ARCHIVE : : FEBRUARY 2003 :: CAREERS

Interview
With the Web
More Employers Are Using
Technology to Screen
Job Applicants

By KRIS MAHER
STAFF REPORTER OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Can a computer be a good judge of character? Many employers think so. That’s why they’re turning to Web-based assessment technology as a way to screen job applicants before they come in for an interview.

At Brooks Group, a Greensboro, N.C., sales-management training firm, each job candidate completes an online assessment that touches on personal behaviors, attitudes, values and skills. The questions take about an hour and a half to answer, and the resulting profile is used to screen the best candidates. New employees receive a framed copy of their profile, which they are expected to hang in their office.

“We have a whole series of assessments that we mix and match,” says Chief Executive Bill Brooks. “It’s demanding and tough and fair.” He credits the personality profiles, which are later used to coach employees, with lowering the company’s turnover rate. His own profile categorizes him as a “doer-talker”—or an assertive, enthusiastic person who gets things done—and is framed and nailed outside his office door.

Pattern of Answers

 Software advances and ever-more sophisticated tests are making the use of Web-based assessments easier and more cost-effective. As a result, they are catching on as a way to gauge the compatibility of job seekers in a range of industries and positions, from those seeking hourly retail positions to candidates for executive posts. Standardized electronic tests also help employers sift through myriad job applicants at a time when many companies have reduced internal recruiting staffs.

In many cases, new varieties of tests are said to be able to delve into candidates’ psyches and turn out behavioral traits, such as how ethical they are or how good they are at working in teams. “We know what pattern of answers is likely to predict the propensity to steal,” says Chris Reed, vice president of marketing for Unicru, a company that develops assessment technology for employers.

Job applicants for hourly positions typically fill out Unicru’s electronic assessments at in-store kiosks. A hiring manager can receive a screened job application within 30 seconds to four minutes after an application is completed, along with suggested interview questions targeted to that candidate. In some cases, managers will be automatically paged in order to meet a strong candidate before he or she leaves the store.

Unicru provides customized Web-based assessment tools to about 45 companies, including Kmart, Albertson’s and Sports Authority. The company processed 13 million job applications over the past three years and expects to process six million in 2002 alone. Unicru also says it is developing assessment technology to evaluate professional-level job candidates in order to make a good fit with a particular corporate culture.

Kindergarten Cops

 Some hiring managers, however, remain skeptical about the fairness of using such tests to rule job candidates in or out.

“You really do a disservice to the applicant if that’s all you rely on,” says Robert W. Overman, a vice president and manager of human resources at Guardsmark, a New York-based security firm. Guardsmark uses several personality tests to place employees in assignments or to evaluate employees for management positions, but it doesn’t use them to screen job candidates. Instead, the company does deep background checks on candidates, including education checks that go back to age five, and requires candidates to provide extensive personal information.

“There’s a small percentage of people who are just not passing the tests,” adds Pam Dixon, a research fellow with Privacy Foundation, a Denver-based research organization. She says several job seekers have approached her for advice about assessments after failing to be called in for any interviews. In many cases, she says, if you fail a test, “you’d be toast for any other branch for that company.”

“My advice to every job seeker is, before you take those tests, get some coaching,” Ms. Dixon says. “Why not beat the system?”