Pre-Hire Assessments 101
Before you make that final hiring decision, you have several options for learning more about a job candidate’s background and verifying their job qualifications. Today, Kinsa Group is sharing some practical tips on how, when, and why to use different types of assessments and background checks.
For fairness and legal protection, it’s important to apply the same screening process to every candidate for a given role. That said, it’s perfectly fine to use different processes for various position levels within your company—just make sure you have a clear, job-related reason for doing so. For example, it is likely you’ll want to do a credit check on your new CFO, but this is unnecessary for your next SQF Practitioner.
Drug Screens
Drug screens are fairly common, particularly for safety-sensitive positions like food manufacturing and food service. It’s best to administer drug screens after extending an offer—it saves money and simplifies logistics.
While testing can be tricky when relocation is involved, most communities have local testing facilities that can complete drug screenings before a candidate begins the move. Just be sure you understand all relevant federal and state laws.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Drug screening requirements may make hard-to-fill positions even harder to fill, so weigh the necessity carefully.
- Consider testing only for substances that are directly relevant to job safety and performance, rather than implementing blanket policies.
- Will you be testing for marijuana, given that it’s now legal in many states? This is an important question to address upfront, as policies vary widely and can impact your candidate pool.
- If you regularly hire candidates who need to relocate, partnering with a large national vendor can make the process smoother—they typically have authorized providers across the country.
Pre-Hire Assessments
These tools can help you do a deeper dive into personality characteristics, cognitive styles, and on-the-job skills and abilities. The appropriate use of behavioral assessments is to identify areas that might warrant more exploration during final interviews—use them as conversation starters, not decision-makers. The exception? Basic skills tests for math, typing, or computer proficiency can be used as clear-cut qualifiers when those abilities are essential to the role. Administer these after initial interviews but before final interviews, simply for cost and logistical reasons.
Kinsa’s recommendations:
- It’s best to use tools that are validated for hiring decisions (a lot of common assessments, like Myers Briggs, are not).
- Be wary of any tool that doesn’t thoroughly benchmark the specific jobs that you are assessing candidates for.
- In light of many studies that show the value of a diversified workforce, be careful of the adverse impact these tools may have on hiring—especially those focusing on personality and cognitive styles.
Employment & Education Verifications
Verifications confirm that a candidate has the educational and employment background listed on their resume. Human Resources departments at a former employer typically confirm dates of employment, and sometimes the person’s final job title.
- Use a vendor who specializes in this type of research. They know how to obtain the right information as quickly and efficiently as possible.
- Verifications for job candidates who have lived in multiple states or countries can take weeks.
- If an employer has gone out of business, it’s not always possible to verify associated employment information.
- There are a growing number of businesses that provide fake degrees and jobs, so avoid placing absolute trust in the information that comes back.
- Educational institutions may have undergone computer system updates since a student graduated. If the degree information is unable to be verified as claimed, involve the job applicant in the process to ensure a false negative doesn’t occur.
Reference Checks
This type of background check involves asking a candidate to provide contact information for people they have worked with to assess their job performance. Utilize after an offer, or at least wait until the process has been narrowed to a couple of final candidates.
- Typically, you won’t receive references from a current employer as this may jeopardize an applicant’s current job and livelihood. This could be an issue if an applicant has been with the same employer for many years. Another option, perhaps someone they worked with at this employer has recently departed from the business and can contribute comments on the applicant’s experience there.
- Best practice is to ask for three people to contact as references, all of whom the candidate has worked for or with. We recommend requesting two managers (individuals the employee has reported to) and being flexible about the third.
- People retire, pass away, and lose touch. It’s not necessarily a candidate’s fault if they struggle to provide viable references.
Criminal Background Checks
Criminal background checks can be the trickiest to navigate. There are federal and state-specific laws about what aspects of a criminal background can be used to discriminate against a job candidate, and disregarding these laws can lead to litigation. Only use this type of background check after job offers, to minimize potential discrimination liabilities.
- Verifications for candidates who have lived in multiple states or countries can take weeks.
- It’s best to stick to a single vendor to ensure consistency (for example, how far back the check extends – usually 7 years).
When applicable, job offer letters should explicitly state which of these assessments will be taken into account and be clear that the offer is contingent on the results of these checks. Our final tip is to use these tools sparingly. Great candidates have other options, and throwing too many hurdles at them through the hiring process can create frustration.
Want to streamline your hiring process with candidates who are thoroughly vetted by skilled Recruiters in the food industry? Kinsa Group specializes in connecting you with top-tier talent who have the skills, experience, and background you need. Reach out to our team today to explore our curated pool of exceptional candidates, or browse our talent marketplace to find your next great hire.
This blog was written by George Blomgren, Kinsa Group Recruiting Manager. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
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