Resumes of interested applicants should be collected for 30 days. Upon receipt of the resumes of interested applicants, lawyer's office will assist the employer in determining whether these applicants must be considered for the position. This normally involves sending letters requesting additional information and documentation to each of the applicants, and waiting for their responses, if any. All applicants must be contacted by the employer(draft of appropriate letters for this purpose should be provided by an attorney), either for an interview or to inform the applicant of the specific reasons why he or she does not appear qualified for the position and to give the applicant the opportunity to respond. All U.S. workers who apply must be seriously considered. The employer is obligated to solicit additional information from any U.S. worker and schedule interview for him/her who, on paper, appears even minimally qualified.

The employer must take a minimally-qualified U.S. worker over a foreign worker with superior skills. U.S. worker does not even have to meet the minimum qualifications for the job if DOL determines that some other combination of training, experience, and education will satisfy them. Similarly, a U.S. applicant cannot be rejected even if the credentials don't not match verbatim in recruitment ads. The employer must hire what it advertises, and any discrepancies work against the foreign worker. Employers have to be mindful that the burden of proof in the labor certification process is always on them. US workers may not be dismissed from consideration for being "over qualified."