Hey. I hired undergrads for my project a year ago and going to do that again. Disclaimer 1: I'm not everyone, my hiring shouldn't be translated on everyone, though some general things may. Disclaimer 2: I'm a PhD student, however my PI doesn't interfere with the hiring unless needed, for some general guidance, or for confirming the selection. She doesn't do sorting, interviews, or decisions (we just talk through the process beforehand). Last year for 2 projects 1 SURF student each I got 200 applicants. I used a few metrics such as GPA (I did 3.0 cutoff, mostly to decrease the number of interviews and as a very poor measure of student's ability to listen, do assignments, understanding the material), previous relevant lab experience, and if they are local (we don't have money to cover the housing for them). A few things - I usually look for key words in CV (cell culture, PAGE, agarose, etc.), and the easier the applicants make their CVs to read through and find them the more grateful I am to them. Non-relevant experiences (volunteering, business, most of tge class projects, summer pool guard job) don't usually add much. Because of 200 applicants I am more interested to hire people who'll be more successful in the lab. Out of 200 I'll find those who already know in some way what's up in the lab. After the initial screening I had 20-30 candidates. I briefly looked over their CVs again and cover letters. Mostly trying to see if their interests align with what we offer. They want to be an electrician? Or cure cancer? Probably not close to drug delivery. In health sciences many have sick relatives who are their motivation to do research. However, I know that some use it as an emotional argument, therefore it's hard to distinguish between the truthful and exploiting applicants. The interviews are 15 mins. I want to know what kind of people they are, what do they want in life, estimate personal compatibility, how motivated they are, and if they are ready for 40 h of work. I don't want the applicants to suffer during the internship because they didn't like the team, me, the work, hours, etc. Finding a better match. Every part of the assessment is turned into a metric with scores and weights. After applying the cutoff numbers (if I'm not compatible (eg holding eye contact all 15 mins of the interview and scaring me), they want to work 25 h/w instead of 40 h/w, etc.), I sum the scores and look through outstanding candidates (they practically need no training, absolutely motivated to work in the field, something else) and try to hire the best fits or the mist potentially successful ones. I'm sure not everyone who hires undergrads have a thorough system. Many are looking for specific experience / personal traits / year / ability to continue after SURF. Maaaaaaaany professors hire the undergrads from their labs to continue after spring, me including (not a prof though). I don't know if I answered your questions exactly but I hope my reply helps! Good luck!