Anyone who follows online screening and assessment knows that there just isn’t much information available about general trends related to its use. This can be a bit frustrating, because while everyone seems to be saying that screening is becoming a “hot” area, there is little actual data available to confirm it. This makes it hard for those of us who follow this industry closely to provide fact-based information about how companies are using online screening and assessment tools and what their results have been. The general lack of information about the use of online screening and assessment tools led me to create last summer’s 20 Questions about Online Screening survey. While the survey was far from being scientifically rigorous, it did provide some good, high-level information about usage trends for online screening and assessment. Last year’s survey focused on providing information about the current usage of online screening and assessment tools, obstacles to the adoption of online screening and assessment tools, and respondent’s opinions about future usage rates for these tools. Here is a quick summary of the results: Respondents:
- 65 people responded.
- The most common job title for respondents was recruiter.
- Respondents represented a wide range of company sizes.
Current usage:
- A relatively high percentage of respondents indicated that they used some form of online screening or assessment.
- Non-scientific qualifications screening was much more prevalent than was more in-depth scientifically based screening.
- Usage of online screening/assessment tools decreased as the level of responsibility associated with the job to be filled increased.
- Most respondents indicated that their organizations utilized more than one type of screening/assessment tool.
- Less than half of respondents indicated collecting any metrics to demonstrate the effectiveness of their screening/assessment tools.
Obstacles to usage:
- A majority of respondents indicated the presence of obstacles to the adoption of online screening/assessment.
- The most common obstacles cited were skepticism about results and a lack of understanding about online screening and assessment.
Future usage:
- Almost all respondents indicated that they felt there will be an increase in the usage rate of online screening and assessment.
- The most common type of screening/assessment to be adopted by respondents in the near future will be high-level qualifications screening.
This Year’s Survey The goal of this year’s survey is to begin building on the information gathered from last year’s survey and to verify the fact that usage rates for online screening and assessment are increasing. This year’s survey asks many of the same questions as last year’s did. However, last year’s survey did not provide much in-depth information about the usage of screening relative to that of assessment. In order to help collect this type of information, this year’s survey separates screening and assessment and provides questions designed to drill down more deeply into the characteristics of usage for each type. This year’s survey also focuses more on some of the hot topics related to the use of online screening and assessment, namely the integration of applicant tracking systems and assessment systems and the use of metrics to provide evidence for the success of online screening and assessment tools. Why Is This Information Important? While this is hardly a scientific survey and its length limits the depth of the information that we are able to collect, we still feel there is tremendous value in the information your survey responses will provide. For instance:
- This survey will help to provide some reality to speculation regarding increases in the use of both online screening tools and online assessment tools.
- This survey will provide information that is extremely useful for gaining a broader perspective on the evolution of the entire staffing process.
- The results of this survey will help provide companies with some basic benchmark information about how online screening and assessment is being deployed.
- The data from this survey will confirm my speculation that, while many companies are using online screening and assessment, few are collecting the metrics needed to help them understand the true value it is providing. This is a problem that must be addressed and I hope that verifying its existence will help to serve as a wake up call.
By participating you will help provide yourself and other members of the ERE community with up-to-date, accurate information about trends in the use of online screening and assessment tools. Participants will also have the opportunity to register to win a free copy of my new report, the Rocket-Hire Buyer’s Guide to Web-Based Screening and Assessment Systems. I am interested in collecting information from anyone who is involved in the staffing process for their organization. This includes recruiters, hiring managers, staffing and HR executives, consultants, etc. We welcome participants from companies of all locations, sizes and industries. We are not able to use information from individual vendors of screening and assessment tools or persons who may consult to multiple organizations. Visit www.rocket-hire.com/survey to take the survey. I will publish the survey results sometime in August or September of 2003. Any participant can email me at info@rocket-hire.com to request a copy of the results.