選考
せんこう · senkou · JLPT N3 · noun
choice
📋 選考 = select + consider: weighing candidates before you pick
選 (sen) is the select of 選ぶ (erabu, to choose), and 考 (kou) is the consider of 考える (kangaeru, to think). Put together, it means thinking candidates over and choosing, as in 書類選考, screening by documents.
考 — old 老 (top) + 丂 phonetic
Originally written like 老 ('old'), 考 depicted an elderly person with long hair leaning on a cane, and the two characters were once interchangeable. Over time 考 specialized to mean 'deceased father' and later 'to examine, test, investigate,' with the bottom 丂 hinting at the sound.