Generator Group - Talent Management and Recruiting

Benefits of Using a Realistic Job Preview

By Enrique Washington

Most would agree that if there are certain hires that you simply can't afford to get wrong. In recent studies, experts support using a multiple hurdle approach to candidate selection to increase predictability and the level of certainty that a candidate will perform in their job.

When used in conjunction with structured behavioral interviewing a Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is a great way to gain additional insight into an applicant’s work style while also giving the applicant a taste of what it would be like to work at your company. 

The objective would be to provide the finalist candidates with a realistic preview of challenges that exist for the job in order to better understand how a candidate would apply their knowledge gained from previous experience in the context of your organization.

One of the benefits of the RJP process is that it gives candidates a preview of the positive aspects of the job as well as the challenges they would face. At the end of the process they better understand the expectations prior to getting hired. It gives candidates the option to self select if they do not feel like they would be a good fit or be able to perform the duties as needed.

RJP framework:

1. Narrow the candidate pool down to finalist candidates
2. Identify challenges that your business faces currently and the related competencies that you need most to solve those problems
3. Develop a problem statement that specifically points to the business challenge and provide some additional context to the candidates without clueing them into the desired solution to the problem
4. Develop questions and contemplate desired responses

   Questions may include:

   What resources would you need? 

   How would you put a plan together and how long would it take?

5. Allow the candidate to ask questions to clarify the actual problem (do not prompt the candidate, but see if they will ask them first)
6. Seek examples that would point to evidence of success in solving similar problems in the past. Look for detailed information.
7. Compare and rank finalist candidates based on evidence of competency

The realistic job preview process provides a positive impression by creating a forum for honest communication and disclosure during the interview process. The information gained will help you gain a better understanding of a candidate’s thought process, approach to problem solving, technical knowledge, and past experience.  A realistic job preview can also help to pave the way for an effective on-boarding process resulting in reduced turnover.

Hiring Resources: Hiring Success by Dr. Steven Hunt

By Jeremy Barnaby

It is because we are in the final stages of integrating a multi-hurdle approach to assessing candidates before submitting them to clients I was excited to read a new book HIRING SUCCESS: The Art and Science of Staffing Assessment and Employee Selection, by Dr. Steven Hunt. Dr. Hunt is a local to Portland’s I/O Psychologist community and someone who has also spoken at a number of Generator’s executive forums. In short, I found myself reinvigorated in the passion to evangelize and see clients grab onto these very real concepts, processes, and tools. Dr. Hunt does a splendid job of bringing to light the science (without being too scientific) and statistics that will help executives, hr managers, and professional recruiters understand the predictive capabilities of a well designed staffing assessment process. The science ranges from “A crash course in Psychometrics” all the way to helping us communicate the “Financial Value of Assessments.” I think this is a must read for those who care about adopting a better way to determine if their next hire will be a top performer.

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