Posts Tagged ‘realistic job preview’

December 13, 2011

Measure Twice, Cut Once – It is all about job-fit

Sage advice to the trades suggests an accurate fit can be achieved by taking the time to measure, and then to take a second measure to verify, before making the cut. Two measures increase the confidence in and accuracy of the cut. Following that guidance helps reduce waste and rework when crafting a fine object. The same holds true building a workforce that achieves superior results. Using a multi-method pre-employment assessment allows you to measure twice or even seven times within one candidate experience, to help determine job-fit.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

I have worked in the trades and the joke about the advice above is – I cut it twice and it is still too short! Well intended and skillful recruiters sometime take a pipeline full of candidates, cut it twice and still make job-fit hiring decisions that miss the mark. Measurement to support job-fit decisions is critical.

Job-fit is complex. I have never sat across the desk from someone who said, “Our jobs are simple, people don’t need to bring much to be successful here.” In fact, even in entry level jobs, the variables that drive success are complex and can be difficult to objectively measure. Jobs with complex demands require rigorous evaluation methods, methods that measure twice and cut once.

Measure Twice

A common practice in the use of assessment is to administer a combination of a personality or work style questionnaire and a reasoning test. This is a simple form of two measures. The unfortunate and common outcome is poor accuracy and the ‘cut’ can be ‘off the mark.’ Candidate job-fit is far more complex than a test score and diverse high-to-low ratings on a number of personality traits.

Multi-method pre-employment assessment integrates an assortment of evaluation types to deliver a whole-person examination of diverse knowledge, skill, traits, characteristics required by the job demands. Multi-method assessment makes it possible to obtain two or more measurements or evaluations of each job relevant performance domain. When attempting to predict candidate behavior across six to eight competencies, a well developed multi-method assessment can evaluate each competency with multiple measures, thus delivering a confident job-fit measure.

Multi-Method Measurement

Here are some common assessment types that can be integrated into a multi-method assessment.

Situational judgment – choosing among options on how one might respond to common interactions with customers or co-workers

Problem solving – accessing and considering information to address questions, resolve issues

Idea generation/brainstorming – recalling or synthesizing options for a given scenario

Work history – identifying job relevant career experiences, achievements, work habits and career management behaviors

Data analysis – computations, trend analysis, comparisons and drawing conclusions from various information sources

Diagnostic reasoning – applying rule-based logic to system analysis

Prioritization – evaluation and ranking of relative importance and potential consequences of work flow demands

Delegation – discerning appropriateness of and approach to assigning work to others

Multi-tasking – splitting attention among competing demands while performance complex tasks

Work style- comparative description of preferred behavior patterns

The elegance afforded by many of these assessment methods is the ease by which the content can be created to reflect or mimic the actual demands of the job. For example, a day-in-the-life of a manager may include working with operating statements to identify issue that need attention, coming up with a variety of ways to handle the action items, selecting action items to delegate to team members and being prepared to handle a variety of team member responses. A multi-method assessment can combine a series of exercises that present that entire sequence; Data analysis, idea generation/brainstorming, delegation, situational judgment.

Whole Person Job-Fit Profile

Whole Person Job-Fit Profile

The complexity and diverse range of job-fit attributes measured with this approach allows candidate results to be presented across a job specific competency model. This is done through the use of HR analytics and a scoring algorithm that weights and values candidate responses according to their relationship with actual on-the-job performance.

In addition to obtaining the evaluation information, the candidates are invited to step into the job and get a glimpse of what it is like to handle the work flow. The assessment can become a form of realistic job preview.

Pre-employment testing has evolved a great deal in the past few years. The web has provided a format for delivering a highly engaging and robust multi-method assessment experience. If you value accurate job-fit, it may be time to explore how a multi-method pre-employment assessment could support your recruiting and hiring process.

Call (888) 485-7633 or write to set up a demonstration.

Measure twice, cut once to reduce staffing waste from your hiring decisions. The result is a workforce that delivers superior results.

August 4, 2011

Eight Changes in the Apply Now Element of the Candidate Experience

The Internet has changed the nature of the Apply Now candidate experience. Paste your resume here is a thing of the past for companies leading the wave of change in how candidates get considered for a job. Leading edge companies are creating an interactive online candidate experience. In this new format the candidate can learn more about the company and the job while the company can learn more useful information about the people applying for the job. This article will help you understand how to obtain the most value from the Careers page of companies deploying best practices for online employment applications.

1. The Resume is becoming less important.
Job seekers put a great deal of time and energy into writing resumes, often seeking assistance to create a good looking and great sounding document. However, research shows that about one third of resumes contain misrepresentations. Tell your career story truthfully, recruiters check the facts. Recruiters use word search technology to indentify resumes with specific skills and experiences. Technology puts resumes in “yes” and “no” piles based on the word search criteria. Unfortunately, people use different words to describe the same experience. And, resumes do not contain objective information that can fairly differentiate between candidates. As such, companies that are most concerned with advancing the best candidates are developing online questionnaires to quickly gather objective, fair, and consistent information about you. The resume is best used during the interview, to guide the conversation in a manner that uncovers the value your past experiences will offer in the new position. Given a choice of completing an online application questionnaire or pasting your resume, go for the online questionnaire.

2. You are a decision maker in the recruiting process.
Sometimes people get a few weeks into the new position and say, “I didn’t know this was part of the job.” or “This is not what I expected.” When people have that reaction, they have a tendency to begin looking for a new job quickly. In essence, they may quit before they even begin. To help reduce this reaction, leading edge companies are creating what is known as realistic job previews (RJP). This is not a job description. A RJP is a detailed and balanced overview of the job, describing both the exciting as well as the demanding aspects of the work. When you have more information about the position, you are better equipped to decide if the job is right for you. Look for buttons on the Careers page that say things like: Job Overview, Learn more about this job, Day in the Life, or other indications that more detailed information is available. A RJP often includes videos, or pictures of people on the job and audio files describing what people find rewarding and challenging about the work. Take time to carefully learn more about the job and make an informed decision about applying for the position.

3. Company culture impacts career satisfaction.
Each company has its own unique “feel”, it places value on certain behaviors and has a distinct management style. You may thrive in one culture and be stifled in another. Companies that want you to “fit-in” with their culture are providing an overview of their values, management style and performance expectations on their web page. Look for the sections on the web that are labeled: About Us, Who We Are, Working at ABC Co., Company Values. Be sure to look for information about career development, advancement, and what might be said about how they make working for their company a rewarding experience. Take time to learn about the company’s culture so you can decide if it offers the type of work environment you value.

4. Assessments add objectivity and fairness.
Almost 50% of companies use some form of pre-employment assessment to learn more about candidates. In most cases, this is a good thing. Assessment falls into several categories: 1. Work style or personality, 2. Reasoning or thinking ability and 3. Skills or Capabilities. Each of the three main types of assessments will be covered in more detail below. Because resumes are very subjective, and can vary so widely from people applying for the same position, assessment allows a more fair and consistent method for candidates to present themselves. There are well-developed standards for the use of assessments in employment practices and, for the most part, companies follow these recommendations, called: The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Methods. These guidelines come from the EEOC and state any testing, assessments, and even the questions used during the interview must be related to the demands of the job, and must treat all candidates fairly and consistently. In addition, the company has to show that the assessment does not discriminate against applicants. If you encounter what seems to be an assessment, it will typically begin with a thorough explanation of what you are being asked to complete. Take assessments seriously, they are your best opportunity to create a clear picture of your qualifications for the job.

5. Work style or personality is a strong predictor of job performance.
How you go about your work, or your preferred approach for handling the day-to-day demands of the job is often called your work style. Questionnaires have been used for decades to help people describe their preferred work style. In the last 10 to 15 years much has been learned about measuring people’s preferred approach to work. A work style questionnaire will typically present one or more statements and ask you to select the one that best describes you, or asks whether you agree or disagree with how it describes your preferred approach. The worst thing you can do when completing a work style questionnaire is to fake your responses or try to guess what the correct response should be. In work style there is no right answer. What is most important is to accurately and candidly describe yourself. Most companies will have conducted research on which work style characteristics relate to effectiveness and satisfaction in the job. If you have those traits, you may be more successful in the job than those people who have a different style. If you try to second-guess the answers, you may end up taking a job you won’t like, because it requires and demands a different work style than you naturally bring to a situation. This can cause stress and job burnout. When faced with completing a work style questionnaire – be yourself.

6. Each job has reasoning demands.
Solving problems, interpreting information, composing communications are just a few examples of how thinking ability is required on the job. Internet technology has made it easier for companies to present candidates with a sample of common thinking challenges faced in day-to-day work situations. In essence, companies that use this method can get a small sample of how you will respond to the thinking demands of the job and at the same time, you get a sense of the nature of the work. It can be quite helpful for you and the employer to see how effectively you are prepared to handle the thinking demands of the job. Reasoning tests may be presented with a fixed time for completion, such as 10 minutes. This levels the playing field a bit, in that on the job we do not have unlimited time, so the company gets to see which applicants get the most correct work done in the allotted time. If you find yourself at the beginning of a test of your reasoning capabilities, read the instructions carefully, take time to study the sample questions and then work as quickly as you can. If you have time left at the end, go back and see if you can complete any questions you skipped. Your score will most often be based on the total number of correct answers. When completing an assessment of your reasoning or thinking skills, work quickly, and accurately. Most are not pass-fail so don’t stress out if you miss some.

7. Knowledge and skills can be transferable.
Computer and software skills, technical capabilities and occupational knowledge are valuable resources you can transfer with you from one job to another. As a best practice, more companies are asking candidates to complete a skills or knowledge test as part of the application process. If you can apply your education and training to the job better than another candidate, the company will need to spend less time and money training you. You can prepare for an online job knowledge or skills test by taking time to review technical manuals, certification training materials and the proper procedures for job-specific skills.

8. Test Drive the Job with Simulations.
The multi-media nature of the web now allows elements of the job to be recreated in engaging, interactive exercises. You may encounter videos or audio conversations that stop and ask what you would do next, or how you would respond. There may be data entry activities which evaluate your speed and accuracy on working with data, computer database activities which examine how well you can navigate and find answers, or even prioritization and delegation exercises. These types of simulations for pre-employment testing teach you something about the job demands and often portray elements of the company culture. Being asked to complete a simulation is an indication that the company takes hiring decisions very seriously. The effort to develop company-specific simulations ensures recruiters are able to identify and hire the most qualified candidates. People who perform well on the simulation are very likely to perform extremely well on the job. If you encounter a simulation, treat it like going to work for a day. Give it your best thinking and your most sincere effort.

Summary
The nature of applying for a job is evolving. Using Internet technology, companies and candidates can learn much more about the degree of job-fit that might exist. The more comprehensive the application process, the better the quality of the hiring decision for both employer and candidate. As more information is exchanged between the applicant and the company, both parties are better equipped to make a sound decision. This leads to greater job satisfaction, higher levels of productivity and a more competitive organization.

Online applications are a big win for everybody. When you encounter a comprehensive online application process, it is most often a sign that a company is working hard to: deliver and exceptional candidate experience, increase the objectivity of the recruiting process, ensure all candidates are treated fairly, and improve the likelihood you will be successful when they offer you the job.

Best of success in your career pursuit!

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | August 4th, 2011
Permalink, Comments Off
, Tags: pre-employment testing realistic job preview Simulations | Posted in Candidate Experience

May 26, 2011

Music Video Meets Realistic Job Preview

Amerigroup, a leading provider of Medicaid insurance wanted to extend a compelling invitation to become part of the real solutions they provide. They had already developed a collection of videos that demonstrate the nature of their work and profiled the clients they serve. Commissioning The Verve Pipe to write, record, and film a song that pulls together the Amerigroup service brand created a realistic job preview with an emotional appeal that is palpable. The best part is that this message works just as well for current associates as it does of candidates. So Rise Up and click Play to step into a very unique candidate experience.

Here are three reasons this form of communication works well in an employment brand message.

Compelling Story

The lyrics invite the candidate to step into and step up to the demands of the service role Amerigroup delivers to the community.

Balanced Images

The examples of the workplace and the variety of clients served are candid and frank. This is not a gloss-over message. These are real people, with real issues, getting real solutions. No bait and switch or one-sided message.

Multi-media

In this “experience economy”, candidates expect more from the web, more interaction, more truthful information, more interaction. Candidates walk away with a sense of the contemporary spirit of the organization.

Kudos to Amerigroup for the vision to combine music video and realistic job preview.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | May 26th, 2011
Permalink, 1 Comment »
, Tags: Candidate Experience realistic job preview | Posted in Candidate Experience, Client Case Studies, Videos

May 10, 2011

Are You Measuring Your Candidate Experience?

I have been writing about the candidate experience. As such, I thought it might be good to go back to the first look we took at how companies evaluate or think about the candidate experience.

We conducted a survey of attendees at the Taleo World 2008 User Conference in Boston, MA. The purpose of the survey was to assess the degree to which organizations are evaluating the candidate experience and measuring the economic impact of staffing process waste or early turnover. Given the expanding focus on the Candidate Experience, it seemed fitting to share the results again.

As a sponsor and exhibitor of the conference, we asked recruiting professionals who visited our booth to complete a five-question survey. Three multiple-choice questions explored candidate experience issues and two questions examined 120-day turnover.

Observations and Assertions

The data suggests that the vast majority of companies (86%) do not ask candidates for feedback about their on-line employ-ment experience. In spite of a lack of candidate feedback, a surprisingly large group, (29%) believe their candidate experience is so positive that it creates referrals and viral marketing. The survey did not explore referral rate issues, so we are left to contemplate why this belief is held.

The survey asked if a multi-media realistic job preview (RJP) was part of their on-line candidate experience. An RJP presents a balanced look at the job, describing both the rewarding and satisfying, as well as the challenging and demanding elements of the job. Ninety-four percent (94%) of respondents said no. This is further evidence of significant room for improving the interactive and informative nature of the candidate experience. Web 2.0 re-cruiting implies a more engaging user experience. Web 2.0 recruiting might include job-specific video, streaming audio, and animated images which engage and educate the candidate.

The 120-day separation rate is one measure of hiring decision effectiveness. A total of 57% of respondents stated that their company tracks and reports this data. This is contrasted with 72% of respondents stating they do not know the cost of on- boarding a new employee into a high-turnover position. Respondents who did offer an on-boarding cost dollar figure, created a range from a difficult to imagine low of $300 to a high-end figure of $29,000 in addition to the often quoted estimate of 1.5 times salary.

As a firm, we are quite interested in the economics of early turnover. We believe that more attention should be given to this staffing process outcome. Reporting turnover as a percentage obscures the economic impact of hiring decisions which result in early separations and further blurs lines of responsibility and ownership of this result. Multiplying the cost of on-boarding times the number of 120-day separations calculates the total dollars lost from this form of staffing waste (Series on Staffing Waste).

Staffing Process Improvement

A core step in any process improvement initiative is the collection of data. The mere act of collecting data begins to change the process, according to W. Edwards Deming. Determining which data to collect, by its nature establishes a sense of significance and a focus. One source of data for staffing process improvement is the candidate’s reaction to your on-line experience. If you want to create a better candidate experience, begin by finding out how candidates view your current experience.

Candidate Experience Factors

Candidates are decision makers too. Your application process should provide candidates with the information they need to make a sound career decision. Questions you might consider asking include:

Did you experience any problems with our on-line process? (Ease of use)
Are you in a better position to decide if this job is right for you? (Educational)
Based upon this experience will you refer others to opportunities here? (Exceptional)
Please provide any comments on your application experience. (Evaluative)

Data can be used to zero in on improvement opportunities, create testimonials within the careers page and support sourcing efforts. Examples of candidate responses may look like this.

Open-Ended Responses

“I think the virtual job tryout is great! I really like that (Company) gives you an example of what you are expected to do before you even step foot into their offices. It is a very good factor in deciding if this is the right job for you!”

“I really enjoyed this way of getting to know the job. It allowed me to see what it will be like to work for your company. Thank you for the opportunity.”

Staffing Economics

Staffing is a business process. As such, the process has inputs or candidates and candidate data. It has value-add procedures such as candidate evaluation, decision-making, and on-boarding. In addition, the output of the staffing process can be measured in terms of separations (voluntary and involuntary), and perform-ance variation of those who remain on the job.

Separations that occur in 120 days or fewer can be labeled as False Starts and can be measured as a form of staffing process waste. For purposes of discussion, one might compare hiring decisions that result in early separations (<120 days) to the manufacturing of defective products. The raw goods are lost and new goods must be put back into the process, causing rework. Staffing waste triggers rework in the form of replacement hires which doubles the cost of talent. Staffing rework is repeating the process elements of sourcing, evaluating, decision making and on-boarding for the False Starts.

Many of our clients have documented the cost of on-boarding. We define this as the investment in time to proficiency. How long and how much does it cost to create a competent performer? The timeline ranges from a few weeks to two years. The methodologies used to arrive at these dollar figures range from an informed esti-mate to the identification and linking of general ledger accounting codes in conjunction with a black belt Six Sigma project. Organizational belief in and acceptance of the figure is an important factor in each of these examples. Calculations and projections based upon these figures become the agreed upon basis for projecting and calculating return on invest from staffing process improvement.

Cost of On-Boarding

Investment to Proficiency

When you know the real costs of on-boarding, it is easy to develop return on investment projections. As an example, reducing 120-day turnover of tellers by 10 people would save $100,000 in on-boarding costs from replacement hires (10 X $10,000 = $100,000). See our interactive Staffing Waste ROI Calculator.

Opportunity

The candidate experience can make a difference in your recruiting process. However, if you don’t ask, there is no data to use for process improvement.

The results of this survey speak more to the great opportunity before us than to the kudos that can be taken for best in class staffing practices. There is room for improvement. Wiser approaches to the business process known as staffing can be adopted.

Start small. Identify one job as the focus for process improvement.
Explore the ability of your applicant tracking system (ATS) to conduct candidate surveys. Decide what information would be valuable and develop a survey process.
Collaborate with the CFO to isolate general ledger codes that can be tied to the cost of on-boarding. Examine the possibilities to create new cost reporting for jobs with high 120-day separation rates.
Partner with your Quality, Process Improvement or Six Sigma teams to examine staffing as a process. Document inputs, value-add methods and outputs or yields. Begin to track, document and report current state and changes over time.

Notes

The results of the survey are a small glimpse into the practices of a recruiting niche: Taleo customers and prospects (Sample size is 35 of about 500+ attendees, or approximately 7%). Given the size of the entire recruiting universe, this data is not presented as a statistically significant look at recruiting practices. However, we do believe the responses are representative of common practices in corporate recruiting today, and the results are similar to other surveys we have conducted with larger sample sizes. (Shaker Consulting Group and The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); Quality of Hire, N = 585, 2004; Objective Candidate Evaluation Methods, N = 282, 2005; The Turnover Misnomer, N = 645, 2006). Contact us at info@shakercg.com for copies of these additional survey reports.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | May 10th, 2011
Permalink, Comments Off
, Tags: Candidate Experience realistic job preview recruiting staffing process improvement staffing waste | Posted in Candidate Experience, HR Analytics, Surveys

April 11, 2011

Candidate Experience – How Candidates Want to Learn About Job Content, Part 5 of 6

This is part of a series connected to the Candidate Experience Monograph

We asked job seekers to rate the relative value of various forms of interaction for learning about the job. Specifically we wanted to have candidates direct us to formats for communicating job requirements that aligned with their learning preferences. Job seekers are decision makers in the process too. Creating a candidate experience that helps applicants learn about the job and prepare them to make a well informed career decision can differentiate your company in a positive way from other companies where the candidate may be applying.

The Top Three

How Candidates Want to Learn About Jobs

Job Seekers want to read about your jobs, listen to people talk about them and try their hand at some of the job tasks. The first two are obvious and certainly more traditional methods of communicating with applicants. And it is safe to say every company provides some level of written information about their jobs. Being able listen to people talk about the job is becoming more prevalent on career pages, sometimes at a high level about working at the company and in some cases very detailed information is provided about a specific job. This can take the form of Realistic Job Preview (RJP). Attempting parts of the job in a simulation came in as the third highest valued method for learning about the job. Simulations are an emerging format for both educating and evaluating candidates. Based on the 2009 annual assessment practices survey by Rocket Hire, only about 12% of companies are providing this level of an engaging and interactive candidate experience. This is up from the 5% level of use indicated in the Use of Objective Candidate Evaluation Methods survey I conducted with SHRM in 2006. (write me for a copy) The respondents suggest more companies may want to consider simulations in their candidate experience.

Write to Me
Candidates place the highest value on the written word. Communicating with text can be efficient and highly descriptive. However, as the highest rated format for conveying job information it places importance on the quality and clarity of the message. Soliciting job seeker feedback on your written messages may help refine how well you convey the opportunity, address common questions and create an emotional connection to the job.

I took time to read a few job postings prior to a meeting with a firm that invited me in to discuss their candidate experience. After scrolling down to the third screen of rather dry and boiler-plate job information, I was struck by the sentence: “We hope you find this job opportunity exciting.” I had to scan back to see what I had missed. While I was not remotely qualified or interested in the job, the writer had done little to leverage the written word to create interest, capture my imagination, or cause me to think critically if the job was a fit for me.

Go to your competitors and read their job postings. As you read consider how they use the written word to paint a picture of their jobs, position their opportunities, and pay particular attention to how you felt after reading. Writing well can create a compelling call to action. For some it may be to Apply Now. For others it may be Keep Looking. Either way, you win.

Talk to Me
Technology has made it easy to speak to candidates. One-way messages to educate and guide a candidate’s thinking about your company and your jobs can enhance the candidate experience your web delivers. Ease of deployment has opened the door for multi-media resources such as streaming audio with still images or high definition video are relatively easy to deploy on career pages now. It is important to invest the time and talent to craft messages that offer a balanced and candid overview. Candidates have the ability to discern between marketing hype and meaningful content.

YouTube is a treasure trove of highly effective and really poor examples of how to use media to talk to your candidates. Search: Realistic Job Preview. Watch a few from a candidate’s point of view. Ask yourself – How realistic?, What seemed to be missing? How was the balance regarding demands, challenges, rewards, satisfiers, learning curve issues, and so on.

Let Me Try It
Candidates are beginning to expect more than words and videos. They want a more dynamic exchange from the employment process. With the stratospheric applicant to hire ratios, human interaction has been eliminated for all but a few of the most qualified applicants. Job simulations can deliver a job-specific candidate education and evaluation experience as challenging as the job and as unique as your brand.

Simulated job tasks can deliver a highly engaging, interactive candidate experience. Candidates can take the job for a virtual test drive. They learn a great deal about the job. You get a work sample. When properly developed with validation analysis, the work sample may be able to predict critical elements of on-the-job performance.

Candidate testimonials about simulations suggest they feel better equipped to decide if the job is right for them. Recruiters are better able to compare candidates and indentify those individual better qualified to perform the job. It’s a double win.

While the adoption rate for simulations is still low, the technology for developing and deploying simulations is well developed. To learn about companies that have deployed a simulation, visit our web site to read about the Virtual Job Tryout.

Blog Away
Reading what is on the mind of potential co-workers and hiring managers is of moderate interest to candidates. This may be due the content being less about the job in question and more about the company or projects in general. Still, blogs are a form of communication that can have strong messages about career possibilities.

Cartoons are for Kids
Animations and cartoons were rated the lowest by candidates as a valued format for learning about the job. Candidates take their career search seriously. A medium associated with games and kids may not convey the level of professionalism a job seeker expects in their candidate experience. The message here may be to leave the animations to the gamers and Saturday morning television programming.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Six

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | April 11th, 2011
Permalink, 1 Comment »
, Tags: Candidate Experience realistic job preview Simulations | Posted in Candidate Experience, Surveys

March 4, 2011

Candidate Experience – Voice of the Job Seeker, Part 1 of 6

This is Part One in a series connected to the Candidate Experience Monograph

We conducted a candidate expectations survey in 2010. There is a lot of dialogue about the candidate experience from the recruiter’s perspective. However due to high applicant to hire ratios at most organizations, fewer than 10% of candidates ever speak with a recruiter. The survey we conducted deals predominantly with job seeker expectations for the online portions of the candidate experience.

A few years ago I conducted a rather small survey, more of an anecdotal look at the practice of asking job applicants about their candidate experience. At that time, the vast majority of companies I spoke with did not seek feedback from candidates. New hires, yes. But new hires are the ones who ‘won’. I bet this group thinks the candidate experience is pretty darn good! It seemed only fitting that the entire candidate population have a voice in the dialogue too. So we asked the job seeker for their point of view.

We targeted college seniors, unemployed and active job seekers with the assistance of Rob Minjock, an intern from Saint Vincent College. Over 300 individuals responded between July and October of 2010. I will share the results over a series of articles. Read on to learn what job seekers stated they want in their candidate experience.

Who Responded?

N= 305 – 316

Age

59% – 18 to 23 years old
33% – over 40

Gender

47% male
53% female

Ethnic origin

89% Caucasian
3.5% African American
2.5% Hispanic
2.5% Asian

Education

41% some college
31% bachelors degree
11% masters degree
2% doctorate degree

Employment Status

41% Student
20% unemployed
34% employed full-time
21% employed part-time

The group includes a diverse mix of gender, age, education and employment status. However, the ethnic mix includes a predominantly Caucasian sample.

Career Site Basics

What Do You Expect to Find on the Careers Page

Candidates have pretty basic expectations for the Careers page. They want to find details about jobs, and most companies are pretty good about that. However, 64% of candidates want recruiter names and contact information. And most companies are rather stingy with that information.

Gerry Crispin along with a group of collaborator has written a monograph on the Candidate Experience. It provides examples of companies that are working hard to address an improved candidate experience.

I just reviewed a client’s candidate flow data. They attracted over 12,000 candidates and made 151 hires for one call center position. There are 4 recruiters in the company. It is easy to see their reluctance of offer 12,000 candidates the e-mail and phone number of four recruiters. Hiring just over one percent of your candidates can make for communication challenges. Tools scaled and automated to this scope must be used effectively to leave candidates with a brand positive experience. As I wrote in an earlier blog, in some respects, recruiting is the business of rejection. How you handle that rejection process can make a big difference in the candidate experience you deliver, and the impression you leave with the 90+% who do not land a job.

Dispositioning candidates and using the mass communication features of candidate management system are essential best practices. That topic will be covered in more detail in the next issue of this series: Critical Process Information

Our question regarding FAQ, admittedly was vague, but the interest in having FAQs on the careers site is pretty high. Fifty-five percent of respondents have questions about your recruiting process and they want answers. You may want to use FAQ to establish expectations: Will a recruiter contact me personally? Will you let me know you have reviewed my application? Will you let me know if I have been eliminated? and so on.

About half of the respondents stated that training and development (51%) and career path insights (47%) are important. This may demonstrate an underlying interest in growth and progression. It’s not just about the job, but more about what will I learn and where the job will lead. People want to have some line of sight to their future. In each job description you might provide a few details to where people in this job have naturally progressed within the company.

The big surprise to me was how low the expectations are for testimonials from current employees, both written and video. Over the last 5 years or so, there has been an explosion of testimonial and realistic job preview activity on corporate career pages. My take on this is the down side of marketing spin in the message.

Testimonials are a form of realistic job preview. I have written about realistic job preview and the balanced (or lack of balance) in the message about the job and the company. When marketing overrides realism, the message goes from Help to Hype. Candidates are pretty savvy. They see through the hype and react with a bit of skepticism.

The automation of the application process has dehumanized career pursuit. The strongly held desire to have contact information for recruiters is evidence that a personal connection is highly valued. Given the volume of candidates, it is important to look at your candidate experience and explore ways to build a connection, and provide information. Ask your candidates what would be of value to them.

In the next part of this series we will examine: Critical Process Information. Candidates tell us what they want to know about their application.

Part II, Part Three, Part Four. Part Five, Part Six

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | March 4th, 2011
Permalink, Comments Off
, Tags: Candidate Experience realistic job preview recruiting staffing process improvement | Posted in Candidate Experience, Surveys

December 13, 2010

Linda Consideine on Improving the Candidate Experience

Linda Considine of Taleo spoke with me about the candidate experience at Taleo World in Chicago. As the head of Global Alliances, she spends a good deal of time thinking about and speaking with others about how the recruiting experience impacts candidate reactions and perceptions. When I asked her what we can do to improve the candidate experience, she had a few concise suggestions. Click Play to hear what she has to say. Then scroll down to read more.

First, Linda suggests a shift of focus from the recruiter’s decision to the candidate’s decision. So much of the recruiting infrastructure is recruiter-centric, implying the recruiter is the primary decision maker in a career opportunity. In fact the quality of the candidate’s decision is crucial. The candidate experience can be improved by providing clear, candid and balanced information about the job and the company.

Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is an excellent process for education, engagement, and expectation setting. Candidates want help, not hype, when it comes to learning about a job. They have a lot at stake in a career choice as well. Thoughtfully scripted messages and images can go a long way to prepare candidates for the job-fit decision they must make. In an attempt to sell the benefits and value of a career, many companies have gone beyond RJP with their on-line messages, converting what should be objective disclosure to hyperbole. Marketing took precedence over objective disclosure. This can mislead a job seeker and create the distaste from a bait and switch reaction in new hires as they confront elements of a job that were under-represented or not covered in the recruiting process.

A measure of the effectiveness of sound candidate education can be a simple post-application question to candidates – “As a result of applying, are you in a better position to decide if the job is right for you?” When your candidate education and engagement provides as much, if not more information than it seeks, candidates feel their need for decision support is honored as well. In fact, the principle of reciprocity might make it easier to get better candidate data. Their willingness to give is improved when they feel they are getting sound information about the job, the company and the culture. Read candidate testimonials from individuals who felt their application process was valuable and worthwhile.

Help the candidate choose you, eyes wide open and well informed. Another useful suggestion for staffing process improvement.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | December 13th, 2010
Permalink, Comments Off
, Tags: Candidate Experience realistic job preview Taleo | Posted in Candidate Experience, Conferences, Videos

November 4, 2010

Simulations and Selection Science: Interview with Mike Hudy, Ph.D. Part One

Mike Hudy is an Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychologist and principal of Shaker Consulting Group. He began designing custom simulations for pre-employment testing in 1997. His work is marked by innovation in developing high-fidelity, on-line work samples and interactive evaluation experiences that expand the science and art of the profession.

In what ways have simulations for pre-employment assessments changed the way I/O psychologists think about measurement science for the hiring process?

Psychologists have to apply traditional psychometrics to a more complex playing field. In developing a simulation you have to capture core elements of the job in a manner that is not overly complex yet still accounts for traditional psychometric principles. Now I/O psychologists have an opportunity and challenge to be better at balancing art with selection science.

Tell me more about the Art.

The art is the process through which we gain an understanding of a job and devise a way to represent or recreate aspects of the job in an internet delivered simulation. Simulations collect a work sample through an informative and interactive candidate experience. This method captures a level of data a traditional Likert scale or multiple-choice assessment can never achieve. The art is to capture some of the complexity without making it overly intricate. The candidate needs to be able to proceed with minimal instruction to complete the exercises. And the exercise needs to be clearly job relevant.

Is that where the power of face validity comes into play?

Yes, it is the goal is to invite the candidate to step into the role and perform elements of job which measure attributes critical for success and do job. We create and deliver candidate evaluation in a way that the individual does not feel like they are being tested. They know what is going on, however,the link to the job is so strong and clear. Feedback we get from candidates strongly suggests they appreciate being afforded the opportunity to complete the Virtual Job Tryout. They come away with a better understanding of the career opportunity they are considering. Exposure to the role through well balanced realistic job preview and concrete elements of job demands puts the candidate in better position to decide if the job is right for them. When we accomplish that, we know the art has achieved its purpose.

The psychometric challenge is to still get good reliable measurement of the construct you are trying to tap into without introducing too much noise into the exercise. What I mean by that is simulations can introduce many more moving parts into the measurement experience. With that the risk is the moving parts or elements of the simulation could have an unintended impact on what it is you are actually trying to measure.

Can you give me an example of this?

A good example is we developed simulations for two different call center jobs. One of them more closely resembled the actual problem solving on the job. It simulated searching for, finding and using information to solve problems by looking for information in a multi-layered data base.

The second problem solving simulation was much simpler. It eliminated the need to search for and find information and dealt exclusively with the ability to use technical information to address customer issue and resolve problems.

While the first simulation more closely resembled the actual job, we achieved better results predicting on-the-job performance with the simpler, second simulation.

By introducing the searching and identification task, it became a distracter and we limited our precision in assessing the actual problem solving ability.

How does that difference in complexity impact the way the candidate responds?

Candidates appreciate engaging, interesting and interactive exercises. Not all applicants appreciate increased complexity in their candidate experience. And, they let us know about it in the feedback.

So, how do you determine the level of complexity that is appropriate?

That is the intersection of Art and Science. The key is to constantly take off your I/O hat and view it from the candidate’s perspective, through the test takers eyes. At Shaker we do this through defined roles in our project teams. It includes peer review, end-user advocate review and then a significant population of incumbents during the validation phase. We learn more from each perspective and refine the exercises. In developing a Virtual Job Tryout, at least four I/O psychologists will critically evaluate the experience through the eyes of the candidate. Our programming team has over 20 years of experience designing graphically rich user interfaces and technology based training. Each layer of feedback impacts the design. Ultimately, the data from our HR analytics will tell us if we have it right or not.

In what ways do simulations increase the power of the selection science?

Human behavior is complex. What defines success in any given job is complex. Simulations allow us to measure a range of capabilities that do not lend themselves to be readily measured with traditional evaluation tools. For example, let’s consider multi-tasking. That is the ability to split attention between numerous competing tasks.

Measures such as personality, cognitive ability, and biodata are not able to accurately assess this construct. Thus we developed a multi-tasking simulation that places candidates into situations where they must divide their attention between a variety of tasks that simultaneously compete for their attention. Individuals who perform well in this exercise perform better in environments that truly demand those skills. In call center agents, proficiency in this construct correlates to more efficient after call work and better handle times.

With a simulation we are able to capture more robust work samples such as speed accuracy, latency of response, navigation accuracy, and learning from repetition in one exercise. Traditional and static measures such as personality and critical thinking are just not able to zero in on the subtle complexities of certain job performance domains.

Part Two

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | November 4th, 2010
Permalink, Comments Off
, Tags: pre-employment assessment realistic job preview selection science Simulations Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in HR Analytics, I/O Psychology

October 21, 2010

Realistic Job Preview – Unrealistic Expectations?

Conversations about realistic job preview are on the rise. In the past six months I have had an unusually high number of discussions with corporate talent leaders about methods to help the candidate make a more informed decision. I have even conducted a few video interviews for this blog on the topic. Why this interest in realistic job preview? Talent teams want to address a problem realistic job preview will not solve – to stop unqualified candidates from applying, to stop the flood of resume spam, to reduce the flow of applicants. Realistic job preview (RJP), while an important tool in the recruiting process, will not reverse the deluge of applicants the sourcing engines have created.

Let me offer a definition so I can be realistic in offering my opinions here. Realistic Job Preview is a balanced exploration and overview of what happens on a day-to-day basis in a given job. It will present the challenges, frustrations, demands. It will present the satisfiers, rewards and motivators. It is a matter-of-fact approach to present the job for what it is. This story can often be told in a three to five minutes video.

I made a Boat Hand job preview while at Disney to use in my presentation on Pre-employment Testing in the Experience Economy. It is very realistic but un-balanced. It only shows the repetitive and menial aspects of the job.

Many examples of job preview on career sites are equally un-balanced, showing only the glamour, the sunshine, the positive. I call this hype, not help. Most jobs just are not made that way, they have balance, so should the preview. But even if your RJP has balance it won’t stop many people from applying.

Barriers to RJP Impact

There are a number of reasons RJP will not make a meaningful dent in candidate flow. Maybe your company has been actively working on one or more of initiatives like these:

Efforts to become an employer of choice
Being recognized as a great place to work
Incentive based referral programs
Marketing driven employment branding
Corporate citizenship and sustainability reputations

The list goes on, and on. A five minute video will be challenged to counter act the momentum of attraction and the prospect of a job at one of the best places to work. People come to your site because you have captured share of mind for their career aspirations, they feel they can offer you their best, they want a job, no, a career!

Corporations have invested heavily in building and projecting messages into the talent pools that attract the masses in the hope of finding the ONE. I call it blinded by star gazing. While staring at the hopeful STAR in the sky, the entire Milky Way was pouring into the top of the candidate funnel. The funnel gets clogged. A galaxy of applicants, (who, by the way, all think they are STARS) get neglected and sucked into the ATS black hole and maybe lose some of their glow from the candidate experience. Recruiting crumbles under the weight. A cry of help beams forth from the edge of the recruiting universe – STOP (the flow of unqualified candidates) PLEASE!

Someone suggests: Maybe if we tell them more accurate information about the job, and what it is really like to work here, fewer people will apply. In particular, we hope it will stop those who don’t want this type of work, those who don’t have what it takes to be successful, and those who don’t fit our culture. Great concept, but it does not work very well. The two biggest reasons RJP does not get a lot of drop-off in applicant flow are disregard for the R in RJP and the corporate marketing ego.

No Appetite and Hungry Candidates

Most companies do not have an appetite for being realistic. Here are a few real examples.

A firm had more than 70% turnover in new sales representatives in the fourth month. There were a number of factors contributing to this, but unrealistic communications about expectations was at the core. When we came back with the script for the REALISTIC Job Preview, the editorial pen struck out most of the REALSITIC message. The executives said they could not put that message out on the street, no one would want to apply.

A prominent company has over 20 testimonials on their career site that would make just about anyone who reads them want to APPLY NOW. I have spoken with their recruiters, trainers and experienced performers. Not one of the testimonials is realistic and by that I mean balanced, in the information provided. Truthful? Yes indeed. This is not about deception, but the compelling success stories lack a clear line of sight to the effort it takes to achieve the success described in each scenario.

Mutual Decision Making

The fatal flaw in pursuing RJP is the assumption that it will impact the recruiting process in a meaningful way. Make no doubt, I am a proponent of using the principles of RJP. However, at the end of the day, it is the company that is in the decision seat. An RJP is a one-way information exchange that educates the candidate. The recruiter gets no data to differentiate among those candidates left in the pipeline.

The former Ohio State University professor and RJP researcher Dr. John Wanous, identified that indeed RJP was a useful tool to help a candidate self-select out of consideration. However it was impacting less than 10% of candidates on entry level, simple jobs. One of clients is achieving similar results with a more complex job. RJP can help a small percentage of candidates with their career choices.

Alternatively, and even more valued was the RJP’s impact on helping with retention. After weeks or months on the job, when the tough days show up, the new hires react with: “You told me this was part of the job, there is no bait and switch here, I will stick it through to better days.”

RJP tells you something about those who dropped off. It tells you nothing about those who remain, those who are still being drawn in by your employment brand and career prospects.

To help recruiters with their choices, the hiring decisions they make, you need to gather more useful information from candidates, better candidate data. That is the role of pre-employment assessments. And simulations for pre-employment assessment collect more data about an individual that just about any other means of candidate evaluation. That will be the topic of another article.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | October 21st, 2010
Permalink, Comments Off
, Tags: assessment Candidate Experience pre-employment assessment realistic job preview | Posted in Candidate Experience, Recruiter Experience

October 5, 2010

General Powell on Promote from Within: Assess for Potential

General Colin Powell spoke about growing talent in the Army at TaleoWorld 2010. He asserts that the Army may be doing more than most companies when it comes to grooming and advancing leaders. Listen to what he has to say, then click here to review a client case study and learn about CVS Caremark and their approach to growing leaders from within for their pharmacy operations. Great minds think alike.

Assessing potential is essential for both internal promotions and external hires. General Powell is quite clear in his observations that success in a current position is not a predictor of success in another position. CVS Caremark set out to achieve staffing process improvement for promotions with the use of realistic job preview, assessment and assessment-based development.

Internal candidates for the role of pharmacy supervisor are able to access a four part overview of the job, its demands, rewards and required competencies. Through a career interest prioritizing exercise, candidates receive immediate feedback about how their aspirations and interests align with the supervisor role.

Initiative to come forward after the feedback is left to the individual. A tailored development plan is created and the individual is invited to complete the Pharmacy Supervisor Virtual Job Tryout to further educate the candidate and evaluate job-fit. This multi-method assessment lets the candidate take the job for a test drive, completing a series of day-in-the-life exercises. While in-house validation of the assessment was a critical performance requirement, it was considered table stakes. The differentiator CVS Caremark was looking for was an assessment that delivered a candidate experience as unique as their brand and as challenging as the job. They wanted to make better decisions using better data.

Just like General Powell and the Army, the Leadership Development Team at CVS Caremark acknowledges the challenge of making well considered promotion decisions. The combined use of interactive realistic job preview and Virtual Job Tryout has elevated the quality of hire into leadership roles.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | October 5th, 2010
Permalink, Comments Off
, Tags: assessment realistic job preview staffing process improvement Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Client Case Studies, Conferences

Categories

Recent Posts