Guide
How to screen 80 applications in 90 minutes
Screening is where SME hiring timelines die. Not because there is a lot of work in it, but because there is no defined end — so it expands to fill whatever gap exists in the owner's week.
The method below handles 80 applications in about 90 minutes and loses very few good candidates. It depends on having done one thing first: written down what you would actually reject someone for.
The short version
- Two minutes per application, maximum. Decide and move on.
- Three piles — yes, no, maybe — not a ranking.
- Screen against three to five written non-negotiables, nothing else.
- Review daily rather than at close. Strong applications arrive in the first 72 hours.
- Phone-screen the yes pile within 48 hours or you will lose them.
Before you open the first job application
Write down the three to five things you would genuinely reject a strong candidate for. Screening without that list is how a 90-minute job becomes a fortnight.
Without written criteria you will screen by impression, which is slow (because every application requires a fresh judgement) and inconsistent (because your standard drifts as you go). The list is usually shorter than people expect:
- A licence, ticket, registration or qualification the role legally requires
- Availability that matches the actual roster
- The right to work in Australia
- One genuine capability threshold — has run payroll unsupervised, has used a commercial machine
The two-minute pass for screening applications
Check the non-negotiables, read the screening question answer, assign to yes / no / maybe, and move on without re-reading.
- 1
Non-negotiables first (20 seconds)
Scan only for your written list. If one is missing and it is genuinely non-negotiable, it is a no. Stop reading.
- 2
The screening question answer (40 seconds)
If your ad asked one good question, this is the highest-signal text in the application — far better than the résumé. Read it properly.
- 3
Most recent role only (30 seconds)
What did they do most recently, and is it the same shape as this job? Earlier history rarely changes the decision at this stage.
- 4
Decide (10 seconds)
Yes, no, maybe. Write it down. Do not return to it. If you are torn, it is a maybe — that is what the pile is for.
Three piles, not a ranking. Ranking 80 people against each other is slow, and you will reorder the list after the phone screens anyway, which makes the effort wasted.
What's actually worth reading for in an application
Specificity and ownership. Candidates who describe what they personally did, with concrete detail, are reliably stronger than candidates who describe what their team was responsible for.
| Weak signal | Strong signal |
|---|---|
| "Responsible for accounts payable" | "Processed about 200 invoices a week, cleared a 6-week backlog in my first month" |
| "Part of a team that delivered..." | "I owned the supplier reconciliation — the other two did payroll" |
| Long, generic cover letter | Two specific sentences answering your actual question |
| Every buzzword from your ad, reflected back | One thing they noticed about the role and a question about it |
| Unexplained gaps treated as disqualifying | Gaps are common and rarely relevant — ask at phone screen if it matters |
What to do with each pile of applications
Phone-screen the yes pile within 48 hours, reply to the no pile the same week, and only open the maybe pile if the yes pile does not produce two or three credible candidates.
- 1Yes pile → phone screen within 48 hours. Fifteen minutes: availability, pay expectations, one thing from their application. This eliminates most mismatches at a tenth of the cost of an interview.
- 2No pile → templated reply, same week. Two lines. It costs ten minutes and it is most of your reputation as a local employer.
- 3Maybe pile → leave it closed. Only open it if the yes pile is thin. Most of the time you never need to, and the time you did not spend on it is the whole saving.
- 4Keep the good ones you didn't hire. Your runners-up are your cheapest next hire — no advertising, no screening, and you already know they are credible.
Common questions
How many candidates should I shortlist?
Phone-screen five to eight, then interview three to five. More than that and you are spending hours to differentiate between people who are all adequate; fewer and you have no basis for comparison.
Should I read cover letters?
Not during the first pass. A single targeted screening question in the ad gives you better signal in a tenth of the reading time, and it does not advantage candidates who are simply better at writing cover letters.
Is it worth using AI to screen applications?
It can usefully sort against explicit criteria like licences or availability. Be careful using it for judgement calls — it can replicate bias at scale, and you still carry the legal responsibility for the decision. Keep a human reading anyone it would reject.
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