Surveys: they’re not just for candidate screening anymore

When your job openings attract hundreds of applicants, it’s easy to go cross-eyed while sifting through the mounds of resumes. That’s why almost every applicant tracking system on the market includes an initial candidate screening tool.

But a candidate screening tool should be just one application in a suite that includes a sophisticated survey platform. For instance, you need to be able to collect feedback and input from every colleague that touches the interview process.

Digging deeper into surveys

Robust survey tools should make it easy to:

• gather detailed input on job candidates from every colleague who interviews those candidates
• send follow-up surveys to colleagues and candidates when you need more information
• solicit feedback on the hiring process from all parties involved

Simple technology design

A great survey engine lets users create surveys using familiar, easy-to-use elements like radio buttons, checkboxes, drop lists and text fields.

It should optimize the user experience for both the survey creator and the survey respondents. Respondents are less likely to hesitate or outright abandon their surveys if they’re easy and quick to complete. That leads to a greater percentage of completed surveys and more reliable data.

For survey creator, the design task interface should be consistent from survey type to survey type. Users only need to learn how to use the survey builder once.

And since when there’s only one survey building tool, all survey results end up in the same database. And that means more complete and consistent information for everybody.

Survey reporting

Once results have arrived, survey creators need to analyze and report on the data. If you’re accustomed to using spreadsheets for analysis, you can simply export survey data into spreadsheet format and pinpoint what you want to see using Excel’s powerful, easy-to-use filtering tools.

Here’s an example from a group of interviewers providing feedback on recently interviewed candidates.

Click to enlarge.

Keeping an open mind on surveys

Sophisticated survey tools help human resources experts reduce the time they spend accumulating information. As a result, they can spend more time analyzing and making decisions based on that information.

Surveys can help you, and your colleagues, do even more. What types of surveys do you use during the hiring process? Share your experiences — good or bad.