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Screening Applicants 41
process caters to the younger generation, participants felt that it can exclude older generations who do not
have enough experience with the technology to easily apply for open positions.
Effect of Economic Downturn. Participants indicated that there is a shift from an applicant's market to an
employer's market during times of economic downturn. This shift leads to a rising applicant pool but
fewer job openings. As a result, organizations no longer need to sell themselves to compete, but rather
look for candidates to sell their skill sets and experiences to the organization. However, larger applicant
pools make it more difficult for hiring managers to identify high-potential candidates because they are
tasked with sifting through numerous resumes and applications from many candidates who would not be a
good fit for the job. In addition, with larger applicant pools, the definition and benchmark for a high-
potential candidate becomes more stringent. Organizations also mentioned that, during times of economic
downturn, hiring freezes have ripple effects that make future recruiting difficult. One of these challenges
is maintaining relationships with universities and career fairs during the freeze. At times, career fair
organizers have waiting lists of employers that would like to take a spot at the career fair. As a result, a
hiring freeze for one organization is another organization's chance to move up on the waiting list and take
their spot.
5.2 Industry Strategies. Researchers and program managers identify the following
programmatic strategies when describing industry efforts in "Screening Applicants" (see Exhibit 5-2).
While these strategies represent the general direction of human resource (HR) departments across the
nation, it is important that the specific needs of your agency are used to guide the development and
implementation of a program in your agency.
Exhibit 5-2
Industry Strategies: Screening Applicants
Strategy Strategy Description
Prepare Hiring Many organizations indicated they are administering training to recruiters and
Managers to Screen hiring managers to help them recruit individuals of different generations,
cultures, and genders. These courses instruct employees on the effective and
ineffective ways to construct job advertisements and interview applicants. This
training is helpful in situations where managers have to screen "walk-on"
candidates. "Walk-on" candidates are those who walk up to hiring managers on
work sites and ask to apply for a job. This situation can put technical managers
in screening and hiring situations where, before training, they may not have the
necessary skills to communicate effectively or make informed decisions. These
training sessions also prepare hiring managers to market the organization, a
specific department, available job opportunities, and the benefits of joining the
team.
Use Multiple Organizations suggested they are involving more than just the hiring manager
Interviewers in the interview process. Involving other managers and employees in hiring
decisions increases the likelihood that the right employment decision is made.
Different interview styles and questions tend to elicit more information about
the candidate that can be used to make a more informed decision. This also
minimizes the impact of the bias that the hiring manager may bring into the
interview. It is important that the candidate is hired because of his/her "fit"
with the job requirements and organization and not personality similarity to the
manager. Sometimes the additional interviewer is a human resource (HR)
professional. These professionals can either interview the applicant along with
the hiring manager or separately but it is important that they work
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42 Strategies to Attract and Retain a Capable Transportation Workforce
Exhibit 5-2 (Continued)
Industry Strategies: Screening Applicants
Strategy Strategy Description
collaboratively to come to an informed decision. This type of joint effort is
critical because the hiring manager tends to primarily focus on the technical
skills of the applicant while the HR professionals are assessing if the applicant
is a good fit for the immediate team and the organization.
Integrate Human Participating organizations indicated they are ensuring that hiring managers
Resources in the Hiring and recruiting teams collaborate while they are sourcing, identifying, and
Process hiring. Organizations have also found that rotating recruiters from job sites to
headquarters will help to improve the screening of "walk-on," "word-of-
mouth," and "referral" candidates. Recruiting teams (e.g., managers,
recruiters) can also help to manage the impression the organization is giving
during the recruiting process. Some organizations call all the applicants once a
week until a decision is made and then call the applicant to let them know
whether or not they are being offered a position. If the person did not get the
job, they let them know why and, if possible, suggest other positions where the
individual may be a viable candidate. This engagement during a recruiting
process is rare and stands out to an applicant, leaving a positive impression
that the organization to which they are applying really cares about them.
Applicants are more likely to continue to apply or tell other people to apply to
the organization even when they were not initially selected.
Screen for Eligibility Organizations have purchased software that asks online applicants to respond
to a short set of questions that relate to job requirements for the open position.
If the applicant answers a question in a way that indicates he/she is not
qualified, he/she is notified and encouraged not to upload a resume to the
website. This practice saves the organization the time and expense of reading
resumes of unqualified applicants. Once an applicant applies and uploads their
resume, organizations have started conducting background checks to determine
if the information is accurate. Names of schools, certifications, licenses, past
job experience, relationships with former employers, and arrest history are
possible facts to verify.
Screen for Competency Organizations are moving away from matrix or check-box style screening
which typically involves the hiring manager or recruiter asking "yes" or "no"
questions regarding the applicant's experience. Performance or behaviorally-
based interviews require applicants to respond to problem solving questions
where they indicate, in several sentences, how they would respond to a typical
work-related situation. Positive and negative responses to these questions are
pre-determined by subject matter experts in the organization. Pre-determined
answers help hiring managers and recruiters quickly decide if an applicant
possesses the skills, work ethic, and customer service required to perform the
job. Assessments can either be paper and pencil or computer-based. One
organization uses a managerial assessment process for entry-level positions to
help hiring managers identify high potential applicants who could be future
candidates for managerial positions.
Although some organizations are discouraged from using physical abilities
tests because of state laws that govern applicant assessments, others find that
