Creative Ways to Screen Job Applicants

Got a mountain of resumes on your desk that you need to go through? With unemployment at a record high right now, people are flocking to any and every posted job opening they can find, and many small businesses looking to hire are overwhelmed with potential candidates. Some smaller firms with limited HR departments are finding success with creative and unorthodox ways to screen candidates, according to this Wall Street journal article.

Take I Love Rewards, a 38-person consulting firm based in Wellesley, Mass., and Toronto. Instead of wading through 1,200 applications they received for nine openings, managers invited applicants to an open house. The 400 who showed up went through a process much like "speed dating," where they mingled with employees and spent five minutes with at least one staffer, who asked them questions to determine their suitability for different positions. From the speed-dating process, the team narrowed down 68 candidates, who were called back for group and individual interviews.

Read on for more creative ways small businesses are screening candidates, including personality tests, quick questionnaires and trial workdays.