Hire Standards

>>With unemployment levels at their highest point in decades, Southwest Florida companies have been inundated with job applicants, including some who are overqualified and others who do not fit the job description. Sifting through those candidates to find the cream of the crop can be a challenge, so some local companies have become more selective about how they advertise openings and accept applications.

In July, unemployment in Florida hit 10.7 percent, the highest rate since 1975, when it was 11 percent. Southwest Florida fared even worse than the rest of the state, with Lee County carrying a 13.2 percent jobless rate, Collier County at 12.1 percent, Charlotte County with 12.0 percent, and 16.4 percent in Hendry County, the state’s worst, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Compounding the volume of candidates is the ease with which one can apply for a job. Applications no longer need to be printed, placed in an envelope and mailed for a fee. Now it’s as simple as a click of a button, and most employers encourage applicants to submit their résumés electronically.

Some employers might want to go back to the old-fashioned route if the number of résumés becomes too much, says Helen Kreller, employment security representative with the Agency for Workforce Innovation in Naples. An employer might try stating in an advertisement that it will accept résumés, perhaps only paper copies, for only a short window of time. By making applicants jump through a few more, relatively painless hoops, only the most serious hopefuls would apply.

Employers who post jobs through the agency also have the option of capping the number of applications they will accept, Kreller adds. If an employer wants no more than 100 submissions for one position, for example, then the listing will automatically close once that number has been met.

NCH Healthcare System in Naples has an extensive hiring process that helps sort candidates. Although it doesn’t save the employer work, it makes the screening process more thorough, say officials. A third-party service called TestSource recommends questions for job interviews based on a prescreening questionnaire filled out by applicants. The new system for hiring was adopted earlier this year, says Renee Thigpen, director of human resources.

“They’ll assess a group of candidates and that assessment will tell them if they’re low in any areas and will give them some probing questions they can use in the interview process,” she says. “That has helped us in ensuring we’re getting the right candidate the first time.”

The questions don’t gauge skills, but assess employee engagement and send applicants to the appropriate department if they are hired. “You really want to ask these open-ended questions to get more information,” says Thigpen.

NCH also uses an application-ranking system called Position Manager. The digital system requires applicants to fill out an online application that can be entered into the system.
With more than 11,000 full- and part-time workers, the Lee County School District is one of the largest employers in the region, and those who do the hiring have become more selective, says Greg Atkins, the district’s chief human resources officer. “They’ve learned how to spot somebody who’s not properly credentialed faster, and then they will devote more time to somebody who has the proper credentials in place,” he says.

Other employers, such as The Ritz-Carlton Resorts in Naples, do more prescreening. The Ritz-Carlton directs all candidates to a questionnaire, which is on the company’s Web site, says Public Relations Director Lauren Rotchford. Requiring that they answer a series of questions helps filter out less serious candidates and narrows and sorts the field before the interview process even begins. Because the company conducts two or three interviews before hiring someone, it is most interested in saving time up front, and the questionnaire has proven effective. “It’s really helped filter and get the right people in the right positions,” she says.

With so many people looking for work, employers are finding that advertising isn’t as important as it used to be. Many no longer see the need to pay to post openings in newspapers and other traditional outlets, instead choosing free alternatives, such as Craigslist, says Dan Farrar, president of Resource Innovations in Fort Myers.

“There is such a flood of applicants in the market that probably the need to externally recruit has diminished a bit,” he says.

Those that do advertise should accurately convey what kind of applicant they are seeking, which will limit the number of résumés they receive. “Be very clear and specific what the requirements of the position are,” Farrar says. Require more details to weed out less serious applicants, and if an applicant doesn’t do what is requested, disqualify him. “You’re not going to read my ad, then why would I expect you to perform high-quality work if I hire you?” he adds.

He recommends including salary information in the posting. “A lot of advertisers don’t reveal requirements associated with targeted compensation. I think putting in a salary range would discourage people who are looking for more money from applying for that position.”

The hiring process might have gotten more challenging, but the result of so many candidates is good for employers, they say.

Five years ago, schools trying to fill positions might not get a single qualified applicant, says Atkins. Now, they are flooded with qualified people looking for work.

“I’ve watched this process literally change 180 degrees,” he says. “It is a good problem to have, because ultimately it’s going to translate into better teaching in the classroom.”