Hiring People_ Recruit and Keep the Brightest Stars - Kathy Shwiff [17]
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“If we didn’t spend four hours on placing a man and placing him right, we’d spend 400 hours on cleaning up after our mistake.”
—Alfred Sloan,
former president and CEO of General Motors
(1875–1966)
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After discussing the candidate’s background and experience, go over salary requirements and assess the person’s willingness to relocate, if necessary. Find out if the candidate will consent to background checks or drug testing, if required, and verify the candidate’s availability and potential starting date.
Other Screening Methods
How a company prescreens depends largely on the nature of the job to be filled. Some larger companies eliminate candidates who don’t meet requirements for the job by asking applicants to complete an application that covers basic information, for example, college degrees, visas, or a willingness to relocate. They purposely ask only a few questions and keep them brief to avoid driving away qualified candidates.
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Behind the Numbers
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LOOKING LONG AND HARD
A national study conducted by recruiting and staffing firm Spherion Corporation reports that hiring managers interview an average of 8 people for an available position. About 27 percent of smaller companies interview 10 or more people on average for an opening compared with only 14 percent of larger companies. Almost 42 percent of employers believe their managers are interviewing too many people. In an effort to reduce these numbers, more and more companies are turning to prescreening tools (51 percent of those surveyed) and assessment programs (60 percent) to find the most suitable candidates.
SOURCE: “The Spherion® Workforce® Study,” Spherion Corporation. © 2006 Spherion Pacific Enterprises LLC.
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POWER POINTS
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WHAT’S IN A JOB APPLICATION?
The application is one of the best tools to screen job applicants. If your company doesn’t already have a standard job application, it’s easy to create one. There are a number of sites online, such as FindLegalForms. com, where you can download state-vetted templates and customize them for your own needs. Here is some of the information typically requested in applications:
Candidate’s name and contact information, including address, phone number, and e-mail address
Education
Work experience, including salary levels and training
Awards or honors received
Special skills in languages or software
Current employer contact information
Position for which they are applying
Desired salary
Availability, i.e., when the applicant is ready to start
Names and contact information for professional and personal references
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Many retailers and organizations that depend heavily on hourly workers have begun to prescreen using in-store automated systems. Automated-systems kiosks at stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and CVS give employers access to a large pool of applicants, help to quickly eliminate those who aren’t suitable (for instance, applicants who are not willing to work nights and weekends), and even ask ethical questions (such as what individuals would do if they had observed a coworker stealing). This type of screening system allows a hiring manager to receive the job application within minutes, and the system even suggests interview questions targeted to that candidate. Some electronic screening tools store candidates’ answers in a database, scoring and ranking them and comparing them against job requirements, then generating a short list of candidates, as well as a customized list of questions to ask each one.
Knowledge tests are another accepted method of prescreening. Many consulting firms, for instance, ask prospective employees to complete a short sample project. Magazine companies ask candidates to provide a list of ideas and to critique aspects of the magazine. Background checks or physical tests can also be used to prescreen applicants.
If you want to develop a preliminary assessment device of your own, based on the skills that will be needed on the job, think about instances in which