Sipping from the Firehose: How to efficiently and effectively find the right candidate in an ever-growing pool of applicants
We all know that in the current economic downturn most companies have slowed or even halted hiring. However, the number of applicants is growing at an exponential rate fueled by the current surge in unemployment as well as the entry of new workers into the labor pool. In economic terms our supply of potential candidates is far exceeding current demand. Sounds like a good place to be, right? In some ways, yes, because it is a buyer’s market. However, in other ways this deluge of applicants creates new challenges.
- How do recruiters and hiring managers sort through the vast array of candidates to find the right person for their job?
- How can they do this efficiently without taking months to sift out those that are unqualified or perhaps over-qualified for the role?
To brace ourselves for the challenges to come, lessons can be learned from those organizations and industries who have long since dealt with a high applicant to hire ratio – industries such as hospitality, service, manufacturing, etc. These companies are accustomed to having 20 or even 30 candidates for every hire. They have invested in designing good screening programs, populated their programs with high quality content and driven efficiencies into the design through technology.
The most effective hiring decisions result from a multi-component selection process – a process that involves testing, interviewing, and other components that will help in identifying the best candidate. Leading organizations utilize this type of multi-component process coupled with state-of-the-art technology such as career portals and applicant tracking systems to make it a seamless process for the candidate and an easy-to-use process for the hiring manager.
An integrated selection process starts by determining what success looks like in a specific job and then determining what capabilities (innate and learned) contribute to success. Once the target is defined, each component of the selection process should be designed such that all critical capabilities are measured.
Realistic Job Preview
A Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is the part of the selection process that gives the applicant a clear idea of what it will be like to work in the job and in the company if they are hired. Giving the candidate an accurate picture of what the job is like will decrease turnover by letting candidates ‘quit before they are hired’ if they do not like something about the hours, environment, or other things associated with the job.
For some of our clients we are finding that Avatar technology offers an engaging, but cost-effective alternative to producing a live video. An avatar guide provides a virtual tour of the job, highlighting desirable features of the role, while also covering aspects of the job that result in early turnover. This type of Virtual RJP also includes an interactive module. The presentation includes a series of computer-based interview questions that confirm the candidate’s willingness and ability to meet basic job requirements. Questions to both “tell and sell” might include:
- Interest in the role
- Basic qualifications, training or experience requirements
- Willingness to do important job tasks (e.g., interacting with customers, discussing complex financial products, assembling products, leading projects, etc.)
Application and Pre-screen
To further streamline the process, provide a means for job candidates to easily complete an on-line application/experience questionnaire or post a resume that can be evaluated to ensure that candidates meet basic job qualifications. Many of the job boards are moving towards a universal resume/application approach to make this part of the process less time consuming for applicants and more efficient for the recruiter.
Assessment Solutions
We often say “there is a right job for everyone, but everyone is not right for every job.” Assessments can help you evaluate the candidate’s fit for your organization as well as for a specific role. A variety of assessments can be used in the selection process depending on the nature of the job and the critical factors that lead to success:
- Learned Capabilities such as skills-based assessments (e.g., math, reading, etc.), job sampling, situational judgment and simulations are designed to evaluate a person’s abilities and knowledge in particular areas.
- Innate Capabilities such as work trait, motivations/value, culture fit, or personality-based assessments are designed to measure underlying factors or natural tendencies that lead to success in the job role and the culture of the organization.
One of the advantages of utilizing technology in your selection process is that the assessment components may be staged in the process, respecting the candidate’s time, and allowing for greater flexibility in your process. Assessment of Innate Capabilities can often be administered in an unproctored setting (early in the process) prior to recruiter involvement due to the nature of the questions (no clear “right” or “wrong” answers). These assessments identify those candidates with strong potential for the role. At a later stage, successful candidates may then be administered skills-based assessments in a proctored setting prior to the Interview stage of the process. Taken together these types of assessments provide a detailed picture of the candidate, their capabilities, and their likelihood of success in the job and the organization.
Behavioral Interview
Almost all of the available literature supports the notion that using a behavior-based interview guide will make the most of your time with the candidate. Based on the concept that “past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior”, behavior-based interviews ask the candidate to provide examples of how they have behaved in past situations which are similar in nature to situations they will face in the role (not how they think people should behave, or how they think they would act in a given situation). For example: “Tell me about a time when…” or “Describe a situation when…”
Recognizing, though, that the community library and local bookstore have shelves full of books which “coach” candidates in the interview process, it is important not to accept responses at face value. Great interviewers use candidate experiences as a launching pad to ask probing questions and really learn how the candidate thinks, responds and acts to situations similar to those they will experience in the job role. Don’t accept pat answers or rush through this part of the process.
Finally, remember that the interview is the capstone of the entire selection process, not an isolated event. Use the interview to follow-up on any questions you have from the application, prescreen, or assessment. Dynamic interview guides include both standard questions to ask of all candidates as well as candidate specific questions based on assessment results. Using these additional probes can greatly enhance your understanding of the strengths and potential weaknesses of the candidate.
Consider the interview as your opportunity to pull together all of the information you have gathered so that you can make the best possible hiring recommendation.
Hiring Decision
Resist the temptation to hire someone just because you need to fill the job. Focus on how well the candidate fits the demands of the role, not how much you like the candidate personally or how much you have in common with the candidate. This is often easier said than done. Partner with all of those involved in the process and gather their feedback to assist in making the final decision.
Final Guidance
We all know that the cost of a bad hire can be significant, but don’t overlook the impact of a great hire. Putting the right people in the right role can add significantly to the bottom line. It is during these tough economic times that the stars really shine. Using a well-defined, efficiently implemented selection process will improve your odds of finding the right candidate. Typically, the following concepts should guide the selection process:
- Use a multiple hurdle approach where the candidate must clear earlier hurdles to proceed in the process. A “go” or “no go” decision is made at each step;
- Partner with the candidate to provide early opportunities to self-select out of the process before the company invests time and money on unsuitable or uninterested candidates;
- Incorporate web-based assessments earlier in the process to pass fewer but higher quality candidates on to more time-intensive and costly components of the process;
- Place time intensive components, such as in-person interviews or simulations late in the process to further relieve the time burden on hiring managers and recruiters;
- Leverage technology wherever possible to increase efficiency.
For more information on Selection Process Best Practices please attend one of our upcoming webinars.
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As an HR-XML Certified provider, our software systems conform to the standards of the HR-XML consortium for exchange of HR-related data. This allows our assessment systems to integrate seamlessly with other conforming HR software, such as HRIS, applicant tracking systems (ATS), and Recruitment Process Outsourcers (RPO).
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