Candidate applications are scored against the person specification criteria. High scoring candidates are shortlisted and invited for interview.
Candidates that fail to evidence at least all the essential criteria do not do well and often do not hear back from the employers.
At interview, questions are designed to test candidates directly and indirectly against each of the person specification criteria.
Employers use a key word check list to score your answers against each criteria. The candidate that scores the highest gets the offer.