TALENT ACQUISITION LIFE CYCLE

Talent Acquisition Life Cycle

●​ Talent Sourcing ●​ use to find suitable candidates → give

you a better understanding of the
qualities and skills org seek in potential
candidates.

●​ Screening and Interviewing Candidates ●​ → Best practices for interviewing

candidates

●​ Evaluating Prospective Employees ●​ reflect on bias and how to ensure a fair

hiring process.

TALENT SOURCING
Talent Sourcing Strategies

Sourcing is a process of searching for, identifying, qualifying and contacting potential candidates.
Source candidates have not yet applied for an opening, but they are actively or passively looking for
work.
ex: a candidate might already have a full-time position at another company, but they are open to new
opportunities. If you know about this candidate early in your sourcing process, it makes your search
much easier.
1.​ Employer branding:
Your team can use employer branding to attract candidates who are a good fit. Employer branding or
brand identity, includes your org’s name, logo, website, buildings, employee, culture, tagline and even
your products. Your website, job listings, and any other material represent who you are as a company.
2.​ Employee referrals:
Employee referrals are another way to source talent. When a current employee in your org
recommends someone for an open role, that candidate is an employee referral.
Employee referrals often make strong candidates. They’ve been selected by people who work at your
org.
3.​ Job boards:
Job boards provide both talent acquisition teams and candidates with tools and support for
networking.
You can explore job boards by industry, or seniority levels to source and contact ideal candidates.
You can also post openings to job boards and candidates may apply themselves.
4.​ Candidate pipelines:
Candidates pipelines also known as a talent pipeline, is a list of individuals who had been partially
vetted and are potentially interested in open positions at your org. They have skills, backgrounds, and
experiences that your company may need in the future.
You can invite individuals in your candidates pipeline to interview for open positions, rather than wait
for new applicants.
5.​ Resume mining:
Resume mining also known as talent mining, to sort through resume databases, and social media
profiles to source candidates.
Resume mining uses Boolean search strings, and keywords to retrieve data on relevant candidates.
Resume mining can produce qualified candidates, and drastically reduce the time and overall cost per
hire.
6.​ Job fairs:
Job fairs can be a great source of qualified candidates for both large and small org.
At job fairs, you meet potential candidates face-to-face, which can reduce time wasted on interviews
with unqualified candidates.
Job fairs allow recruiters to conduct dozens of informal interviews in a few hours and give extra
attention to qualified candidates.

Employee Branding
Employer branding is one of the first things potential candidates will consider when deciding
whether or not to join your company.
Employer branding: is the process of managing and influencing an org’s reputation among
employees, job seekers, and key stakeholders. Every org has a brand identity that affects its ability to
source and recruit candidates.
Brand identity starts with the org’s brand itself, which includes its name, logo, website, buildings,
employee, culture, tagline and often it’s products.

What comes to mind when you think of the brand Apple ?

→ It could be their recognizable logo, signature building, employee benefits and compensation,
commercials, or innovative products. => Each one of these items contributes to the Apple brand.
Employer branding or brand identity, is an image created by the actions of members of your org.
You can use this image to source talent. To create an identity which will help you source candidates,
your org must first align its mission statement and values with its diversity and inclusion goals. Then,
use your org’s print and digital materials to develop a brand identity that attracts diversity in a
candidates pool. → These materials should reflect a diverse and inclusive org.
​ If your org lacks diversity in its current state, content should express its dedication to
inclusion and diversity efforts. These materials can include workforce demographic statistics and
information about diversity initiatives such as employee resource groups. You can also update your
org’s website and marketing page with content that reflects your diversity and inclusion commitment.
Employer branding: won’t help with candidate sourcing if your org’s culture and objectives different
from it’s brand identity.
To determine if employees' perceptions of the org accurately reflect the brand identity, you
may consider conducting surveys. If the survey reveals discrepancies, your org leadership can make
operational changes to address them, or adjust the brand identity to match employees perceptions. If
done well, employer branding can be a powerful tool in attracting talented candidates to your org.

Employee Referrals
Employee referrals is another strategy to find and attract strong candidates.

Referrals are a great way to not only find the right fit for your team, but can also save time and
money in the hiring process.
Referrals programs are systems or policy that incentivize using employees to recruit applicants.
Ex: a company might offer current employees a bonus for every candidate hired from their
referrals . There are great benefits to using employee referrals to source candidates for job openings.
The main benefit of employee referrals is that they reduce the time and cost it takes to hire a new
employee. Although a talent sourcing team should still be involved in this search, employee referrals
requires less time and resources. → This is because the org employees are the ones actively searching
for candidates.
Employee referrals can also improve the overall quality of source candidates. Current employees
know the company culture and the needs of your team. They are in a great position to suggest
candidates who they know will be a good fit. Their referrals also improve retention rates, which is
how long employees stay with the company.
Employee referral programs can also highlight the importance of diversity to the org and its team.
When employees recommend diverse candidates, the talent pool expands, increasing the likelihood
that more diverse people will be hired.

Job Boards
A job board is a website where org can post listings for job openings and where job seekers can
search for openings. These websites allow employees to list information about open positions, such as
the job title, job description, and job specification. Employers can also list requirements and
preferences for the type of candidates they’re seeking.
Job boards can provide employers and candidates with tools and support for networking
opportunities. Sourcing teams can use job boards that advertise in specific industries or seniority
levels to search for strong candidates.
Tips to make researching and posting on job boards as effective as possible.
-​ Appeal to the right industry: Consider which industries might fit your open positions. Some
job boards target certain industries, such as the science, technology, and medical fields.
+​ Ex: if you need to fill an opening for a nurse or other role in the medical fields, you might
search [Link]. Selecting niche job boards with a targeted audience can advertise to
candidates with the specialized skills your org needs.
-​ Have a clear, concise description: job descriptions should also be clear and concise. An
effective job description should consist of inclusive language and set clear expectations,
requirements, and other relevant details for the position. This helps candidates get to know
your org and also attracts those who have the skills and experience you need.
-​ Standout in the crowd: videos, infographics and pictures can help an org stand out. Visuals
can be especially useful if your org is easily recognizable by its brand identity. Job seekers
often stroll through many listings on the job board, so it’s helpful to make your org’s post
unique.
-​ Network: some job boards maintain candidate's profile even for candidates who are no longer
searching for a job. These recruitment databases are a useful tool for sourcing teams. You can
build a network of candidates using searches based on industry, experience, and education
level, which can help your future talent searches.
Job board examples:
-​ Indeed: supports your entire hiring process according to their site, you can find great people
get quality applicants, connect with your top picks, and make offers with confidence.
-​ LinkeIn: boasts that a hire is made every ten second on their site, part job board, part
professional social networking site. It is a great tool for not only job searches but for
maintaining connections for future search needs.

Candidate Pipelines
Candidate Pipelines is another proactive recruitmnet strategy. In candidates pipelines, you identify
suitable candidates before they are needed. → This approach can speed up the selection and hiring
processes for recruiting teams.
Candidate pipelines also known as a talent pipeline, is a list of individuas who have been partially
vetted and potentially interested individuals in open positions at your org.
Hiring teams use these lists to engage and reengage passive candidates, align diversity initiatives aand
create more efficient hiring processes. → This approach allows you to focus on the longterm success
of your org and employees instead of searching for potential candidates.
The individuals in the candidate pipeline vary depending on the company, its need and the talent
sourcing team.
Candidate Pipeline:
●​ Various realationshi[s with the org: individuals may be current employees former employees,
referrals or candidates cultivated through industry publications and networking events.
●​ Various assets: include potential talent with skills, backgrounds, and experiences that often
match particular roles in your org. They are placed on the list even when your org has no
immediate openings. When a position does become available, qualified candidates from the
pipeline can be invited for an interview.
●​ Proactive recruiting teams also maintain poolsof candidates who have various roles and
achievenents, such as mid and high-level roles in their org. These positions can be more
difficult and time-consuming to fill, so identifying potential candidates in advance can save a
lot of time and resources.
Benefits:
●​ Candidate pipelines are highly customizable and can be created as simply as a spreadsheet or
as complex as a database. Pipelines can log the in4 your team might need, including
candidates names, contact in4, relevant social media profiles and interactions with the hiring
team.
●​ Introduces candidates to brand: they introduce potential candidates tou your employer
brand. This brand awareness helps candidates determine whether they want to be considered
for open positions. Familiarity with an employer brand prior to employment imroves
employee retention.
●​ Quality candidates: can reduce the time you spend on reactive recruiting. The pipelines allow
sourcing teams to maintain networks and these networks make it easier to quickly hire for an
unexpected opening.
Criteria:
●​ You want to maitain contact with the candidates in your pipeline, be sure to ask them to agree
to receive notifications about job opportunities and company updates, as well as
personalized emais.
●​ Candidates also have to meet or exceed at least some of the requirments for a company or
team.
+​ eg: positions might require a minimum level of education.
●​ It’s also common to require that candidates pass an initial assessment, such as a phone or
video conference screening. This allows sourcing teams to get to know candidates, gague
their interest, and determine where they might be a good fit.
●​ Finally, it’s ideal for someone in the candidate pipeline to have expressed favorable views of
the org. These statements offer further confirmation that they would be interested in the
future goal.

Resume Mining
Without specific parameters sourcing candidates through online search, such as with job sites can be
difficult and time consuming. Resume mining is a great tool for sifting through millions of data points
to find a pool of candidates who will be a great fit.
Resume mining, also known as talent mining entails sorting through large amounts of human-capital
data and extracting relevant in4 to fill job openings. Human capital data refers to in4 about potential
candidates such as education, skills and other data points. The data is often gathered from resume
databases and social media profiles.
Resume mining is usually performed manually and can be done using Boolean search strings and
keywords to retrieve human capital data.
However, effective resume mining should go beyond matching common words to perform semantic
searches. Semantic searches use highly specific language to produce more relevant search results
The manual process will produce more qualified candidates and can drastically reduce the time and
overall cost per hire.
+​ eg: urban attire is looking for a manager to run a new location. The HR ream decides to use
resume mining as a way to source candidates. They use various databases and job sites
making sure to state keywords like assisstant manager, leadership, punctual and other
keywords from the job description. Within a couple of hours, they have a list of candidates
who are qualified for the role to start with.
Sourcing potential candidates through resume mining has 2 significant advantages:
●​ Control over the search results: when using resume mining to search human capital data,
sourcing teams have more predictive control over the variables that affect the search results.
These viriables might include what candidates have done, whaat they can do, what they are
looking for in a job, where they would like to work, their desired compensation and their
availability.
●​ Identify candidates in less time: although other methods such as referrals and job postings
can locate qualified candidates they will most likely produce a far smaller pool. By searching
human capital data, effective soucing teams can find as many as 60 qualified potential
candidates per hour.

Job fairs
Job fairs can be a great source of qualified candidates for both large and small orgs.
Job fairs or networking events for job seekers and employers. Participants can ask questions of each
other and share in4. At a job fair, your org can raise awareness of its employer brand and good job
seeker excited about your employment opportunities. It’s helpful to send hiring managers or current
hiring team members to job fair so potential candidates can get authentic accounts of the orgs climate
and culture.
Benefits of Job Fairs:
●​ Provide opportunity for sourcing teams and candidates to meet. These initial meetings allow
the job seeker and employer to explore if the company might be a good fit. Early
conversations can save time in the hiring process for both sides.
●​ Allow recruiters and candidates to get to know each other quickly, in any environment.
●​ Conduct informal interviews
Fairs are also a great opportunity for candidates to explore diff fields, companies or roles.
Job Fairs are versatile. They can be open to many diff opportunities or they can be specific to
particular industries or demographics. As a recruiter, you should attend job fairs that align with your
org’s goals.
Types of Job fairs:
 ●​ Industry-specific: focused on particular field. These job fairs can boost your org employer
brand among candidates who are interested in a certain field.
●​ College-based: or career days can be ideal for identifying candidates for entry-level roles and
interships. College job fairs give you access to students who are studying a specific field.
●​ Veteran-specific: present great opportunities to connect with military candidates and their
family members

eRecruitment and eSelection Systems

HR professionals use these automated systems to recruit, screen and select job applicants.
eRecruitment is also known as electronic recruitment, remote recruitment or online recruitment
methods refers to use of technology and the internet to conduct the entire process of recruitment.
Approaches includes recruiting software, online career pages and digital talent acquisition.
Through Recruitment, you post job openings on third party job websites, social media as well as your
org’s webpage. Listings are not constrained by local, state, or national distribution channels, and a
broad pool of applicants can upload applications instantly.
eSelection is the use of technology to evaluate how well candidates fit the job requirements of a job
opening based on their knowledge, skills, and abilities. eSelection expedite the selection process.
Software programs sift through digital applications and identify applicants who meet the desired
criteria. eSelection also allows you to administer online evaluations to detect applicants abilities and
personality traits and many platforms offer online interviews.
eRecruitment and eSelection can develop and process a larger pool of applicants faster than traditional
recruitment and selection methods.
These methods do have their drawbacks however, particularly when they are used exclusively.
Over-reliance on a recruitment can remove the face-to-face component from the process. In many
cases, a personal meeting or interview is a more accurate way to evaluate applicant competence and
maturity. Many applicants who might not be impressive on paper, might be a perfect fit for the
position and vice versa. The lack of a personal interview or meeting makes it more difficult for
applicants and the org to gauge how well they would fit into the culture of the workplace.

Example: Talent Sourcing

As a refresher, SliceU is a chain of pizza restaurants that is focused on the college demographic. They
want to open up a location near as many colleges and universities as possible.
Jay is an HR specialist working at SliceU headquarters. Jay is helping with recruitment for stores
across the country. Depending on the role, whether at headquarters or at a SliceU restaurant, Jay has
many different sourcing strategies to pick from.
Right now, Jay is sourcing candidates for new restaurant locations that will be opening in the coming
months. Even if the potential candidates aren’t actively looking for work, it’s important for Jay to
find, qualify and contact them as early as possible.
SliceU is a growing brand that has higher recognition near college campuses. Jay has met with a few
diff teams at SliceU headquarters about their branding as an employer to make sure the job seekers are
getting a good idea of what working at SliceU is like.
SliceU is known for its fun, laidback attitude that’s backed up by delicious products. Jay feels
confident that the brand identify matches with the company’s culture.
Jay sends out an all company email and use the company chat service to share the open positions that
need to be filled. Jay knows that employee referrals save time and money and provide much higher
candidate quality. Jay reaches out to employee resource groups as well and make sure they know
about the openings. Jay hope that some current employees might recommend diverse candidates.
Jay posts the job listing on a few job board websites as well. To help stand out from the crowd, Jay
worked with the design team to create a GIF animation of their pizza logo dancing. It’s fun and aligns
with the company culture. Hopefully potential candidates will see it and smile.
Finally, Jay has researched job fairs might be applicable for the roles that need to be filled. These
informal events are a great way for Jay and other teammates to raise awareness of the brand and meet
potential candidates face to face. Jay is going to go to three job fairs in the next few months, and has
order fun SliceU branded merchandise to bring along.
→ These sourcing strategies will help Jay identify a broad range of candidates, including those who
are actively and passively interested in working for SliceU.

Screening and Interviewing Candidates

Screening Candidates
Screening is a process of identifying the best candidates by comparing candidate backgrounds with
job competencies. Screening can encompass a number of techniques including resume and work
sample reviews, telephone interviews and tests or job-related tasks.
Screening Techniques:
●​ Application blank or resume: an applicant blank is an application you create to collect
specific and consistent in4 in a structured format. For lower level positions, an application
blank works well because you received the same in4 for each applicant. For other positions, a
resume allows an applicant to showcase individual certifications or achievements. In both
instances, you will review the application blanks or resumes to eliminate candidates that do
not meet the requirements of the position.
●​ Test or work sample: you use these techniques when you want to verify if an applicant has
the skills necessary for the job. For example: if an employee will be responsible for
transcribing conversations, you may need to know if the applicant can type at a certain speed.
In a multilingual environment, you may need to confirm if the applicant has sufficient
language skills. You should always ensure there is a correlation btw the test you are providing
and the type of work the applicant will perform.
●​ Screening interview: interviews are a common screening tool because you can assess the
applicant’s motivation or interpersonal skills. They also provide an opportunity for the
applicant to determine whether the job is an appropriate fit for them. Screening
interviews are often done over the phone by an HR team member or recruiter. They are
less detailed and intensive than a full interview.
●​ Reference or background check: during the reference check, you may review letters of
recommendation or interview individuals who are professionally acquainted with the
candidate. A background check will verify that the candidate has no criminal record
and confirm the validity of any personal records.
In-Basket exercise measures the ability: a test that measures the candidate’s ability to prioritize
and respond to daily tasks. Often used to hire or promote employees to management positions.
Psychometric Test: an evaluation tool to discover if a candidate will be able to handle the
emotional or behavioral stresses inherent in a position.

Interviewing Candidates
Interviewing helps you take the list of candidates who meet the requirements of the position
identified through the screening process and find the best candidates.
Job interviews are used to probe for more information that is related to the job and are useful
for assessing the applicant’s motivation and interpersonal skills. It’s also a chance for applicant
to determine whether the job is an appropriate fit for them.
During job interviews, employers should try to discover as much as possible about the
applicants under consideration. One way to accomplish this is by asking open ended questions
and avoiding questions that have obvious or simple responses.
Ask Questions:
●​ Related to the role you are trying to fill:
○​ For example: if an employee will need leadership skills for a role, you can ask
something like “when was a time you had to be a leader ?”
●​ Similar questions to each candidate: when structuring an interview that you will want to
compare candidates later. Ask the same questions to candidates or questions that cover
the same topic to make it easier to compare their ans to each other.
Do Not Ask Questions:
●​ Irrelevant to the position: avoiding questions that don’t cover the scope of the position
will help limit bias against candidates.
●​ About protected categories: other potential pitfalls to avoid in interviews include, asking
questions about protected categories like race, religion or marital status.

Types of Interview
1.​ Group interview: multiple candidates are interviewed at the same time. This type is useful to
directly compare candidates ans to the same question. Group interviews also permit you to
observe how interviewees interact with one another. These observations can provide insight
into how well applicants who work with other pp.
2.​ Panel Interview/Board interview: several interviewers participate at the same time. All
interviewers on the panel may ask questions, or they may be a lead interviewer who asked
most of the questions while the other panel members observe.
3.​ Behavioral Interview: sometimes you need to know how candidates would react to a
particular scenario. During behavioral interviews, candidates are asked to explain how they
responded to problems or events in the past. The assumption is that these past behaviors will
predict how employees would respond to similar situation in the future. The problems and
events that you focus on during the interview should relate to specific and important aspects
of the position.
4.​ Hypothetical Interviews: ask candidates how they would respond to imagined situations in the
future. This is also known Situation Interview.
5.​ Patterned Interviews: approach the interview by topics. Applicant may be asked different
questions, but all address the same topics.
6.​ Structured interviews: are rigid, an interview director asks candidates a pre-established set of
questions.
7.​ Non-directive interviews: are less formal than directive interviews. As the interviewer, you
ask broad, open-ended questions. Open-ended questions allow the candidate to guide the
conversation. → This interview can provide a great deal of insight into what candidates
character and personality. But because each conversations have different topics, it is difficult
to evaluate candidates consistently.
8.​ Semi-Structured Interviews: find a balance btw directive and non-directive approaches. You
prepare some key questions in advance, but are also free to ask follow-up questions or explore
different issues and topics depending on how the candidate responses to the questions.
9.​ Stress Interviews: which plays candidates and anxiety including situations to see how they
react. These interview are most useful when you are evaluating candidates who will regularly
encounter stressful situations while on the job.
Interviewing Do’s and Don’ts
Do
●​ Ask questions pertinent to the position: questions should be related to required tasks or
skills for the role. For example: if the opening is for a social media marketer position, you
might ask the candidate, “What is your favorite social media platform and why ?”, but you
wouldn’t ask that question of someone interviewing for a data analyst position.
●​ You should also ask each candidate the same question or questions that cover the same
topic: → this technique makes it easier to compare candidates responses.
Do not:
●​ Ask personal questions unrelated to occupational qualifications: for example, you should
not ask the candidate where they were born → this kind of question does not address how
candidate might perform in the job. It may also introduce unintended bias towards or against
the candidate. You can avoid many kinds of bias by keeping 2 questions related to the
candidate competency and the role.
●​ Ask questions about protected classes: like race, religion, age, or marital status. Not only
are these personal attributes irrelevant to a person’s ability to perform a function, but there are
also protected by law. It is illegal to ask about these attributes and doing so many cause
discrimination during the candidate selection process.

Inappropriate Appropriate

Where were you born ? if you are hired, can you provide proof that you
are authorized to work in the United States ?

Are you disabled ? Are you able to perform the functions that are
essential to the job, with reasonable
accommodations ?

Are you religious, and if you are, are you This job will require that employees work on
willing to work on Sundays ? weekends. Are you able to do so ?

→ Each of these re-framed question is relevant to the functions of the job. They will not introduce bias
or violate the laws protecting against discrimination.

Types of Interview Bias

●​ The halo effect occurs when an interview judges an applicant on only one trait and allows
that trait to influence their judgment of other unrelated traits.
+​ eg: you may assume that because someone who is a well spoken with a large
vocabulary will also be a talented engineer.
●​ Stereotyping occurs when a manager judges an applicant based on membership in a group.
Although the applicant may or may not share the group’s values or characteristics.
+​ older generations are not tech savvy and are resistant to change.
●​ Central tendency: when the interviewer rates all candidate with a similar score, often in the
middle of the scale. The interviewer might not want to grade a candidate to low and be
hesitant to grade someone else too high. The result is each candidate ends with similar scores,
even though there is a gap in qualifications for the position.
●​ Contrast effect: occurs when candidates are compared to a single candidate. If the single
candidate is a weak fit, the rest of the candidates might all seem strong by comparison.
 +​ if the first applicant lacks the ability to speak a second language, the following
candidates might appear stronger despite the fact that they lacked other desired traits.
●​ Cultural noise: occurs when a candidate attempts to respond to the interviewer’s questions
based on what they think the interviewer wants to hear or is socially acceptable. This response
is often in place of a factual ans and the interviewer doesn’t recognize that the ans is not
genuine.
+​ when a candidate tells the interviewer they prefer to work as part of a team, when
really they are most productive when they work independently. The candidate infers
that working within a team is a more socially acceptable response.
●​ Affinity bias: is the tendency to communicate and rate highly those who have similar
appearances, beliefs, experiences, and backgrounds. These similarities may include a shared
cultural heritage or a fondness for a particular extra curricular activity like rock climbing.
●​ Confirmation bias: occurs when the interviewer has a preconceived notion of a result and then
seeks information that will corroborate or confirm the judgment.
+​ the interviewer may assume someone with a particular accent may lack determination
or focus. They may then ask leading questions about completing a difficult task
hoping the candidate will suggest cutting corners.
●​ Non-verbal bias occurs when an interviewer is influenced by body language, appearance, or
eye contact. An applicant whose leg bounces up and down during an interview, may lead the
interviewer to assume the candidate is anxious instead of excited.

Avoiding Bias in Interviews

Methods to Minimize Bias:
●​ Diverse interview panels: indicate an org’s commitment to diversity and inclusion at the
beginning of an employee’s journey, within your org. Diverse interview panels are
opportunities to evaluate, and appreciate the competencies and diversity that each candidate
can bring to your org. Interviewers must be aware, however, of potential bias towards
candidates who share similar bg to them.
●​ Laws and regulations: make your panels aware of relevant state and federal laws on
non-discrimination, and equal employment opportunity. All members should be aware of
protected classes or other regulations that affect the interview questions and any appropriate
topics to avoid.
●​ Diversity every panel: specific requirements for a diverse interview panel. Your org panel
should contain at least 2 memes from often underrepresented groups. Mems from
underrepresented groups provide a relevant contextual in4, and perhaps provide
counter-arguments to nonconstructive criticism.
●​ Empower the interview panel: you need to empower your panel to make decisions. You
should inform them of the org’s policies and goals and how their decisions can fulfill diversity
objectives. Be4 the interview process begins, participants should know how their input will be
counted and valued. eg: will each panel mem vote or must the group reach consensus ?
Employees and managers should value the process and be enthusiastic about Servian on
panels
●​ Educate/train members: from experts or consultants. This training can minimize the effects of
internal biases on the candidate selection process. A successful implicit bias training offer
applicable examples.
●​ Standardize the process: a documented process that has been reviewed for fairness should be
established. The process should include a post-selection review. This review should examine
if certain candidates, possibly with similar bg or experiences, progressed further in the
interview process than others. The competencies for the position should be easily identifiable
and clearly defined. The same questions, either open-ended or scenario-based, should be
asked of every candidate and always relate to job requirements.

Interview Techniques
In-person interviews are a perfect opportunity to get to know your candidate. They are also an
excellent opportunity to ensure your candidate is qualified for the position you are
interviewing for. This interaction with your potential new hire is your chance to make a great
first impression on behalf of your organization.

It’s important to note that oftentimes, your candidate will be more nervous than you, and it is
your responsibility to put forth an effort to make them feel at ease. Here are some tips and
best practices for conducting a successful interview:

Understand what you are allowed to ask. Make sure to keep questions focused on the task
at hand. Questions should be focused on the job and work environment and rarely involve
someone's personal life. Avoiding questions that target age, race, gender, country, national
origin, religion, disability, and marital status will help you avoid a discrimination lawsuit.

Guide the conversation. During an interview, you have a limited amount of time to cover a
lot of information. Ensuring an interview structure allows you to cover all bases necessary for
a thorough interview.

Be honest about the position you are offering. Being honest about the positive and negative
aspects of the position is critical to evoking transparency in your organization.

Ask open-ended questions. Prepare a handful of questions that give the candidate the floor to
speak. Questions like, “Why did you leave your last job?” “What type of work environment
do you thrive in?” “What do you see yourself doing in a few years?” These questions will
allow them to speak and feel heard and will allow you to listen, instead of talk.

Take thorough notes. If you are interviewing many candidates for a position, it is important
to take notes to ensure that you keep track of candidates’ responses. Sometimes, it may be
appropriate to have an extra individual in the room during the interview as a note taker.

If this is your first time conducting an interview, consider all the interviews you have
experienced professionally. What were some of the positives and negatives that came from
those interviews? What worked and what didn’t work? Placing yourself in the candidate’s
position will ensure you become a more empathetic interviewer.
Best Practice:
The Hartford
Robert Half
Forbes

Example: Interviewing Candidates

Screen potential candidates, Alex creates an application for the junior sales representatives
role, and ask applicants to include the resumes.
 Alex assembles a small panel, including the sales team lead as well as the senior sales
representatives. Alex make relevant questions and can ask the same questions to every
candidate.

Evaluating Prospective Employees

Evaluating Employees before Hiring

Selecting a candidate is the final level of our selection process pyramid. You want to know as
much as possible about a candidate’s ability to perform the specified job tests, and you also
want to make sure that the employee poses no obvious risk to workplace safety or your org’s
finances. There are a few litmus tests and checks that the candidates should pass before they
are hired.
The first is making sure the testing or checks are related to the position you are selecting for.
The next requirement is that any tests are equally administered to all possible candidates. For
example, you might ask a potential call center based customer service representative to take a
typing test, but they would not need to take a mathematics competency test. A mathematics
competency test would be appropriate for a cashier who in turn would not necessarily need to
take the typing tests. Neither of these tests should be unnecessarily difficult. They are used á a
way for the candidate to demonstrate the skills they already have be4 official hiring and
training begins.
There are several methods of evaluation, including background and record checks, consumer
reports, paper and pencil test, medical test, hands on tests, confirmation of employment
eligibility and polygraph tests.

Background and Record Checks

Negligent hiring is a legal claim that could be made against an employer if another employee
is harmed for reasons the employer could have anticipated had a proper background check
been conducted.
Common Checks:
●​ Credit check for outstanding issues that might affect a candidate’s ability to perform
the job without undue hardship. When acquiring a credit check, you are required by
the Fair Credit Reporting Act to seek permission from an applicant be4 obtaining
such a report.
●​ Criminal Record check, which could be used to determine the suitability of a
candidate to be a security guard or perhaps those charged with caring for children,
among other select jobs. Criminal record checks are type of consumer report and are
subject to the requirements of the FCRA. As a best practice, if an employer decides
not to hire an applicant based on the candidate’s criminal history the employer must
provide notice to the candidate in writing and give them time to respond.
●​ Motor vehicle record check, an org should only utilize this test if driving will be part
of the employee’s primary duties.
Consumer reports, like a credit check can provide valuable in4 but they can also lead to
unintentionally discriminatory hiring decisions.
+​ For example, credit scores for Black and Latino pp tend to be lower than for White and Asian
pp due to systemically oppressive systems, so a credit check by itself might inadvertently
disqualify certain candidates without basis.
Investigative consumer reports include additional in4 above a credit check and involve collecting in4
about the applicant’s character by speaking with his or her neighbors, friends, and associates. Much
like the credit checks, candidates must provide permission be4 an org initiates such a report.
One last note to consider is that employers can also be found guilty of negligent referrals, which
occurs when one org provides incomplete in4 to another when asked for in4 about a candidate. When
contacted for references, managers and HR professionals should provide complete and factual in4
about an employee’s time at an org. But should refrain from making any recommendations regarding
whether the employee should or should not be hired. The communication of factual and relevant
information is protected from defamation lawsuits by the qualified privilege doctrine.

Different Test Options

1.​ Paper/Pencil tests: are written pre-employment tests, however, many are now computerized.
These commonly test employees for factors like:
●​ General aptitude or intelligence
●​ Integrity
●​ Personality type
●​ language-fluency
●​ Job-specific knowledge
​ All tests must be relevant to the job, but employers should consider the test validity till, for
example a very bright applicant figure out what the employer is looking for and respond with the
answers that reflect that.
2.​ Medical Tests: to ensure their physically capable of performing the job duties. Medical tests
may include:
●​ Physical examination
●​ Drug tests
​ However, employers must be cautious and not to use physical examinations to screen out
applicants with disabilities unfairly.
3.​ Hands-On tests: to assess an applicant’s ability to perform a role. These can include:
●​ Skill test: typing, drafting a letter and operating machinery.
●​ Driving test
●​ In-basket exercises: this is where applicants are asked to sort memos and other
documents to determine which items require priority.
●​ Try-out/trial period: where an applicant is paid to perform the job for a set time to see
whether they would be a good fit on permanent basis.
●​ A short-term consulting arrangement might also be used to evaluate whether an
applicant fits the role and meets the performance requirements.
●​ Review of previous work sample: creative work such as writing or graphic design.
4.​ Polygraph test: although the employee Polygraph Act of 1988 restricts employers from using
Polygraph tests on employees, there are some exceptions.
●​ National security/defense
●​ Access to armored car services
●​ Working with pharmaceutical products

Test Reliability and Test Validity

You have a skilled pool of applicants interested in working at ur company. Your job is to assess their
skills which predict their success in the available roles and ensure a fair hiring process.
To ensure compliance with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), all
employment tests given to job applicants should be reliable and valid.
RELIABILITY:
1.​ Alternate-Forms Reliability: evaluates the consistency of a test or assessment by comparing
results obtained from different versions of the same test or assessment. If the results are
highly correlated, the measuring tool is considered reliable.
+​ Eg: the hiring managers might test a job applicant using different versions of a test
about a week after the initial assessment to measure the same skill set. → This
approach can help determine whether the results from each version are consistent and
reliable.
2.​ Inter-rater reliability measures how consistently different pp evaluate the same content, such
as during hiring interviews and performance evaluations. High inter-rater reliability means
that there is a substantial agreement btw evaluators, which is beneficial for the accuracy of
the evaluation process. On the other hand, low inter-rater reliability can undermine the
predictive value of the evaluations.
3.​ Test-Retest Reliability: measures how consistent an applicant’s performance would be if they
retook the same test. The time btw tests affects reliability. for example, if a company retests
candidates too soon, the reliability might be inflated. If the retest is done too late, skill
changes can affect performance, lowering reliability.
4.​ Split-half reliability: assesses the consistency of a test. It involves diving a single test in two
to determine if both halves tests similar skills. If an applicant performs well on one-half, they
should perform equally well on the other half. If their performance differ significantly, it
suggests that the different halves of the test measure different skills or abilities.
VALIDITY:
1.​ Content validity: requires that a job assessment actually tests skills that are relevant to the job
for which the candidate is applying. For example, a math test would have content validity if it
is used to evaluate a job applicant’s ability to perform mathematical calculations, which is a
required skill for the job position.
2.​ Criterion validity: measures whether a test corresponds to other specific measurements or
traits. Predictive validity is a type of criterion validity that determines whether test results are
similar to different criterion samples at a later point. For instance, a pre-employment test has
predictive validity if the test results coincide with the employees’s performance appraisals
conducted one year later. Concurrent validity is another type of criterion validity that
examines whether the outcomes of a rest ar consistent with the outcomes of other
measurements conducted simultaneously. For example, if an employee performs similarly on
2 diff pre-employment tests, those tests have concurrent validity.
3.​ Construct Validity: determines whether a test measures what it is supposed to measure, For a
test to have construct validity, it must measure what it claims to measure. For example,
employment assessments aim to measure an employee’s job performance and they have
constructive validity if the outcome of the assessment predicts job success.

Biases in the Hiring Process

1.​ Explicit bias refers to deliberate, discriminatory language and actions that express prejudiced
attitudes toward certain groups. Although explicit stereotypes are less common and illegal
under civil right legislation and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations,
biases persist in individual and systemic behaviors within many organizations. The upside is
that org can develop policies and procedures to address explicitly discriminatory language and
actions.
2.​ Unconscious bias on the other hand, refers to the stereotypes pp unconsciously form about
specific group based on past experiences and social conditioning. These biases are often
 challenging to identify and are used by the brain for quick and automatic decisions that
might not involve conscious reflection.
Types of Unconscious Bias:
●​ Affinity bias: the tendency to show favoritism and build rapport with pp who share
similar physical attributes, beliefs, experiences or backgrounds. An example of this is
when a hiring manager favors a candidate who was raised in a similar household,
believing that the candidate will be a good fit for the org.
●​ Affect heuristic: a bias in which an individual makes decisions based mainly or
entirely on their emotions. For example, in a positive scenario, a candidate can
mention they like certain sports team. If the interviewers also support the same team,
they are likely to develop a positive bias towards the candidate and be less critical of
them or favor them during the interview process. However, a negative scenario, might
happen if a candidate has the same last name as someone the interviewer dislikes,
which puts them in a negative emotional state. As the result, the interviewer becomes
critical during interview and focuses on the candidates flaws and risks.
●​ Halo effect: an individual lets their overall impression influence their opinions,
emotions, and behaviour toward a person. For example, an employer might have a
favorable view of candidates who show up early for an interview and might decide to
hire them without thoroughly assessing whether they are qualified or a good fit for the
job.
●​ Horn effect: the tendency to form an unfavorable opinion based on a single negative
trait, which might only be deemed negative due to past experiences. For example, an
interviewer might notice a tattoo under a candidate shirt similar to a previous
employee who performed unsatisfactorily. As a result, the interviewer immediately
develops a negative impression of the candidate even though the tattoo is irrelevant to
their qualifications or job performance.
●​ Availability heuristic: when making decisions, individuals may believe that vivid or
memorable events they remember immediately are more representatives than they
actually are. For example, a hiring manager might choose a candidate based on their
attire, despite the candidate having similar qualifications as another candidate because
the memory of the first candidate’s untidy attire is more vivid and memorable.
●​ Distance bias: when recruiters favor pp and methods they are familiar with when
working remotely. This happens because building trust and having face-to-face
interactions can be hard when working from a distance. So recruiters might rely more
on pp and things they already know to reduce the challenges of remote work. For
example, a recruiter conducting virtual interviews or remote onboarding might prefer
candidates who live close to the org because they are familiar with the local talent
pool and have established relationships. However, this can cause them to miss out on
qualified candidates who live further away.
​ → These biases happen automatically and are often outside our awareness.

Example: Evaluating Prospective Employees

We’ve met Micah where they were interviewing for the junior sales representative position. In the
interview, it went well.
Background checks and searches are fairly standard, and Connective runs them for every potential
candidate. Alex takes care when running any searches and reviews local laws and regulations. For
instance, Micah lives in California, so Alex can only run a credit check if it’s applicable to the role.
The junior sales position is not fiduciary, so Alex does not run a credit check. Alex asks Micah’s
permission to run checks and searches and send the requests for Micah to complete and sign.
Remember, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
it’s required to seek permission from an applicant before obtaining these reports. The background
check came back clear, no understanding issues that Alex or Connective need to be concerned about.
Another test that Connective likes to conduct is a psychometric test. This test won’t directly change
anything for a new hire, but it's meant to help HR and managers relate to and communicate with new
memes of the team. The sales team lead was excited about Micah, but was a little concerned about
their limited sales experience. The sales team lead and Alex ask Micah about possibly coming in for a
probationary or trial period (Try-out or Trial Period: when an applicant is payed to perform a job for
a set time to see whether they would be a good fit on a permanent basis). Micah agrees to the test,and
the plan is to have Micah in this trial period for three months and learn from the team. If everything
goes well in the trial, Micah will continue on as a full time employee with the company.