by Brice Alvord
In today’s competitive market, prospective employers are faced with the challenge of hiring qualified employees. Attracting, identifying and selecting qualified employees is a time consuming and costly process.
Due to downsizing, many Human Resource Staffs are over worked. They are inundated with a flood of resumes and have little time to give each a quality review. Typically someone makes a first cut review looking at resumes and trying to weed out unqualified applicants. Often, good qualified applicants are excluded and unqualified applicants are selected for a second interview. These are further reduced by telephone screening, which may or may not be effective, depending on the interviewer. The phone interviewer tries his/her best to reduce the pile down to a dozen or less applicants and the HR manager conducts a second interview to select three or four people for in-person interviews with the hiring manager or supervisor.
The question often remains – did I get to interview the best group of applicants. One of the best hiring processes I participated in was conducted by a mid-sized pharmaceutical company in New Jersey. Unfortunately, I did not get the job offer, but I got to go through the process far enough to see the value of their process. Basically it was pretty much like the following illustration:
There were approximately 100 applicants, of which 70 were screened out against a checklist of desired capabilities and experience. The resumes were reviewed by at least two people before being rejected or accepted.
From the 30 that made it through the resume screen, the number was further reduced to 12 by conducting phone screen interviews. A customized selection guide was established using desired competencies, personality traits, communications abilities. The twelve were invited to a Job Open house to further acquaint applicants with the job requirements and the working environment. This was also a chance to observe potential applicants in a work environment to see how they interacted with current team members and other applicants. After the open house the hiring team met to determine which three were the best fit for the position. The three selected were then invited for an in-depth interview and testing, to reduce the selection to the individual who will best fit the team and the needs of the organization.
The process resulted in better qualified applicants, more effective use of hiring team’s time, less post-hire issues with the new-hire. This ensured the hiring of the best candidate, not the best interviewee and this in turn led to improving employee effectiveness, and reduced hiring costs.
At the time I interviewed for that position, I also applied to four other companies that were seeking people for similar positions. I was given the opportunity to interview for one of those companies. The interview process was similar to the one described before this process. I did not get a final interview. Of the other three companies, even though my background and experience met or exceeded their requirements, I was screened out early in the process. I have tracked all five companies over the past 6 years. One is no longer in business, one was purchased and all except the pharmaceutical company have had a high rate of turnover in the position I applied for. The person in the position at the pharmaceutical company has been promoted and they refilled the position using the same process.
The key to their success according to the HR director was the open house.
