Screening for speedier selection: software can eliminate unqualified applicants, leaving recruiters with fewer worthless resumes

HR Magazine, Sept, 2004 by Drew Robb

Since Southern Co. didn't have to install and configure the software at its end, it took only 35 days to get the initial functions up and running. (Additional functions and more in-depth integration were added later.) Muller says the implementation might have been quicker, but some integration bottlenecks at Southern Co.'s end slowed down the process. After that, Hire.com sent in a team to train the recruiters on the software. The two-day process consisted of half a day of briefing, half a day of training, and then a full day of practice on the system.

"The great thing is that it is designed like a public Internet web site so it didn't really take any training, just a matter of getting used to it," says Muller. "If you can use [Amazon.com], you can use this software."

Asking the Right Questions

When someone goes to apply for a job on either Plantronics' or Southern Co.'s web site and clicks on the jobs link, it takes them to the Hire.com server, though there is nothing to indicate to the applicant that he or she is accessing a different site. There they can set up an account based on their education, job preferences, location, etc., and search for open positions. Applicants can also sign up to receive e-mail alerts when jobs that meet their criteria become available in the future. Southern Co. reports that 60 percent of its job candidates come through this push feature.

The biggest advantage, however, is not in finding applicants, but in narrowing down which ones the company should pursue. Recruiters, after all, don't have time to read through hundreds of applications for a position. To simplify this, both Plantronics and Southern Co. use the software's testing functions to prescreen candidates.

Answers to these screening questions can take several different forms, including yes/no, true/false, multiple-choice, numerical or text. Answers can be assigned different weights, and certain answers can also automatically include or exclude the applicant. Based on the responses, the software screens out any applicants who are not qualified and ranks those who do meet the criteria. The key to making this work is determining the exact questions you want answered and how much weight to give to each response.

Here are some sample questions that can be included:

* How many years' experience in the industry do you have?

* In which subject do you have a master's degree?

* Are you used to functioning independently with minimum supervision?

* In how many research studies were you involved?

* What are your former employers in this sector?

Plantronics had been using Hire.com for two years before Buckley arrived at the company, but it hadn't been using the testing function. This is his area of expertise, and he established the procedures for crafting questions that would distinguish the most qualified candidates. Plantronics uses, on average, 17 questions for each open position, but these vary from job to job. There is a core set of questions, most relating to software, with project management or people management questions added for any managerial position. Plantronics also asks questions that are applicable to a particular job, such as queries about the applicant's experience operating a specific piece of equipment or knowledge of a particular field. The style of questions also varies depending on the level of the position.