Ours is pretty standard. 1 Recruiter reviews application 2. Recruiter phone interviews 3. Assessment 4. Hiring Manager interview 5. Background checks One key frustration is that quite often candidates are not prepared for a phone interview. They haven't found a quiet place or in some cases schedule the interview for when they know they will be driving in their car. We review resumes and select the best ones for our needs and clients, then we review their online portfolios if they have them if they are designers or art directors. If we find their work good or appropriate for our clients and it matches their resume and background we have our assistants set up interviews for us. If their is some question about them, then perhaps they will get a phone interview first. The real screening process takes place in the interview, this is the most important aspect of the process. If you made it this far we have interest in you. Any candidate we represent we have interviewed in depth. We want to hear how they speak, fend questions, know all about their career history, what they are doing at their current job or prior job if they unemployed at the moment. What sort of position they are looking for next in their career and why. What are their strengths and weaknesses. What are their salary expectations. Are they on track in their career or have they been stalled, underpaid, over paid? Realistic or unrealistic in their career goals. Are they management material or team players. Are they ready for advancement, or do they need to take a lateral move to get better skills in a better company. Have they been in a dead end job or have they been with a prestigious company. Will they relocate? What type of personality do they have? This will help find the right company culture for them to fit in with. Are they the corporate type, flamboyant type or counter culture type? How well do they know they software programs in design, are they experts, or they only use them for comps, not final digital mechanicals.When I through interviewing a candidate, I know all their hopes, dreams, fears, where they went to school, what they can and cannot do, and just about all I need to know about them so I can classify or categorize them as to where they will best fit in with any of my clients and the types of jobs I get. I will know if I will truly be able to help them or not. And I tell them this. If I don't think I can help them is at this point, I tell what they have to do improve their skills, or portfolios and that when they do these things, they are welcome to come back and see me and I will again review their work and reinterview them. My clients are extremely picky and require the cream of the crop, and that is what I give them. Many are called but few are chosen. That's my job. It's not frustrating, it's a mission I am on. I love it.