Case Study: The PSC cuts candidate shortlisting time by 80% and improves diversity with Applied

How The PSC cut candidate shortlisting time by 80% (and greatly improved diversity)

The PSC, a public service consultancy formerly known as 2020 Delivery, wanted to make its hiring process more inclusive and less reliant on CVs, while also reducing the time and admin involved in shortlisting candidates. Using Applied, they looked for a way to assess applicants more fairly and consistently without the bias and inefficiency of traditional spreadsheet-based screening.

Applied helped The PSC move to online applicant assessment, structured sift questions, and skills-based interviews, removing CVs from the first stage and standardizing candidate evaluation. The results were significant: shortlisting time dropped from two weeks to two days, and the company saw stronger diversity outcomes, including 71% of hires being female and nearly 40% coming from minority ethnic backgrounds.

The PSC

Catherine Mulcahy

Chief Operating Officer