Posts Tagged ‘Virtual Job Tryout’

April 1, 2011

Candidate Experience – Negative Impact of Technical Issues, Part 4 of 6

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

We asked job seekers about the impact of career page technical difficulties. Specifically we wanted to know about the propensity to leave the application process, how much effort and time might be invested in resolving an issue and if the occurrence of technical difficulties created a negative brand impression.

Likelihood to Exit

Candidates want an easy to use experience. And the data suggest there is limited tolerance for poorly functioning features. They want simple and effective resume uploads, and links that work and are easy to understand. 59% of candidates are very likely or somewhat likely to exit before completing an application process if the encounter a page or process with frustrating or challenging functionality.

Technical Issues Trigger Exit Behaviors

Let’s look at it from a learning and administrative burden perspective. There are some major applicant tracking system (ATS) that have broad market presence. However, the candidate must register, create a profile, answer screening questions and perhaps complete some form of pre-employment test for every company where they apply. The candidate bears the burden of completing repetitive tasks, providing redundant information time and time again. After doing that a few times, it is easy to see why the effort-to-value balance can tip toward quick exit behavior. And a candidate’s experience with a significant lack of acknowledgment may contribute to a degree of non-committal behaviors.

It is important that every recruiter apply for the jobs they are filling, and do it from their home computer or a public PC. Only by sitting in the candidate’s seat can one fully appreciate what the candidate has been asked to complete. It is from this point of view that you will be in a position to assess the ease of your process.

Time and Effort

Stop and think for a moment about your own web navigation behaviors. How quickly do you bounce from one page to another, give up on a slow load, glace at a page and click away? Candidates are no different on the career page. Twenty percent of candidates will exit in less than a minute from a frustrating or troublesome web encounter.

Most Candidate Attempt to Solve Technical Issues

In a way, this rapid judgment is a measure of commitment to apply, degree of interest in a career with your company, and impatience with yet high expectations for a flawless process. It begs the questions – Were they serious candidates? Is it better they self selected out?

One to three minutes of effort can seem like a life time on a web page. However, 45% of candidates are willing to invest that amount of time to resolve a barrier to completing their job application. Over 30% of candidates are willing to invest even more. So it would seem the vast majority of candidates are willing to put time and effort into finding the way forward in their career pursuit.

Self-help, FAQs, on-line support may be the best way to help candidates work through the issue as only about 15% of candidates prefer calling technical support for assistance. So it seems there is self-sufficiency in the ranks of candidates. They want to be able to figure it out themselves. Therefore, having resources on your career page to support do-it-yourself trouble-shooting is important.

Brand Impact

Candidate’s associate your technology with your brand. Over 50% of respondents stated that encountering technical problems may cause them to look elsewhere. More importantly is that they stated they are Very Likely or Somewhat Likely to reduce their perception of your organization. A poor functioning career page creates a brand negative reaction.

Technical Issue Create Brand-Negative Impressions

The brand-negative impact of a poor web experience became so evident in a comment left by a candidate for one of our clients. At the conclusion of each Virtual Job Tryout candidates are presented a number of multiple-choice and open-ended questions about their experience. This comment reaffirms that candidates who apply at your organization are most likely applying at your competitor and they make observations about the differences.

“You guys need to talk with COMPETITOR, their process is broken, this was pretty cool.”

Brand management and those focused on delivering the customer experience speak of the Net Promoter Score (NPS). This is the response to the question: “Will you refer others, based upon your experience? Over 90% of candidates completing a Virtual Job Tryout state they will refer others. That feedback is evidence the pre-employment testing experience left a brand-positive impression with the candidate.

Consider asking your candidates, ALL of your candidates, about their experience applying for a job with your company. In 2008 I conducted a small candidate experience survey at Taleo World. At that time, less than 15% of companies stated they asked candidates for feedback on their job application process. Based upon the number of brand impressions made through the careers page, it only makes sense to get some feedback. And it makes a lot of sense to make sure your career page delivers a brand positive candidate experience. When you deliver a meaningful candidate experience, they will tell you. Your candidate testimonials will provide insight on how well you are meeting some of their expectations.

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Five, Part Six

March 15, 2011

I am not a number, I am a free man!

“We want information, information, information.”

“Who are you?”

“The new number two.”

“Who is number one?”

“You are number six.”

“I am not a number, I am a free man.”

For those of you who are not up on your heavy metal, the above lyrics are from Iron Maiden’s “The Prisioner.” The song opens with the above dialogue inspired by the 1967 British television series of the same name.

I listened to the song yesterday with my 9 year-old son who is learning to play guitar and has taken a liking to 80s hard rock / metal. Later that day (with the lyrics stuck in my head), I listened to a friend complain about his frustration looking for a job online and how he felt that he was nothing more than a number, rather than a person. In this online digital world identities are being lost. Individuals and companies are finding it difficult to differentiate themselves.

My friend described his painful candidate experience sifting through job sites loaded with too much spam and no way for a candidate to get through it easily. He recounted that many online job ads look the same and online job sites don’t offer companies a way to stand out. Most job ads seem fairly generic and full of buzzwords – unique opportunity, world-class team, rewarding career path, etc. Job ads that list criteria for success include the following skills and behaviors: highly motivated, bright, persuasive, self-assured, excellent communicator. As opposed to what: unmotivated, unintelligent, unconvincing, timid, and poor communicator.

For those determined enough to make it through the maze and actually find a differentiated job posting, the reward is to provide information, information and more information to the prospective employer. Unfortunately, many companies have yet to embrace candidates’ expectations for bi-directional sharing of information. Those companies that don’t “get it” leave candidates with a brand-negative experience.

Technology is a great thing, but when it comes to applying for a job, one could argue that it’s all too easy. A person can apply for hundreds of jobs with a few mouse clicks using a boilerplate cover letter and typical resume. With multiple people applying for multiple jobs, employers spend a ridiculous amount of time filtering resumes. The sheer volume of applicants makes it almost impossible to pick out the best candidates. It is just too hard for employers to assess talent in this manner. I was dismayed to learn (off the record) of a Fortune 500 company that looks at only a fraction of the applications it receives. I suspect that they are not alone in this practice.

So, undoubtedly some people’s job searches falter since they can’t get on the radar of the right decision maker – either because of the numbers game (too many applicants to look at) or the inability to differentiate themselves via the click the radio button / paste resume here process. They are left behind because they failed to get noticed – even though they were well qualified – perhaps even the best qualified. In today’s tough economy there are many competent, reliable, and hard working individuals that are not given the opportunity to demonstrate this fact to an employer. As HR professionals we can do better.

At Shaker Consulting Group we offer companies an engaging, web-based, interactive experience to assist in the business process known as staffing. Our Virtual Job Tryout® gives candidates an opportunity to try out the job, while providing recruiters and hiring managers with insights into the candidates’ likelihood of success. A recent candidate aptly described his Virtual Job Tryout experience as “Not your typical online job application. I actually really enjoyed the process and I feel as though I have a better understanding of the job and its requirements and that the company will have a better understanding of me as an individual – not just what is on my resume.” If you want to stand out from your competition with a candidate experience as unique as your brand and an evaluation process as challenging as the jobs you are looking to fill, give us a call.

Candidates expect two-way information exchange, a realistic job preview, and an opportunity to demonstrate what they bring to the table. They also expect to be treated like customers and to be kept informed on a periodic basis. Applicants are often left pondering many questions such as, Did you receive my application?, When will I hear back from you?, Have I been knocked out of the process?, etc. My colleague, Joe Murphy, has blogged about the candidate experience and expectations elsewhere.

Several years ago, Dr. John Sullivan wrote about the mistreatment of applicants and called for an applicant Bill of Rights. Gerry Crispin along with a group of collaborators has written a monograph on the Candidate Experience, and Dr. Charles Handler has proposed a Pre-Employment Assessment Candidate Bill of Rights. These are all positive steps in the right direction. After all, none of us want to feel as though we’re just a number.

Posted by: scott.goodman | March 15th, 2011
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, Tags: assessment Candidate Experience staffing process improvement Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Candidate Experience

February 24, 2011

Patty Van Leer on Helping Candidates Make an Informed Career Decision

Candidates are decision makers too. Patty Van Leer of NAS Recruitment Communications understands that. I had a chance to speak with Patty at Taleo World. I asked her what we can do to help candidates make a more informed career decision. She offers three clear suggestions on what can be done to the candidate experience. Click PLAY below and hear what she has to say. Then scroll down to read more.

A good deal of the media in the talent space focuses on how recruiters and hiring managers make their decisions. Very little is directed at the candidate. However, Patty’s suggestions are grounded in core elements of best practices for selection system design. Let’s look at each of her recommendations a bit closer.

Provide a better definition of the job opportunity

Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is a structured, balanced, and candid approach for describing the job. Well developed RJPs portray the challenges and rewards, demands and satisfiers, expectations and opportunities both in the job and the company. When done well, RJP can contribute to an exceptional candidate experience and help the candidate make a more informed decision.

A well designed RJP serves two purposes:

Reduce unwanted candidate flow
Increase commitment and retention with new hires

RJP can help candidates achieve a deeper and more thorough understanding of the job. This will trigger a select-out reaction from a small portion of the candidate pool. Research suggests this might be in the single digits: +/- 5 percent. These individuals made a well informed decision that this is not the job for them and withdraw from the staffing process. This in turn reduces early turnover or false starts and saves a great deal of recruiter time.

RJP establishes performance expectations and defines in advance a range of demands that will be faced on the job. After the new employee honeymoon is over and the full brunt of performance demands arise, well informed employees say “I knew this was coming, it is not the whole job and they told me it was going to occur.” They also know those less rewarding or challenging aspects of the job will pass. The result is an associate that is willing to work through the tough issues and remain committed.

The negative consequence of UN-balanced or UN-realistic job preview is also two fold. The first is new hires who realize they have accepted a job they are not interested in either quit or perform poorly. The second is the ‘bait n’ switch’ reaction. New hires feel the company was not forthright in describing the opportunity. This undermines trust and also contributes to poor engagement and lower levels of productivity.

The proliferation of streaming web video and personal video technology has made it easy to create images and stories from the workplace. When done poorly the R in RJP is left off and the video becomes Hype, not Help.

Help Candidates See How They Fit the Role

A long standing and common recruiting practice is the workplace tour. What better way to give someone a taste of the job than a look around? This allows candidates to see the work station, feel the energy of the environment, observe and maybe interact with prospective co-workers. A tour however is a far cry from experiencing the job. Tours are also very time-consuming and may be disruptive to work flow.

Another long standing recruiting practice is the temp-to-perm hiring model. Individuals are given an opportunity to go through training, learn the skills and processes for the job. They provide a work sample over weeks or months to demonstrate their capabilities. If a new hire does not “work out,” they get terminated and a replacement is moved in. This remove and replace is actually a form of staffing waste and rework. If the new hire seems to learn well and perform effectively, they may get moved from contingent to full employee status.

This process is one of the most accurate methods of getting the best read on person-job fit. It is also one of the most expensive and lengthy hiring methods. One of the unintended consequences is a new hire perception that the organization is not well equipped to make hiring decisions.

An effective alternative to temp-to-perm evaluation can be a job simulation for pre-employment testing. An individual completes a series of exercises that mirror or even recreate a range of on-the-job tasks, demands, and typical interactions. Some simulations are more generic examples of job performance while other might be highly accurate recreations of elements of the job.

Simulations allow you to collect a broad range of work samples, work history, and work style data in about an hour. The results from simulations used for pre-employment testing can be almost as accurate as temp-to-perm methods of determining job-fit. Simulations by their nature give candidates direct feedback about job-fit, in part due to candidate reactions to the nature of the exercises. Overly complex, uninteresting, or under-challenging reactions can help the candidate make a more informed decision.

Explore Culture Fit and Hiring Manager Fit

Hiring managers have a lot to do with how culture is perceived and experienced in an organization. However, culture is bigger than any one individual. Culture is palpable, yet elusive. Companies work hard to describe their culture. Some companies are good at articulating and living their culture with clear intention.

Culture is driven by the behaviors that are valued and rewarded. As such, culture can be conveyed and evaluated through culture fit or values clarification and compatibility exercises. The mere act of discerning importance among a range of culture attributes is a powerful self-reflection for a candidate.

Candidates and recruiters/hiring managers can use the results from a culture fit exercise to dialogue along the lines of culture expectations, career motivators and fit. Hiring managers who are culturally self-aware and willing to candidly disclose their alignment with corporate values can provide the candidate with insights regarding their expectations for culture fit. That conversation can help a candidate make a more informed decision.

Career Change Motivators

In addition to the three factors Van Leer mentions above, providing candidates an opportunity to assess their underlying reasons for desiring a career change can foster a very dynamic dialogue. The Virtual Job Tryout can contain such an exercise.

Through a forced ranking process, candidates are invited to consider and contrast an inventory of job specific career aspirations and motivators. The result is a top down list of most-to-least desired outcomes from a career change. Recruiters can then use this prioritized list to explore and position the opportunity in relation to the candidate’s expectations. This gives both parties greater insights to making a well informed career decision.

If you are interested in learning more about how all of these elements can be delivered in a seamless and highly engaging candidate experience, call to talk.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | February 24th, 2011
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, Tags: assessment Candidate Experience culture fit assessment pre-employment testing Simulations Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Candidate Experience, Recruiter Experience, Videos

January 25, 2011

Get Your Game On! – Three Questions about Your Candidate Experience.

Game designer and TED presenter Jane McGonigal had an article in the January 22, 2011 WSJ “Be a Gamer, Save the World.” She states we (the royal We) spend three billion hours a week gaming. The average 18 year old spend 80 minutes a day gaming and extreme gamers spend up to 45 hours per week connected to a digitally delivered challenge. The quick lesson here is that engaging experiences hold our attention. The first question is: What kind of engagement does your candidate experience deliver?

Charles Handler, in his Candidate Bill of Rights suggests a candidate assessment should last no more than 30 minutes. Is that to free up time for gaming? Or is that because the assessments he is thinking about are a form of torture. Maybe he is seeking to limit the pain of a putting a candidate through poorly designed on-line assessments. He wants to limit (but not ban)– Applitorture. Or, the degree to which the applicant is subjected to mental or physical anguish from the act of applying for a job.

McGonigal goes on to suggest gaming can create a “blissfully productive” feeling. And that “When we play, we also have a sense of urgent optimism. We believe we are up to any challenge…gamers spend on average 80% of their time failing in game worlds, but instead of giving up, they stick with the difficult challenge…”

Again, a quick lesson here is that an engaging challenge, even if it is difficult and demanding, will hold attention, and maybe even attract attention. McGonigal supports this with asserting “..we like and trust someone better after we play a game with them – even if they beat us.“ The second short question is: What demanding challenge does your candidate experience deliver?

When done correctly the candidate evaluation experience can be demanding, challenging, and highly engaging. The candidate experience can be Applitainment. Or, the degree to which the applicant obtains amusement or pleasure from the act of applying for a job.

McGonigal has used games to solve world problems with EVOKE. And by her estimation believes if we spent about 21 billion hours per week gaming we can solve issues such as starvation, global warming and the like. The task of creating a game challenge for recruiting is far less demanding, but can be equally productive at solving a quality of hire problem.

By bringing a dose of gaming mindset it is possible to create an assessment that combines the intellectual stimulus of solving a variety of tough day-in-the-life problems, the social context of competition for the job, and a rich graphical experience that presents your corporate culture and work environment. And to quote McGonigal again,…”so many gamers feel they become the best version of themselves in games.”

Now, the third question, In what way does your candidate experience bring out the best of an applicant?

A universal question we get asked is “How long is a Virtual Job Tryout?” Followed by “We are worried about keeping it short.” Do you think game designers ever ask how to keep their user experience short? I think game designers ask, What challenges can we create?, What problems do we want them to solve?, What thinking do we want to push?, What environment do we want them to feel and sense?

We ask similar questions – What do you want to know about the way your candidate thinks, solves problems, and works with others? What do you want your candidates to know about your job, your unique company? A universal response is, “We want to know if they can be successful in the job and fit our culture.” Success is complex, so a simple candidate evaluation experience just will not do. To confidently assess job-fit and culture-fit requires robust candidate evaluation, the type of evaluation a simulation for pre-employment testing can deliver.

On average, Virtual Job Tryouts we have deployed take less than an hour to complete. One of the longer Virtual Job Tryouts we have deployed takes 75 minutes to complete. About 20,000 candidates a year complete it, vying for 2500 open positions as a medical technician. That translates into collecting more than 25,000 hours, or twelve and half (12.5) person-years of candidate engagement time to provide decision support for the hiring demands of one position. This company has rich evidence of which candidates can best solve their patient service challenges.

When asked about their candidate experience, here is what the applicants have to say:

98% Agree or Strongly Agree – The Virtual Job Tryout helped me gain a better understanding of the position.
95% Agree or Strongly Agree – Having experienced the Virtual Job Tryout, I am in a better position to determine if the job is right for me.
99% Agree or Strongly Agree – Based upon my experience, I will gladly tell my friends about employment opportunities at this company.

And after 75 minutes of applitainment, a survey asks for feedback and reactions to the engaging and demanding nature of the candidate experience. Here are some verbatim responses:

It was an awesome experience, it felt like I was actually working for COMPANY. Thank you for this experience I now have a better understanding of what is expected of me.
What a wonderful way to begin an interview process! I thought your virtual tryout was well thought out and based on the various areas you are testing, gives you a good picture of not only the ability to draw blood with appropriate equipment, but gives you a look into the candidates thinking process. All employers should do this to screen their candidates.
The Virtual Job Tryout was wonderful, I enjoyed the experience. It was very interactive and not nearly as dull as a paper test might have been. It kept my attention.
I was impressed with the Virtual Job Tryout. I felt like it helped me understand the job and made me very excited to have a possible opportunity to work for COMPANY!
Was a very good way to find out how qualified an applicant may be.

Simulations for pre-employment testing may not be on the same interactive plane as games, but they are a significant stride in the right direction. If you are not satisfied with your answers to the three questions about your candidate experience, there are options. Give us a call.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | January 25th, 2011
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, Tags: assessment Candidate Experience pre-employment testing Quality of Hire Simulations Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Candidate Experience, Client Case Studies

January 7, 2011

SHRM HR Magazine Features Virtual Job Tryout – Effective Assessments

When doing research on thought leadership in assessments, writer Dave Zielinski was directed to us by several resources. He wrote a thoughtful article for SHRM’s HR Magazine from his findings.

Dave found out that market leaders, high performing organizations and highly brand conscious companies are using custom simulations for pre-employment testing and employee selection.

In the article, Dr. Nina Brody of Take Care Health Systems (a division of Walgreens) stated: “the assessment gives candidates a highly realistic job preview – causing some to self-select out early and others to solidify their commitment – and creates an impression that Take Care is operating at technology’s cutting edge..”

Also in the article, Beth Yates of KeyBank states, “the simulations create an interactive, highly immersive, multi-media experience; they mimic key job tasks and test for competencies such as providing client service, adpting to change, supporting team members, following procedures, cross selling, and working efficiently…”

Simulations deliver a highly engaging multi-method assessment inside a company branded candidate experience. Candidates walk away feeling like they learned a great deal about the job and the company. The company also learns a great deal about the candidate from the work sample they provide by completing the Virtual Job Tryout.

If you are a member of SHRM, check out the January issue of HR Magazine article Effective Assessments on page 61.

If you are not a SHRM member, drop me an e-mail at joe(dot)murphy at shakercg.com (you can figure that out) I can forward the article to you.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | January 7th, 2011
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, Tags: employee selection pre-employment assessment pre-employment testing Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Candidate Experience, Client Case Studies

Virtual Job Tryout Overview – Improving the Candidate Experience

The nature of our experience economy has caused the population in general to expect more from every form of interaction.

More engaging – provide me with an experience that draws me in.
More informative – feed me information in a manner that is easy to digest.
More interactive – give me a role to play.
More rewarding and satisfying – help me walk away thinking I am glad I took the time to do this.

Candidates expect the same qualities from the employment experience too. Ideally, they want to look inside the job, try their hand on some of the tasks, experience the decision making and problem solving they will face on the job. And, the great thing is that you can do that now.

The Virtual Job Tryout is a custom simulation for pre-employment testing. Key elements of your job are recreated in an interactive on-line environment. Candidtes get to take the job for a test drive. In doing so, they learn a lot about the job. And, the work sample they provide allows you to learn a great deal about them at the same time.

Send me an e-mail joe(dot)murphy@shakercg.com to recieve a link to a Virtual Job Tryout demo. You can learn more about how the Virtual Job Tryout is working to improve the candidate experience, extend the company’s brand message into the market, and provide recruiters with evidence-based decision support.

You can deliver an exceptional return on investment while delivering a candidate experience that create fans.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | January 7th, 2011
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, Tags: assessment Candidate Experience employee selection pre-employment testing Simulations Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Candidate Experience, Recruiter Experience

November 9, 2010

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

In Part One of the Interview with Mike Hudy, he discussed the demands and opportunities I/O Psychologist face in developing simulation for pre-employment testing. In this conclusion, Mike offers a few suggestions on how to determine if a simulation may be appropriate for staffing process improvement in your organization.

What considerations should a company examine in deciding if a simulation would be appropriate for one of their jobs?

There are several factors to consider when examining if a simulation makes sense. If you have jobs with more than 100 incumbents, building a business case for simulations is typically pretty easy. Another factor is hiring volume. If you will hire more than 100 people into the same job in a year, simulations can make a significant contribution.

An additional factor would be the complexity of the job itself. This variable is often under-valued prior to a thorough job analysis. The more complex the job, the more complex the demands are on the pre-employment assessment.

The last and a very important factor to consider in the use of simulations is the candidate experience. As general rule, candidates find simulations engaging, a more valuable way of presenting their capabilities and companies who use simulations stand out in a positive way from other places the candidate may be applying.

In short, simulations such as the Virtual Job Tryout add selection science value across a range of factors that have a positive impact on staffing process improvement.

Part One

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | November 9th, 2010
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, Tags: HR Analytics ROI selection science Simulations staffing process improvement Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in HR Analytics, I/O Psychology

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
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, Tags: pre-employment assessment realistic job preview selection science Simulations Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in HR Analytics, I/O Psychology

October 14, 2010

Lermusi on Helping Candidates Make a More Informed Decision

The founder of Checkster, Yves Lermusi and I had a chance to speak at TaleoWorld. Yves has spent most of his career examining the talent space. I asked him what we can do to help the candidate make a more informed decision. He suggests we give the candidate feedback from the results of pre-employment assessments and background checks. Click play to hear what he has to say, then continue reading below the video.

As general practice, companies shy away from providing candidates feedback. The drawback seems to be fear of candidate reactions or challenges to the accuracy of the information, data, or insights gleaned from the candidate evaluation process.

There are many factors this point of view brings to light.

If we are using that data to make our decisions, can we substantiate its accuracy, reliability and validity?
If the candidate would deny or challenge the data, are we willing to provide an opportunity to refute it or at least dialogue around it?
Does the candidate have accurate self-awareness and open-mindedness to give thoughtful consideration to feedback
Is the candidate information in a format that lends itself to easy interpretation regarding matters of job-fit?

Yves has a good point about candidate’s self perception of their strengths and developmental needs. There is evidence about levels of accurate self-awareness and success on the job. Those with a more realistic and accurate picture of themselves tend to perform better and achieve higher level of success. Candidates with poor assessment results or less glowing reference checks may be more likely to see a gap between their self-perception and their evaluation results. Having a feedback conversation with individuals in this category may pose more of a challenge.

In the UK, it is a requirement to provide candidates with feedback from results of pre-employment assessments. This approach demands transparency and accuracy. In the USA, this is not a common practice. HR practitioners in the UK are more prone to complete rigorous training on the use of pre-employment tests. The UK has a more rigorous approach to training and certification of assessment users than in the USA. A number of our Virtual Job Tryout clients are using the candidate competency profile to provide feedback. In addition, a growing number of our clients are developing a Virtual Job Tryout as a comprephensive needs analysis for existing employees. Watch for a post about that in the near future.

Career management can be bolstered with developmental insights. Creating a process that supports providing candidates with feedback is not a simple undertaking. I would however enjoy a dialogue on the matter. What do you have to say about it?

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | October 14th, 2010
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, Tags: Candidate Experience pre-employment assessment Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Candidate Experience, Conferences, Videos

October 13, 2010

Candidate Experience: A Waste of Time? NOT!

In his recent blog, Tim Sackett suggests HR may be wasting its time with focus on the candidate experience. I beg to differ.

Tim suggests great companies to work for are hard to get into because they hire the best. Being able to hire the best is a result of not only a great candidate experience, but also a great recruiter experience.

Both the candidate and the recruiter need an experience that improves their ability to decide if this job opportunity is a good fit. Companies that do not pay attention to the candidate experience are more challenged to make the best hiring decision because they have not designed a process that obtains the best data to make the most informed decision.

The candidate experience, may not be the main focus of recruiting process design, but it does offer an opportunity to differentiate. A recent comment one of our clients received from a candidate completing their Virtual Job Tryout tells some of the story: “You guys need to talk with (competitor), their application process is terrible, this is really cool!”

Candidates in the job market compare and contrast the companies they are considering. The candidate’s experience can be neutral, act as a repellant, or an attractant.

Great companies to work for are great companies because they manage their entire Brand: product, service and employment. In many cases, a candidate can be or might be a customer as well. The candidate experience can impact the nature of the customer relationship. A well designed candidate expereince can leave the candidate with a more favorable inclination toward the company.

As for uncomfortable with being measured, that cannot be more true when it comes to the candidate experience. In the Staffing Metrics and Performance Benchmarks Survey from First Resource it is reported that fewer than 3% of companies have a candidate experience measurement in place.

Tim writes about measurement like its a bad thing. Without measurment, a process cannot be managed. And the absence of measurement obscures accountability. The important thing is to measure that which drives business results. 100% of companies with a Virtual Job Tryout measure the candidate experience. However, it is the validation analysis based upon data from the candidate experience that documents how effective the candidate experience is at improving the quality of hire.

Many great companies want and deliver a candidate experience as unique as their brand. However, not all great companies want to be the target for resume spam or too many poor fit candidates. Companies in general find they are not interested in 90 to 95% of the individuals who apply. As such, they build an engaging, educational experience that both adds an element of challenge while obtaining better candidate data that provides internal decision support. Great companies realize the candidate experience and the recruiter experience go hand-in-hand.

If the candidate experience is all about attraction, then it may be a waste of time. However, if the candidate experience is about smart decision making, great accountability and the competitive differentiation, I think it deserves a great deal of attention.

Posted by: Joseph P. Murphy | October 13th, 2010
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, Tags: Quality of Hire Recruiter Experience validity Virtual Job Tryout | Posted in Candidate Experience, Recruiter Experience

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