Hiring glossary
What is a ranked shortlist?
A ranked shortlist is a list of the strongest candidates for a role, put in order by how well each one performed against the same job-related criteria, with the evidence behind each position.
A plain shortlist says who is in. A ranked shortlist also says who is strongest and why. The order only means something if every candidate was measured the same way, for example on the same work sample or job simulation scored against one rubric. Ranking on résumé keywords or years of experience still produces an order, but it is an order of what people claim.
The practical value is interview time. A hiring manager with a ranked list can interview from the top and stop when they find the right person, and can see where a lower-ranked candidate was strong if the role’s priorities change. Cohesyve, which publishes this glossary, produces this kind of output: it sources applicants, evaluates them with AI job simulations of the real work and returns a ranked shortlist for the job description.
Example
For a customer success opening, five candidates are listed in order with their simulation scores on account review, written communication and handling an escalation. The second-ranked candidate scored highest on escalations, which the hiring manager notes to probe in the interview.
Related terms
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