• Interview Exchange integrates with HigherEdJobs.com
• Interview Exchange integrates JobTarget OneClick "Job Posting Distribution Interface"
• Interview Exchange Launches Employee Referral Portal
• New solutions reduce recordkeeping expense, while finding better applicants
• "The CRM model for HR"
• Weddle's selects IE as one of the best employment-related resources available online

Slash Recordkeeping, Attract Better Applicants
Much has been written in support of new Federal guidelines on employee selection procedures as they relate to the Internet. (1) The action, a coordinated effort by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Departments of Labor and Justice, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), clarifies '…recordkeeping procedures concerning who is an 'applicant' in the context of the Internet and related technologies.' (2)

There's a compelling connection between this development and applicant qualification screening. More about that momentarily, but first some background…

As Internet recruiting skyrocketed in the late 1990s, it quickly became clear that existing government guidance on mandatory recordkeeping regarding race, gender and ethnicity, as set forth by the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP), did not adequately address online recruiting issues.

Namely, growth of online job boards, career homepages, resume banks and online job listings has made it increasingly easy for job seekers to find and apply for employment with almost any company in the U.S. and beyond. But left unchecked, this flood of online activity quickly could overwhelm the EEOC reporting capacity of even the largest employers.

Clearly, EEOC reporting guidelines needed clarification both to relieve employers of onerous recordkeeping requirements and to protect the rights of applicants.

Who's In, Who's Out

Since the reporting guidelines focus on the term 'applicant,' it seemed reasonable to clarify just who is - and who is not - an applicant in today's online recruiting environment.

After more than three years of studying the matter, the joint authority in March approved the new guidelines. Simply stated, in order for an individual to be considered an applicant, and thus subjecting the employer to EEOC recordkeeping requirements, the following must have occurred:

• The employer has acted to fill a particular position;
• The individual has followed the employer's standard procedures for submitting applications; and
• The individual has indicated an interest in the particular position.

In other words, just as casual dating is not the same as saying 'I do' before family and friends, casual job searching online is not the same as applying for a job, at least when the EEOC is presiding.

Weak analogies aside, in addition to clarifying who IS an applicant, the action specifies who isn't. For example, none of these is considered an applicant: people who simply post resumes in job boards, job banks or personal websites; people who merely express interest in particular types of jobs; and people who submit a resume to a company's general resume database.

But if you're surfing job boards, see a job that interests you, click the 'Apply Now!' button, and complete the required application steps (e.g., creating a profile and submitting a resume), you can consider yourself an applicant.

Still, in today's tight employment market, jobless individuals, many of them out of work for months, tend to apply for jobs that are both good fits with their skills and experience - and long-shots. 'What have I got to loose?' is a common refrain.

Fair enough. If you're an employer, such undesirable applicants must figure in your EEOC recordkeeping. Yet from a process efficiency point of view, they may be undermining your cause. And in the eyes of corporate management, excessive numbers of undesirable applicants may prompt uncomfortable questions about HR's recruiting strategies and productivity.

Applicant Screening Simplifies Life

This is where applicant screening can help. Consider, for example, the Interview Exchange.

When job seekers click the job ad Apply button on your career homepage or any job board, they are linked to the one-page application screen on www.InterviewExchange.com. Here they are asked to answer up to 10 simple Yes/No questions that address key success factors for the specific job.

Since the questionnaire focuses on the requirements spelled out in the job description, the individual can self-select into or out of the applicant pool based on his or her credentials, self-confidence and motivation. Only then does the individual have an opportunity to submit a resume and thereby become an EEOC 'applicant.'

For job seekers who do 'qualify' for the job, i.e., those who possess the minimum job requirements and desired applicant qualifications, the one-page application form streamlines the application process.

On the other hand, upon seeing the questionnaire for the first time, most unqualified job seekers - those who are under-qualified, over-qualified, or simply not motivated to apply - simply walk away. For these folks the mere presence of this recruiting 'hurdle' is enough to persuade them to avoid wasting time on the current job in favor of jobs that better match their professional profiles.

As a recruiter or hiring manager, could this scenario be any more pleasing?

• First, the Interview Exchange automatically generates a ShortList of qualified applicants - people who have expressed interest in your company, people you're most likely to consider.
• Second, it enables you to avoid dealing with the stacks of unwanted resumes most online career sites generate.
• Third, fewer applicants lessens your EEOC bookkeeping chores and the legal risks that come with the territory.

Clearly a win-win-win proposition for you, job seekers - and the government.

To learn more about the Interview Exchange innovative suite of Web-based applicant sourcing, screening and selection solutions, please contact us at 508.836.3800 or office@interviewexchange.com.

(1) Among others, Charles Handler, PhD, has written thoughtfully on the new EEOC guidelines. Handler is President and Founder of Rocket Hire, a source of expert, objective information about the online screening and assessment marketplace. To read Rocket-Hire's complete EEOC opinion, please visit http://www.rocket-hire.com/newsletter/2004/2/feature.html or http://www.erexchange.com/articles/db/B75CC3963FFF4182AE434D2B34CF8771.asp.

(2) "Recordkeeping Guidance Clarifies Definition of 'Job Applicant' for Internet and Related Technologies," News Release, March 3, 2004, U.S. EEOC, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/3-3-04.html. To view the complete guidelines document, go to http://frwebgate6.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=638365302092+5+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve.