Final answer:
In the prescreening process of a firm's hiring procedure, the first step is the application review, where employers evaluate applications to ensure candidates meet job requirements.
Step-by-step explanation:
Once a firm has a pool of applicants, the first step in the prescreening is the application review. This is the stage where employers evaluate the submitted applications to determine if candidates meet the basic requirements for the job position. The process includes examining candidates' education, work experience, skills, and sometimes their work eligibility and other basic compliance-related details. The application review serves as an initial filter to narrow down the number of applicants who will proceed to the next stages of the hiring process, such as background checks, reference checks, and initial interviews. This step is crucial because it helps to efficiently identify the most qualified individuals among a large pool of applicants.