location, must-have skill)
• Pass 2: weighted scoring against the blueprint
• Pass 3: human eye on the top 20 for nuance the AI can miss

Make the shortlist defensible

Every candidate that advances should have a one-line rationale. ‘Top 8% on technical depth, 4 years in payments, missing leadership signal, flag for round 2.’ Future-you will thank present-you.

“Speed without rationale is just guessing in a hurry.”