Selection in SMEs: What You Need to Know Before You Choose Your Next Hire
Recruitment sets the scene; selection makes the decision.
You’ve now advertised your vacancy, following the steps in my previous post (see here). Well done.
But now you’ve entered the selection stage, otherwise known as choosing quality candidates.
It’s hard to know what a “quality candidate” is if you haven’t been through the hiring process before as a business leader, and it’s especially hard if you haven’t nailed the recruitment steps before hand.
Recruitment aims to attract the right type of candidates; selection is where you identify the best ones for your organisational needs.
1. Basic Screening: Instructions, Accuracy, Alignment
One of the simplest ways to separate strong candidates from weaker ones is to check whether they followed the steps you laid out in your recruitment advert.
Did they send a valid résumé and cover letter?
Did they apply via your website or email, as instructed?
Some recruiters don’t care too much about this, but it’s a good sign if a candidate can follow direction.
You can also look for grammatical errors, typos, and inconsistencies in their work history. Did they apply for the right job? I’ve come across many applications where the applicant has addressed the wrong company or wrong job title.
Have they expressed why the role aligns with their work history and their future career goals? Do they actually want to work for your company?
These are some very basic questions to ask when screening applications.
2. Phone Screening: Quick Checks That Save Hours
Just because an applicant passes all basic screening questions doesn’t mean you’re ready to interview. This is where phone screening becomes valuable.
A short phone call can help you confirm inconsistencies, clarify expectations, and get a sense of organisational fit. It’s also a great opportunity to confirm wage or salary expectations, and role requirements.
It’s best to go into a phone screening with a simple rubric aimed at confirming that the information in their application is true. Questions may include:
Can you confirm your last job title, and how long you worked there?
What are your salary expectations for this role?
How do you see this role aligning with your long‑term career plans?
This step helps you move into interviews with confidence and clarity.
3. Compliance Starts Here (Most SMEs Don’t Know This)
Once you move into interviews, you’re entering the most compliance‑heavy part of hiring and many SMEs don’t realise this.
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and anti‑discrimination laws apply before someone is hired. This means your interview questions, your notes, and your decision‑making process must all be fair, consistent, and based on the inherent requirements of the role.
This is where SMEs unintentionally get into trouble, often without meaning to.
4. EEO & Anti‑Discrimination: What You Must Avoid
During selection, you must avoid making assumptions about a candidate’s:
age
gender
family responsibilities
cultural background
disability
pregnancy
personal circumstances
Your questions should always relate directly to the role.
For example, instead of asking:
“Do you have children?”
you would ask:
“This role requires weekend work — are you able to meet that requirement?”
This protects both your business and the candidate.
5. Structured Interviews = Fair, Defensible Decisions
If you decide to proceed to an interview, you will benefit from a structured approach. This means:
asking the same core questions of all candidates
using expected answers or scoring criteria
comparing candidates against the role, not each other
avoiding “gut feeling” hiring
keeping factual, objective notes
Open‑ended, situational questions are best. They help you understand the candidate’s motives, experience, and decision‑making.
“Why do you want this role?” is always a great place to start.
Structured interviews aren’t just best practice — they’re a compliance safeguard.
6. Inherent Requirements: Your Legal Anchor
Every selection decision must relate back to the inherent requirements of the role. This is why your position description matters.
It defines:
the tasks
the responsibilities
the skills
the physical or cognitive requirements
If a candidate is not selected, the reason must relate to these requirements — not personal characteristics or assumptions.
This is the foundation of fair, defensible hiring.
7. Documentation: Protect Your Business
Good documentation is essential. You should keep:
interview notes
scoring sheets
reference check notes
decision rationale
If a candidate ever questions your decision, you have a clear, factual record of how you assessed them.
Documentation protects your business.
8. Reference Checks: Validate Before You Offer
Reference checks are a great safeguard for your business. They allow you to confirm that the information the candidate presents is true and correct, but they also give you insight into:
how the candidate works
how they communicate
how they respond to feedback
how they are best managed
whether their strengths align with your role
This is where you validate your decision before making an offer.
9. NES & Minimum Entitlements: The Final Step
Once you’ve chosen your preferred candidate, you must provide the National Employment Standards (NES) statement when you make an offer.
Many organisations make a verbal offer before drafting the contract, usually to confirm the candidate is still willing to come onboard and to clarify details needed for the contract and onboarding paperwork. This can reduce administrative burden if a candidate is likely to decline.
However, the formal offer (including the NES statement and employment contract) is what legally matters, and it should follow shortly after the verbal confirmation.
I’ll explore the NES in a future post, as well as how to onboard a new employee effectively.
This final step closes the loop on a compliant, structured selection process.
Work With Epton Connections
If you’re an SME and you want to strengthen your hiring practices — from recruitment through to selection — Epton Connections can support you with:
structured, compliant hiring processes
capability‑based interview design
position descriptions and inherent‑requirements mapping
selection rubrics and documentation
onboarding frameworks aligned with the NES
A strong selection process doesn’t just help you choose the right person — it protects your business and sets your new hire up for success.
If you’d like help shaping or reviewing your selection process, reach out. I’d love to support you.
