There’s another tool employers are using to disqualify qualified and promising applicants: pre-employment questionnaires. Although there are several names for these forms, they all serve the same purpose.
Asking a few job-related questions to determine your qualifications for a position seems innocent enough, right? Well, they would be if they weren’t applicant tracking systems’ (ATS) evil cousin.
Here’s how they work (based on my experiences).
Pre-Employment Questionnaires
These surveys ask questions about specific requirements and qualifications listed on the job posting. I call them disqualifiers because, depending on where the form is placed in the application, and depending on how you answer the questions, the ATS may or may not allow you to move forward. If you can’t complete and submit the application, you’re out of the running.
Let’s look at the following pre-employment survey.
How many years of relevant experience do you have? Relevant is subjective depending on the position and the hiring manager. And if I don’t have the numbers of years specified on the job posting, but am capable of performing the job, will you hire and train me?
Do you have event planning experience? Does planning barbecues and birthday parties for family members count? If so, yes.
Do you have experience working in an IT or academic environment? Does my work-study in the foreign languages department in college qualify me for this position?
Here’s a catch-33 of these questionnaires:
- You have to answer them, otherwise the systems won’t let you move forward.
- If you do answer them and say no to any of the responses, you may be immediately disqualified.
- If you say you have experience and qualifications and don’t, technically you’re lying, which could also disqualify you.
Consider the following question:
Do you have 2 years of payroll experience in the manufacturing industry?
How would you answer this if you had 2 years of payroll experience but not in the manufacturing industry?
Here’s another catch to these forms: there is no comment box where you can provide an explanation. So, again, how would you answer this question?
Now you see how pre-employment questionnaires work. Employers are using these useless tools to disqualify qualified and promising applicants.
Is there a way around them? I’m sure there is. I don’t know how to do it. However, if you know how to circumvent these surveys, let us know.
What About You?
Have you encountered these surveys? What’s been your experience?
Read other articles in the Frustrated Job Seekers Series:
Appropriate and Inappropriate Job Search Attire
More Frustrated Job Seekers’ Opinions on Applicant Tracking Systems
Even Applying for Temp Work Has Changed
How to Tackle the Salary Question
Applicant Tracking System Frustration
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