In one of the recent blog posts, we talked about putting assessments right at the top of your recruiting funnel (you can revisit it here). This paragraph summarizes the reasons why we strongly recommend it.
"A sure-shot way to handle an overload of resumes at the top of your recruitment funnel is to put an assessment at the top. The "Test First, Interview Later" approach suggests that recruiters and HR managers put a short, web-based assessment right at the beginning of the recruitment funnel. Such assessments help weed out the least-suitable candidates right at the beginning of the recruitment process. Recruiters can then focus on a smaller but more suitable pool of candidates to put through a more elaborate recruitment process. The idea of the short, web-based tests is to identify the skills and abilities as quickly as possible. They make the process of recruitment easier and faster for recruiters."
We recently observed the impact of putting assessment at the top of the recruiting funnel.
A large training & consulting organization traditionally used assessments towards the later part of their recruiting process. After line managers shortlisted candidates, the assessments were conducted based on resume review and a telephonic screening conversation. Assessments were a mix of role-based tasks designed to evaluate the application of knowledge and skills in the simulated work environment. This process was both resource-intensive and time-consuming.
After this company signed up as one of the early users of SmartList, we worked with their recruitment team to apply "Test First, Interview Later" to one open position.
The first step was to redesign their assessment to make it more rounded. The redesigned assessment now has a personality assessment, an aptitude assessment and a few tasks. After the assessment was redesigned, we did a trial run by asking a couple of current role holders to complete the assessment. This helped validate the assessment approach and allowed us to do some benchmarking of scores.
The recruiting manager then advertised the open position on LinkedIn and asked interested candidates to apply for the position. After about a week from the day the post was published and promoted through usual LinkedIn channels, the benefits of putting assessment at the top of the recruiting funnel were evident.
The organization received 40+ responses for the position. All candidates undertook an assessment right at the time of applying. Due to this, the recruiting manager had 12 candidates who had completed a detailed pre-recruitment evaluation within a week and were ready to be taken straight to the final interview round.
The candidate had already answered customary interview questions by way of one-way video response questions thus eliminating the need of conducting preliminary interviews. Final interviews were scheduled after contacting shortlisted candidates within a week of assessment completion. The comprehensive skill assessment also helped make a more informed decision, not merely on impression and gut feeling.
The process that would have taken about five weeks through a conventional recruiting process took only two and half weeks, and the recruiting manager was able to issue an offer post the interview.
We experienced first-hand the power of putting assessments at the top of the funnel with our first client. As a recruiting manager, you miss out on a valuable tool if you are not doing this already. Drop a line to know how we can help you exploit the power of putting assessments right at the top of your recruiting funnel.
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