According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, approximately 47.5 percent of interviewed candidates receive a job offer.
Furthermore, about 69 out of every 100 offers are accepted.
This means out of 100 candidates interviewed, 67 never become employed. Assuming a first interview lasts 20 minutes, that is over 22 hours invested in interviewing with no return.
Depending on the situation, pre-offer screening can help reduce wasted time by allowing hiring managers to vet candidates before extending an offer. However, there are a few things to be aware of before implementing a pre-offer screening process.
When to Leverage Pre-Offer Screening
Some organizations, particularly within the financial and healthcare sectors, conduct multiple interviews and invest considerable time in vetting candidates.
This process can be further simplified with a pre-offer screening solution that can help limit the number of interviews required to make disqualifications.
Due to the laws and regulations of many states, preliminary screening (or pre-offer screening) is almost always recommended after the first interview.
A pre-offer candidate survey, social media check, and even professional reference checks can go a long way in controlling the intake of your hiring funnel. However, employers must observe the laws and regulations of their state, such as Ban-The-Box laws and specific anti-discrimination laws. You will find more information about such laws later in this article.
Who is pre-offer screening best for?
Organizations hiring, in high volume, for positions that require multiple interviews and higher levels of due diligence. This often includes hires within the financial, healthcare, government, childcare, and education sectors, to name a few.
How Proper Vetting Can Create Efficiencies
Pre-offer background screening can save hiring managers considerable time, especially between the first and second interviews.
Greater efficiency can be achieved when pre-offer screening is managed from within an ATS platform.
Use in Tandem With Your ATS Solution
Many ATS offer powerful resume sorting/parsing capabilities. These capabilities allow for the automated storage and analysis of resume data.
However, we know that over three-fourths of candidates are dishonest on their resumes in some way. This tells us that resumes aren’t to be entirely relied upon, even when resume analysis capabilities are available.
Incorporating a pre-offer screening process that is integrated with your current ATS can add to your current resume parsing capabilities to create a complete and reliable applicant vetting solution that saves your hiring managers hours of time interviewing candidates who aren’t a fit.
Moreover, such a process will allow you to hire top talent that is more likely to stay with your organization.
Compliance
When screening a candidate pre-offer, there are a number of compliance considerations.
Many states don’t allow employers to conduct criminal background checks until after an initial interview is conducted. Some states don’t allow employers to conduct a criminal background check until an offer is extended. Some of these states include:
- California
- Colorado
- Hawaii
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Ohio
However, it’s important to note that many of these state laws cite criminal background checks, specifically. Thus, conducting pre-offer social media checks, candidate surveys, and reference checks is often an accepted practice as long as proper consent is obtained.
Authorization and Consent
As with any consumer report, candidate consent is always required.
For more information on consumer consent law, check out this article.
Ban The Box
Ban The Box law deals almost entirely with what can and cannot be asked on a job application. When it comes to pre-offer screening solutions conducted after the first interview, there is little Ban the Box relevance.
Conclusion
Pre-offer background screening solutions can help hiring managers save considerable time in their efforts to staff their organization adequately. It can also help them better identify future top performers.
In most cases, pre-offer screening won’t include criminal components but will lean more heavily on social media, candidate response, and references. This will help hiring managers better understand an applicant’s behavior and character. A comprehensive criminal background check can then be initiated once a job offer is extended.
Partnering with a screening provider that is compliance-focused and up-to-date on regulatory changes is the first step to introducing a robust, pre-hire solution into your hiring process. The second step is aligning the solution with current processes and technology. This is achievable through integration and vendor expertise.
For more information on candidate vetting solutions, contact us today.
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