Objective Pre-Employment Interviewing: Balancing Recruitment, Selection and Retention Goals

Abstract

Not that many years ago, while designing the on-campus recruitment interview for one of the larger federal agencies, I discovered that nearly 90 percent of the candidates recruited for positions as chemists, physicists and electrical engineers were being disqualified during the selection process. The average agency evaluation cost was $34,000 per candidate. Oddly enough, neither the cost nor the high rejection rate were perceived as serious problems. Rather, the fact that it was taking three to six months to discover the 10 percent who met the organization's high standards, and the reality that these coveted applicants were not willing to wait months for the government to make a job offer, finally caused the agency to change its recruitment and selection methods. In short, the recruiters felt that their mission had been accomplished when they found candidates whose professed skills, knowledge and abilities — on paper — met the organization's requirements.