The increasing use of online hiring tools allows employers to screen a large pool of candidates in a fraction of the time it would take to sort through piles of resumes and interview mismatched candidates.
But the ease of process employers gain using digital hiring tools is often offset by the applicant’s low personal cost of walking away from an application, pre-employment test or other screening tool. Candidates can apply for dozens of positions within a few hours. They can abandon an application or test anonymously—without risk to their reputation.
Follow-Up Is Key
Once employers expend resources on a candidate, it will improve their return on investment if they dedicate a limited amount of administrative time developing policies to address incomplete or abandoned applications and pre-employment tests. Consider implementing some or all of these follow-up policies:
- Set a deadline for completing and submitting pre-employment tests and communicating the deadline to every candidate. Keep it flexible to avoid missing out on good candidates, but tight enough to keep the process moving.
- Make sure the candidate has someone to contact. This one is simple, but sometimes overlooked. Providing an administrative contact name, email address and phone number in case of technical difficulties, questions or problems can help avoid delays or unintended dropouts.
- Develop a policy regarding abandoned tests. Once it becomes clear that a candidate started the test but shows no sign of finishing, decide in advance how much of a follow-up effort will be pursued.
- Consider a second email or phone call to high-quality candidates who don’t complete a test. Feedback can provide valuable insight about which screening tests, application tools and test administration systems work well and which ones need improvement.
- For job openings with sufficient numbers of applicants or lower-quality candidates, an incomplete test can be an excellent way to narrow the candidate pool. In these cases, unfinished tests test can save the hiring organization money and time when an applicant essentially removes themselves from consideration. In truth, what levels of job performance can be expected from candidates who lack the motivation to complete a pre-employment application?
- Monitor email delivery, application and test administration software system activities to make sure the technology is working as it should. It’s easy to “set it and forget it,” but keeping an eye open for technological glitches or downtime can ensure that unexpected interruptions haven’t interfered with the submission process or kept a candidate from receiving or completing their application materials.
- Keeping track of candidates who abandon a test. It is equally important to avoid chasing marginally qualified candidates or to consider them for another position if they submit a future application for another post.
In Conclusion
It’s not enough to simply have a well-designed test in place. Having policies in place for following up—or not following up—with candidates who do not complete pre-employment tests or other elements of an automated evaluation process is essential for employers to get the most from their investment in pre-employment evaluation tools.
Without a follow-up plan, there is a risk of losing quality candidates, spending too much time chasing marginally qualified applicants or repeatedly considering those who abandon pre-employment tests for different positions.
The increasing use of online hiring tools allows employers to screen a large pool of candidates in a fraction of the time it would take to sort through piles of resumes and interview mismatched candidates.
But the ease of process employers gain using digital hiring tools is often offset by the applicant’s low personal cost of walking away from an application, pre-employment test or other screening tool. Candidates can apply for dozens of positions within a few hours. They can abandon an application or test anonymously—without risk to their reputation.
Follow-Up Is Key
Once employers expend resources on a candidate, it will improve their return on investment if they dedicate a limited amount of administrative time developing policies to address incomplete or abandoned applications and pre-employment tests. Consider implementing some or all of these follow-up policies:
- Set a deadline for completing and submitting pre-employment tests and communicating the deadline to every candidate. Keep it flexible to avoid missing out on good candidates, but tight enough to keep the process moving.
- Make sure the candidate has someone to contact. This one is simple, but sometimes overlooked. Providing an administrative contact name, email address and phone number in case of technical difficulties, questions or problems can help avoid delays or unintended dropouts.
- Develop a policy regarding abandoned tests. Once it becomes clear that a candidate started the test but shows no sign of finishing, decide in advance how much of a follow-up effort will be pursued.
- Consider a second email or phone call to high-quality candidates who don’t complete a test. Feedback can provide valuable insight about which screening tests, application tools and test administration systems work well and which ones need improvement.
- For job openings with sufficient numbers of applicants or lower-quality candidates, an incomplete test can be an excellent way to narrow the candidate pool. In these cases, unfinished tests test can save the hiring organization money and time when an applicant essentially removes themselves from consideration. In truth, what levels of job performance can be expected from candidates who lack the motivation to complete a pre-employment application?
- Monitor email delivery, application and test administration software system activities to make sure the technology is working as it should. It’s easy to “set it and forget it,” but keeping an eye open for technological glitches or downtime can ensure that unexpected interruptions haven’t interfered with the submission process or kept a candidate from receiving or completing their application materials.
- Keeping track of candidates who abandon a test. It is equally important to avoid chasing marginally qualified candidates or to consider them for another position if they submit a future application for another post.
In Conclusion
It’s not enough to simply have a well-designed test in place. Having policies in place for following up—or not following up—with candidates who do not complete pre-employment tests or other elements of an automated evaluation process is essential for employers to get the most from their investment in pre-employment evaluation tools.
Without a follow-up plan, there is a risk of losing quality candidates, spending too much time chasing marginally qualified applicants or repeatedly considering those who abandon pre-employment tests for different positions.
