case study for job recruitment

Skills-based success: 10 recruiting case studies

The working world has been turned on its head with the pandemic, the Great Reshuffle, and the resulting skills shortage. Companies are searching for a powerful, sustainable way to recruit and retain talent, and 81% of them are now opting for skills-based hiring practices.

Skills-based recruitment practices are for everyone. Don’t believe us? We've put together 10 recruiting case studies that demonstrate how different individuals, industries, and regions have successfully implemented skills-based hiring.

Table of contents

What's the purpose of a recruiting case study, 3 personal recruiting case studies, 3 recruiting case studies by industry, 4 recruiting case studies by region, looking for more recruiting case studies, the state of skills-based hiring 2024.

Read TestGorilla's annual report to discover why over 81% of companies are choosing to adopt skills-based hiring methods in 2024.

In recruitment, case studies are helpful tools for employers seeking to build, develop, or optimize their recruitment processes. They can be great sources of information and inspiration. By understanding the successes and failures others have had with their hiring processes, hiring managers can take any relevant learnings without having to make the same mistakes that others have.

To make these recruiting case studies relevant for as many people as possible, we've divided them into personal case studies, case studies by industry, and case studies by region. Let's dive in.

Let’s first look at the personal stories of some stellar individuals who were recruited into their ideal industries using skills-based practices. These people didn’t have traditional backgrounds, but because of their unique skills, they got into amazing roles. All that was needed was a chance to prove those skills during recruitment.

1. Justin Hutchinson

Justin Hutchinson wanted a future in football, but he was faced with a hard choice at age 14: Focus on his career prospects or take care of his father with cancer.

Justin, of course, chose his father and has never regretted that choice, but it did mean giving up the chance of achieving his dream job.

After his father’s passing, Justin attended a community college to fulfill his father’s wish for him to get a degree. To pay rent and living expenses, Justin got a job at a smoothie franchise.

His aim was to simply support his cost of living by making fast food – but it turns out Justin’s real skill was people and communication.

Justin would study the cars that drove up, memorize their orders, and have them ready so he could spend time talking and getting to know the customers instead of making drinks.

One of Justin’s customers was a chief executive of a marketing company and was so impressed with his people skills, he offered Justin an internship.

It wasn’t long before Justin used his soft skills to turn that internship into a full-time position. He dropped out of college, poured his heart and soul into the role, and attained the role of Director of Business Development.

Justin attributes his success to his best skills:

Workplace empathy

Strategic and critical thinking

Sales management

Justin didn’t have a typical marketing background – his experience was a partial college education with no degree, on-the-job experience (and not a traditionally “relevant” job), and his internship.

Not everyone can find the perfect marketer in a charismatic smoothie server, but online skills testing holds the same principles: Look at abilities first and ask questions later.

Sales and marketing are industries that are uniquely dependent on soft skills, which makes skills-based hiring an obvious choice for recruiting. For information on how it helps with the tricky subject of ramp time, read our article on skills-based hiring and ramp time.

2. Latisha Carter

Latisha Carter had a dream of excelling in corporate America, but she never got the opportunity to attend college.

At age 17, Latisha became a single mother. This put her dreams of college on hiatus for the foreseeable future.

Three years later, after having another child, Latisha got a job as a nursing assistant. But she still couldn’t shake her desire to make it in the corporate world.

She secured a call center job with NCR, a software company, driven by their offer of extensive employee training. 

Offering extensive upskilling and reskilling is one of the best things you can put on the table for potential candidates. A study by Lorman showed that 59% of Millennials believe that development opportunities are extremely important when deciding whether to apply for a position.

Latisha used her experience at NCR to get a role in customer service at the software company Sage.

With determination and hard work, she continued to work her way up for 20 years until she became a director at Xero, an accounting technology company.

Latisha is now proudly a director in corporate America with no college degree. Her company is reaping the benefits of her presence and skills. 

In the second half of 2021, Xero’s approach to skills-based hiring and its emphasis on diversity pushed a 7% increase in racial and ethnic diversity.

Jana Galbraith, the executive general manager for people experience partnering for Xero, says: “ [H]istorically, hiring based on degree exclusively has perpetuated discrimination .”

This boost is great news for Xero because the benefits of diversity are broad and include increased productivity, innovation, and financial performance.

Latisha’s struggle to succeed is unfortunately common for working mothers. To learn more about this, read our article on the motherhood penalty .

3. Cindy Veach

Cindy Veach didn’t have a traditional background. She had all the tech know-how, but she only had experience involving massage therapy and social services.

But she had the skills and she knew it. Cindy says it was a happenstance that she stumbled upon her perfect role; she just wanted a role where she could use her best talents.

“I was looking for jobs I had the right skills for, organizational skills in particular,” said Cindy.

She happened upon a tech administration apprenticeship program at IBM. Before then, she saw her tech skills as just a hobby and never imagined herself in the tech industry – but she applied and was accepted.

Cindy had a steep learning curve ahead of her. She possessed the base tech skills but needed the training to reach the right level.

She attributes much of her success to the flexibility of her mentors. They continually told her that if a path “didn’t feel right,” she was welcome to experiment and try something new.

At the end of the apprenticeship, she applied for a network operations technician role and was hired. She took a position with flexible work options so she could still care for her two children comfortably. 

Skills-based hiring made this outcome possible. Cindy’s communication skills, digital expertise, and problem-solving abilities helped her secure her role, and the focus on continuous improvement is helping her develop it .

She says that the combination of her appetite for learning and her employer’s support for her success is the perfect duo for creating limitless growth.

We’ve heard plenty of people say “skills-based hiring doesn’t work in my industry.” But that’s just yet another myth we’ve debunked . Let’s take a look at a handful of case studies about how companies within certain industries have succeeded with skills-based recruitment initiatives.

4. Healthcare

Healthcare administration is an industry that’s notoriously difficult to get into. Between receiving a bachelor’s degree and completing a master’s program, it can take six to eight years of rigorous commitment.

However, more opportunities are arising that allow equally qualified candidates to get in without obtaining specific educational requirements.

Sam Saucedo-Hernandez had a tumultuous life, but she only ever wanted a solid career. As a child of parents who emigrated from Mexico, she wanted to be the first generation in her family to attain a degree.

Sam watched her parents struggle with low-wage jobs and promised herself she would do better for herself.

Her first attempt was at law school where she spent several years studying hard. Sam was ecstatic to get her degree and begin a career in law.

But two weeks after she got her associate of science degree, the school got shut down for fraud, leaving Sam jobless and $60,000 in debt.

Sam faced many challenges, but the turning point in her story was the day she received a letter promoting a no-cost medical administrative assistant job training program from JVS.

JVS is a program that helps people build skills and find solid career connections – particularly in the healthcare industry.[1]

JVS has seen amazing success with over 500 employer partners and an emphasis on promoting diversity: 88% of their participants are Black, Hispanic, Asian, or a wide range of other ethnicities.

Sam applied for the program and was accepted. She secured a position as a medical administrative assistant, but her training has led her to her current role in the audiology department.

Though she’s fortunate for her position, Sam says she’s still looking forward, wondering where her skills can take her from here. 

Programs like JVS are working tirelessly to make more stories like this possible. With a focus on skills over experience, they bring in valuable candidates to industries that may otherwise be restricted to them.

5. Manufacturing

Steelcase, a furniture manufacturing company, wanted to build a fairer place for employment opportunities and encourage better representation for employees of color. So they adopted skills-based hiring practices.

They’re far from the only ones. According to TestGorilla’s State of Skills-Based Hiring report, 85% of businesses in 2023 had the goal to increase diversity.

And companies are succeeding at this by implementing skills-based hiring: 91% of organizations saw an increase in diversity due to skills-based hiring.

Steelcase realized that if they truly wanted to boost their DE&I initiatives , traditional hiring methods wouldn’t do.

They decided their hiring processes needed to be revamped for the better, so they adopted some new practices:

Prioritizing skills over resume and pedigree

Removing experience requirements wherever possible

Favoring continuous improvement over perfection

Revamping job descriptions to reduce biased language

Prioritizing diversity among equally qualified candidates

Steelcase decided that practices like these would enable them to reach diverse talent organically, and it worked. Since the program started, Steelcase’s new hires are 55% women and 30% racial or ethnic minorities.

Steelcase’s initiatives are amazing, so we encourage similar active moves to boost diversity. To read more about this topic, read our blog on why being intentional about workplace diversity is non-negotiable .

6. Software

ADP, an HR management software company, adopted a recruiting strategy to focus on skills , rely less on credentials, and make an effort to provide opportunities for candidates with nontraditional backgrounds.

This strategy included training talent acquisition professionals on best practices, hiring specific diversity recruiters, removing degree requirements from high-volume recruiting roles, and leveraging better training and mentorship for new hires.

What were the results? ADP saw great success in one year:

An increase in the number of candidates with no college degree

An increase in Black representation in the candidate pool

An increase in Hispanic representation in the candidate pool

This program was heavily inspired and backed by Maria Black, the chief executive of ADP, and her strong belief in corporate social responsibility.

She has a strong passion for supporting working women, veterans, and other underrepresented talents.[2]

Maria is an excellent example of the power of leading from the top. When your company’s leadership supports a great cause, it benefits both employees and company alike and builds a better organizational culture .

Next, let’s take a look at some case studies about the regions and countries that are taking on skills-based recruitment practices. For more on this subject, check out our post on skills-based hiring around the world .

7. Maryland, USA

In 2022, the state of Maryland dropped four-year degree requirements for thousands of jobs in the government sector.

The aim of this initiative was to draw attention to the value of alternative credentials and experience. State officials want to give people a better shot at securing a stable, fulfilling job.

Governor Larry Hogan was quoted as saying:

“[W]e are ensuring qualified, non-degree candidates are regularly being considered for these career-changing opportunities.”[3]

Over 38,000 people work for the state of Maryland and it’s estimated that more than half of those jobs can be performed by people whose alternative skill routes can easily substitute for a college education.

These alternative routes include:

Life experience

Non-relevant job experience

Hobbies and volunteer work

Alternative training

Community college education

Maryland estimates that about 47% of its working population are STARs (skilled through alternative routes). That’s 2.8 million workers, and these people need solid opportunities – opportunities that they can access through skills-based hiring.

To learn more about how unnecessary degree requirements are holding top talent back, read our blog on degree inflation .

8. Indiana, USA

Indiana’s tech leaders are struggling to attract and retain great talent. They’re facing a major skill shortage and they can’t solve it with the “usual” hiring methods.

Traditional recruiting methods exclude over 95% of Indiana’s workforce.

Indiana has a workforce of 3,332,239 people, but consider this:

A four-year degree requirement removes 75%

Biases can eliminate up to 30% of the pool

Requiring specific past experience removes 93% of the talent pool

With all of that in mind, a pool of more than three million candidates is reduced to just over 42,000.

Indiana’s Office of Technology (IOT) realized that skills-based hiring practices could fix this problem and solve their shortage.

They started by removing degree requirements from most job descriptions, then took the next step and started offering reskilling opportunities to workers from alternative industries, such as line cooks and truck drivers.

Tracy Barnes, IOT’s chief information officer, said that the results of the program have been positive and they’re “very pleased” so far. She also said that she’s equally excited to see the positive life impacts for the candidates involved.

9. Asia-Pacific

Skills-based hiring is quickly gaining traction in the Asia-Pacific area.

One study showed that 79% of businesses in the Asia-Pacific area look for skills when hiring versus the 21% that prioritize education and experience.[4]

The same study found that internal mobility is more important than ever and that companies want to prioritize gender equality and disability inclusion . These points can also be accomplished by adopting skills-based hiring.

Asia-Pacific is looking to skills-based practices to improve the future of their recruitment processes, but Singapore-based TruTrip is already reaping the benefits .

TruTrip is a business travel management company that needed help assessing candidate skills and hiring the best candidates, so they gave TestGorilla a try.

Here are a few ways that TestGorilla’s pre-employment skills testing helped TruTrip’s recruitment processes:

Gives them a way to objectively assess applicants’ skills and knowledge

Helps them eliminate bias from the hiring process

Enables them to consistently make better hiring decisions

Reduces their reliance on resume screening

Enhances teamwork and communication

Improves the employee experience of new hires

According to Hugh Batley, the founder of TruTrip, their new hires are a better fit. These employees become great contributors and have a better initial experience with the company.

TestGorilla also helps TruTrip save thousands of dollars by reducing the chances of a costly mis-hire. 

This isn’t unusual. According to TestGorilla’s State of Skills-Based Hiring report, 92.5% of organizations using skills-based practices saw a reduction in mis-hires in 2022.

10. The UK and the EU

The UK and the EU have developed a strong focus on skills over the past few years.

Interest in skills-based hiring in the UK rose 63% from 2021 to 2022 . This drastic increase is due to employers wanting a wider talent pool and candidates prioritizing and valuing their alternative experience.

This move is helping job opportunities reach the 73.6% of people in the United Kingdom who don’t possess a four-year degree. [5]

As for the European Union, they developed the “Pact For Skills” program in 2020. This program was created to encourage and fund better upskilling and reskilling while also promoting greater diversity and gender equality.[6]

A good example from both areas is the British-Lithuanian bank, Revolut.

Revolut adopted skills-based hiring by using TestGorilla’s skills tests and, as a result, improved their time-to-hire by 40% .

Among many other benefits, Revolut found TestGorilla’s language tests life-saving. Assessing language proficiency is essential for a multinational company, but traditional methods are time-consuming and laborious.

TestGorilla’s language tests help Revolut to quickly and easily evaluate their candidates’ reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This helped them to nearly fully automate their screening process, improving time-to-hire greatly.

To read more case studies and success stories about skills-based hiring, check out our 10 stories that demonstrate the power of skills-based hiring or our collection of customer case studies .

Here are 3 top picks from our case studies:

Revolut improves time-to-hire by 40% using TestGorilla

Design Pickle uses TestGorilla to boost application completion rate by 25%

TestGorilla helps TruTrip to save money and improve employee experience

If you’d like to acquaint yourself with a solid skills-based hiring practice, browse our test library and review our skills tests.

“JVS 2022 Impact Report”. (2022). JVS . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://impact2022.jvs.org/

“Maria Black, president and CEO”. (n.d). Business Roundtable. Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://www.businessroundtable.org/about-us/members/maria-black-president-and-ceo-adp

McGraw, Mark. (April 4, 2022). “Dropping Degree Requirements: Do Employers Still Care About Education?”. World at Work . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://worldatwork.org/resources/publications/workspan-daily/dropping-degree-requirements-do-employers-still-care-about-education

“The Future of Talent”. (2021). LinkedIn . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/future-of-talent-whitepaper.pdf

“Overview of the education system”. (2022). Education GPS . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?primaryCountry=GBR&treshold=10&topic=EO

“Pact for Skills”. (November 10, 2020). European Commission . Retrieved March 6, 2023.  https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1517&langId=en

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Case Study Underscores Why HR Change Management Skills Are Critical

HR Daily Advisor

DECEMBER 8, 2017

Here is an example to illustrate the point: This is a true story about Robert, a director of Recruitment and Human Development for a major chemical company. Improve the company’s college recruiting program designed to bring into the company “high potential” entry-level engineers and technically-trained individuals.

#GamifyHR HR / Learning Gamification Case Studies

Strategic HCM

MAY 18, 2014

Day 3 of Fleming''s Gamification in HR Summit focused on learning, particularly in this case study from Tuba Surucu from Yapi Kredi Bank in Turkey. So again, this is gaming rather than gamification - and quite similar to the recruitment case studies in fact.

#E4S case studies - BT, Capital One.

DECEMBER 17, 2012

But after a couple of these I was beginning to worry whether these case study sessions were going to live up to the challenge that E4S provides and David Guest described earlier - if there’s been such as huge management c**k-up as there certainly has, we don’t get out of it by a slight shift in management as usual.

How an Employee Experience Platform Helps with Recruiting

DECEMBER 14, 2017

Case in point: recruiting . How an employee experience platform helps recruiting . That means it touches everything in the employee lifecycle, from recruiting to retirement. With more time and data on hand, HR professionals can optimize their efforts around programs such as recruiting . About Kazoo.

Case Study: HR as a Vital Catalyst for Company Success

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

HR effectively redefined the recruiting and selection process to hire people who would embrace the 20 percent, aided in creating incentives aligned with the 20 percent purpose, and built a performance review process designed to reward and recognize efforts and contributions focused on achieving the it.

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Elite Human Capital

Executive search. recruitment. talent advisory. career coaching. outplacement., case studies in the recruitment process – an assessment method for gathering data on a candidate.

Recently I started recruiting for a management consulting company who uses client case studies as part of their selection process. For them, it has proven to be an effective way of gathering information on a candidate to assess suitability.

To better understand the use of case studies in the recruitment process, my assistant Laura and I did research into the topic, this blog post is to share that information with you.

An overview of case studies in the recruitment process

Case studies are used as a method of competency measuring. Competency methods can focus on technical abilities, social and behavioural skills, or a combination of the two.

Case studies are most popular in management consulting (though they are used in some other industries) since they are able to mimic the kinds of tasks that would be required in the job.

They are done face-to-face during a specified time slot or given to the candidate to complete in their own time.

See Hiring by Competency Models, Patty Grigoryev (2006)

University of Sydney, Case study interviews https://sydney.edu.au/careers/students/applying-for-jobs/interview-tips/case-study-interviews.html

Research on case study efficacy

The premise behind administering a case study as an assessment method is that it offers a level playing field, to some degree, by allowing shortlisted candidates to demonstrate their technical abilities and personal qualities irrespective of past experience and qualification(s).

Case studies enable interviewers to see the strengths and weaknesses of candidates in action, including:

• Engaging in logical and analytical reasoning.
• Thinking creatively and generating innovative solutions.
• Problem-solving.
• Working under time pressure.
• Effective communication skills, including presenting in front of one or several interviewers and using a whiteboard to express concepts.

Case studies are detailed in their nature, add cost to the overall recruitment process (because they require time and resources to administer) and are often one of the final stages in the recruitment process.

Reducing the risk of a bad hire

It is well-established that the costs of a bad hire for a business are huge, especially in leadership roles where it can affect the performance of the whole team.

The hard costs of a bad hire are estimated to range between 50% and 200% of the first-year salary. In management consulting, a bad hire cannot only affect the internal team – a poor client experience can have significant impacts from a brand and billing perspective.

Finding ways to reduce the number of bad hires isn’t easy, case studies have been developed to provide additional data points to make a more informed hiring decision. Using competency modelling methods such as case studies, it has been shown to increase success in hiring decisions, with the most significant improvement stemming from a better culture fit.

Talent Management 360, Using case studies to recruit talent https://talentmanagement360.com/using-case-studies-to-recruit-talent/

Case studies and management consulting companies

Big 4 accounting firms and strategy consulting houses like McKinsey and Bain consistently use case studies in their recruitment process, for example:

PWC appears to only use case studies in relation to taxation and when hiring recent graduates. They are described as “provide students with realistic fact situations in which a number of tax problems and opportunities can be identified”. They acknowledge that law students and business students may choose to approach them differently and give some background regarding the issues and deliverables expected, such as that students are expected to “incorporate a certain amount of tax planning into their solutions”.

https://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/university-relations/tax-case-studies.html

By contrast, Deloitte’s approach is broader. The case interview is designed to assess problem-solving and analytical skills, as well as logic and strategy. However, it is also designed to give candidates an insight into their prospective role, since the cases align with real projects. They clearly step out a five-step approach that candidates should use to address the case interview and give a list of helpful tips that they recommend will help interviewees get the most out of the experience. There is also an interactive case interview practice website ( http://caseinterviewprep.deloitte.com/ ) designed to assist.

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/careers/articles/join-deloitte-careers-case-interview-tips.html

McKinsey & Company who are notorious for gruelling recruitment methods, with some prospective employee’s having up to 20 interviews before receiving an offer, including a compulsory case interview.

McKinsey offer four example case interviews, which can all be found at this link:

https://www.mckinsey.com/careers/interviewing

Bain states that any candidate applying for a consulting role should expect a case interview, and those cases will be based on Bain’s client work. They provide two examples, as well as a mock interview for candidates to watch:

https://www.bain.com/careers/interview-prep/case-interview/

Capital One

Capital One also has a detailed case study guide which demonstrates what they will assess (problem solving and analytical skills) as well as providing examples:

https://jobs.capitalone.co.uk/business-analyst-case-study-guide

Time allotted

The PWC case studies are to be done in the student’s own time, but there is a general guideline offered: “The time required of the student to complete the case requirements will vary greatly, depending upon the level of tax knowledge of the individual student, their software skills, and the number and type of issues in each case. As a very general guideline, each case study, with all issues included, should require not less than 10 hours of issue formation, research, and analysis by a graduate tax student, before the final deliverable(s) are developed.”

Deloitte’s case interview preparation page states that each case is 15-20 minutes long but does not give any set time limits and there is no suggestion that responses are timed.

See PWC Case Studies in Taxation https://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/university_relations/documents/Case-Studies-in-Taxation-2018.pdf

Measuring the responses

PWC’s case studies are designed to test both technical skills (tax knowledge, Excel ability) and broader skills such as problem solving and creativity. It is stated that the ‘deliverables’ can be in many forms including “a letter to the client identified in the case study, a memo to the client file, or preparing a ruling request for the IRS. Some case study users require oral presentations. These may take the form of a straight presentation or role-play in the setting of a client meeting, resolution of an audit, or representation of a client in a court.” Actually measuring these is not expressly dealt with, but the document does provide a set of solutions to each case study for comparison, akin to a marking key.

By comparison Deloitte is focused less on finding the ‘right answer’ and emphasises that candidates will do well by clearly demonstrating a logical thought process. Having a clear structure and acknowledging any assumptions are listed as recommendations. Possible answers are given in the example attached and they focus on having both justifications and implications for each point. It’s all about the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’. For numerical/technical questions however, there is a clear right and wrong.

Other methods of work sample testing

There are alternative methods for collecting data points on a candidate, these include: written questionnaires, take home or in office real life job tasks, online assessment tools and group assessment centres.

One hiring manager I was recruiting for would take a full two hours to conduct an interview with a candidate. In the first hour he would cover off behavioural and company ‘fit’ questions, in the second hour he would launch into a long list of technical questions, including real case study examples from working at his company.

This thorough approach made the hiring manager more confident in his decision to hire the individual (or not hire if the candidate wasn’t strong enough).

Here are some other quality articles on evidence based interviewing and testing.

• The Case for Evidence Based Interviewing: Part 1 and Part 2
• Assessing Soft Skills

When I’m engaged to conduct a recruitment process for a client I recommend gathering as many data points on the candidate as possible – including a type of work sample, if possible.

I’m always looking for ways to help organisations recruit better. Leveraging years of experience in corporate recruiting I can assist with finding the bottlenecks and weak points in your hiring process and improving hiring outcomes.

Find out more about my services here: https://elite-human-capital.com/consulting-services/

To talk with me about how I can help, make contact today.

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Home » Management Case Studies » Case Study: Google’s Recruitment and Selection Process

Case Study: Google’s Recruitment and Selection Process

Google Inc., the world’s largest and most popular search engine company, is also one of the most sought after companies in the world. Due to the popularity of the company caused by its highly attractive compensation and benefits packages for its employees, millions of job applications are constantly received by Google on an annual basis. While other companies envy Google for attracting and acquiring such highly-talented and highly-skilled individuals from all over the world, the company finds it as a serious cause of dilemma.

When Google Inc. topped the ranks for the most popular companies in the world , it could no longer contain the number of applications it receives from thousands of job hunters from all over the globe. And since the company aims to hire only the best employees that fit the organizational culture and standards of Google , the company started thinking of ways to better improve its recruitment and selection process for its would-be employees.

In an article released in New York Times in 2007, Google Inc shared its non-traditional, highly creative and unconventional approach of selecting and hiring employees. Initially, the Google management sought the aid of its highly-competent and well-skilled technical staff in order to find ways to quickly go through and review the millions of applications it stored in its recruitment database.

The Google Inc management also decided to focus on the distinct behavioral characteristics and personality that separates Google employees from any other employees in other known companies. It shifted its focus from academic qualifications and technical experiences to the applicant’s personality , creativity , leadership capacities , innovative and non-conventional ways of thinking and the applicant’s overall exposure to the world. The academic qualifications and the intensive job experience just came in as second priorities of the company in choosing the best candidates for any open positions.

Since then, the Google Inc company not only became known for its outstanding and “luxurious” job compensation and benefits packages it offers its employees, but also in making use of some of the most powerful recruitment assessment tools capable of picking the best employees in the world that fit the standards set by Google.

The Google Recruitment Process

One of the most notable statements of Eric Schmidt , the CEO of Google Inc. is that “Google invests in people.” The main reason why people from different cultures, have been dreaming of being recruited and hired by Google is that the company offers possibly the most outstanding job compensation packages any normal employee could ever enjoy.

In order to attract the best employees, Google draws them by the promise of wealth and luxury, providing their employees with almost everything an employee could possibly need, from absurdly high compensations to extravagant and luxurious benefits like gourmet food, carwash, gym, snacks, exercise classes, dry cleaning services, car services, haircuts, oil changes, massages, checkups and many more, all for free.

Nevertheless, the recruitment process was also far beyond ordinary. Several people who have had experience in the Google recruitment process narrates that the experience was totally nerve-wracking. One applicant who underwent interviews for Google has had five to seven interviews in one day for two to three straight days. That applicant claims that the interviews were really tough with some of the brightest people in the world, conducting the interviews filled with brain teasers, algorithmic problems, and IQ tests.

Another applicant who also have had experiences in the recruitment process of Google claims that his Google experience was one of the most nerve-wracking adventures of his life. The interviewers were looking for extremely bright individuals and so the recruitment method was filled with IQ tests, brain teasers, algorithms, data structures, and a lot of mathematics involved in it.

The Google Selection Process

Google is no doubt the world’s best recruitment leader. Google is known for various unique approaches that it has utilized in order to attract the cream of the crop or the best of the bests. One way is through employment branding. Google has so successfully utilized their brand in order to attract the most talented and highly-competent individuals in the world. Because of their claim of providing the best employee-employer experience supported by the many perks, benefits and high salaries that Google employees get to enjoy, Google became the most desired companies for men and women in the world.

While the work and job responsibilities in Google are not that easy, the stock options benefit is one of the key drivers of retention and continuous acquisition of the best employees for this company. In 2007, employee turn-over at Google was reportedly less than 5% which was simply phenomenal. People didn’t want to leave the company because the amazing provisions and benefits that the company offers its employees. Moreover, the creative approaches of Google when it comes to hiring and retaining employees were simply exceptional. Employees claim that money was never an issue for Google in terms of utilizing it to take care of its employees.

One notable recruitment technique that Google utilized in 2006 was the targeted and unobtrusive approach to sending recruitment messages. Google crafted a simple technique to recruit the best students in certain schools and universities to work for them. They allowed people from these schools to access the search portal of Google wherein the students’ IP address would be identified to see from what organization the person belongs into. The technique was successfully executed using a minimalist and unobtrusive style of recruitment wherein below the search box, the Google system would know whether the targeted student is graduating or not and whether or not they intend to work for Google after graduation. The approach was definitely a successful micro-targeted approach. It was also in the same year when Google opened up to the idea of an Employee Referral Program. In putting up this program, Google made sure that it would deliver them a world-class employee whose personality, qualifications and work ethics reflect the Google standards.

A year passed by and Google’s attempts for recruitment innovations continued to improve. In 2007, Google developed a simple and effective assessment tool to screen its millions of applicants all over the world via an algorithm assessment tool. The algorithm technique effectively separated the top and the best performers from thousands of candidates vying for a position. Moreover, the assessment tool was made sure to successfully predict the best possible candidates from the least and the average and has managed to resolve the issue on the usual assessment tools being used by most companies, relying mainly on the academic qualifications and intensive industry and job experience.

Truly, what separates the Google recruitment process from the typical and the usual recruitment methodologies that other companies employ is its ability to accurately identify the best candidates for the position using a more data-based and scientific approach to the recruitment process. Also, it has significantly reduced the reliability of interviews, which for most companies, serves as the final indicator of how well an employee will perform at work. Furthermore, the algorithm approach which is a common business model that the company employs was effectively used to assess whether potential candidates can indeed perform given the high performance standards of Google.

The secret to be selected as a Google employee is that one has to think a lot like an “engineer”. Apparently, Google expects their employees to be highly quantitative and highly analytical as well as highly capable of dealing with too many data all at the same time. During the interviews, an applicant must also be able to demonstrate his skill or capacity by writing codes, intelligently analyzing case studies and brain teasers and solving algorithmic problems on the spot. Also, Google is searching for applicants who are highly practical and are capable of making something out of nothing that people can make use of.

The Google Interview Process

Since Google is known to be the ultimate recruitment and selection machine, its interview processes are also the most grueling experiences an applicant could ever have. Usually, the interviews begin using the telephone. Once the phone interviews conducted have been successful, the applicant would be scheduled by the recruitment officer and be invited for a series of five to ten interviews in one day with ten different people. For some people who have successfully undergone this process, they described it as the most excruciating employment experience of their lives as a lot of mental gymnastics were necessary to prove your skills.

There were many instances when the applicants were asked to write codes, brain storm, role play or solve mathematical equations on the spot just to prove that they are highly-skilled and competent. In other instances, the applicants are even tested of their marketing skills even though the position an applicant is applying for is highly technical. The interviewers seem to have control and power over the applicants letting them do everything just to prove that they are worthy for the position. Common questions involved computer network problems, Java programming and algorithms by which Google is known for.

Moreover, other applicants can rate and share comments on another applicant which Google can track and use as another basis for hiring or not hiring an applicant. Overall, the process was a lengthy, tedious and nerve-wracking experience which can possibly traumatize anyone whose dream is to work for one of the most prestigious companies in the world. Nevertheless, the perks and benefits are limitless and are more than enough to compensate for such a tough employment experience.

Related posts:

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• Integrity Testing in Employee Selection Process
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• Type of tests taken in the selection process
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13+ HR Case Studies: Recruiting, Learning, Analytics, and More

Reposting a piece from the blog over at Lighthouse Research because I know not all of you subscribe over there!

While much of the work we do at Lighthouse Research & Advisory focuses on quantitative research studies, we do a fair amount of qualitative research as well. We’ve collected case studies over time (and continue to) that highlight interesting approaches and examples of innovation within human capital management. The list below offers a wide variety of industries, examples, and flavors for you to learn from.

Want to see another topic or example not listed here? Comment below and and I will see what we can do to find that for you!

Wal-Mart, Automation, and Compassion Training

Walmart’s Fastest Growing Line of Business is Delivering Experiences

The Motley Fool: Blending Talent Management and Engagement

Motley Fool: The Coolest Talent Processes You’ve Never Heard Of

Chipotle: How Internal Mobility Reduced Turnover by 64%

Internal promotion-how Chipotle reduced turnover by 64%

Adtran: Using Hackathons for Employer Branding, Employee Development, and Retention

Using Hackathons for Branding and Retention

Stout Advisory: Performance Management, Peer Feedback, and Employee Engagement

How to Radically Change Your Performance Management Practice [Podcast]

H&R Block: Seasonal Hiring, Strategic Recruiting, and Hiring Manager Communications

Patagonia: measuring the roi of hr programs, hr strategy, employee perks and benefits.

Measuring the ROI of HR Programs is Critical: Here’s How Patagonia Does It

Hot Chicken Takeover: Employee Benefits, Corporate Culture, Leadership, and Social Responsibility

Can a Business Grow Competitively While Doing Social Good? [Podcast]

AlliedUniversal: Talent Acquisition, Employee Referrals, and High-Volume Hiring

How Does AlliedUniversal Hire 90,000 Workers a Year? Referrals and PURPOSE [Podcast]

Duie Pyle: Remote Worker Engagement, Blue Collar Challenges, and Competitive Recruiting

Talent Lessons from the Transportation Industry [Podcast]

Ohio Living: Core Values, Company Culture, and Employee Recognition

We’re Only Human 39: Ohio Living Serves 70,000 Clients Annually with Core Values

Cox Enterprises: HR Analytics, Business Impact, and Strategy

We’re Only Human 53: How to Partner with Your Talent Analytics Team

McDonald’s: Learning Measurement, Business Impact, and ROI

Southwest airlines: corporate culture, employee perks, and employee engagement.

We’re Only Human 40: How Southwest Airlines Lives and Breathes Corporate Culture

HJF: HR Technology Selection and Implementation, HR Leadership, and Modernization

We’re Only Human 55:The HR Leader’s First Year on the Job

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More From Forbes

How to use ‘case-study’ techniques to ensure successful executive hires.

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You need a new senior exec and you need him in fast. There’s an opportunity to seize, or a challenge to overcome, and the new hire will help you get on top of it pronto.

Giving candidates a real on-the-job challenge can help you make the perfect executive hire.

But what if he doesn’t? What if you choose the wrong candidate, the fit isn’t right and the results are not up to par? Maybe he or she set out a great vision but can’t actually get things done. Or is good at tasks but misses the big picture. Either way, it doesn’t work out, you lose time and money, and have to start all over again – the last thing you need.

The problem is that recruitment at a senior level brings a particular challenge. The talent of executive candidates is often exactly what makes them so difficult to assess properly: a career in climbing the ladder has trained them to speak well, particularly in promoting themselves. To make an appointment with confidence, how can you get around the veneer of experienced professionals and find out if they really have what you need?

The Case-Study Test

Set up your finalists to undertake a case study. Give them a fact set around a challenge they will face if they get the job and ask them to come back and present their thinking about how to tackle it. Provide them with information on the company and the challenge and ask them to lay out a work plan to address the issue.

Colin McKillop, President & CEO of Michigan-based Towne Group LLC – who has kindly shared this idea with us – reports that short presentations provide insight into candidates’ personality and communication skills, their analytical capacity and their ability to get things done as a part of a team.

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His innovation has been to combine the open-ended technique of case-study interviews with a more company-specific and pragmatic, problem-solving approach.

Case-study interviews move beyond the standard questions about background and experience to reveal candidates’ mindsets and their manner of thinking. Asking hypothetical questions aims to circumvent the practiced self-promotional skills often embedded in leadership personalities and sheds light on their creativity in problem-solving, capacity for teamwork and instinct for making plans and following processes.

McKillop’s insight has been to take the effort to craft case studies out of concrete challenges arising from the company’s actual situation. This gives a best-of-both approach, combining the hypothetical with the practical, all within an efficient, manageable process. It is has brought excellent, highly consistent results.

Here’s how it works:

• Write up a case study – just a page or two. Set a challenge the company has or may face that falls within the remit of the executive job on offer. Give the same write-up to all candidates. This may include a general overview of the company and other non-confidential information. Ask them to draft a 30-, 60- or 90-day plan (select one), or make an analysis of the challenge with recommendations.
• Get them to take the material home and spend an hour (tops) to create a presentation of no more than 12-15 slides, then return to present their analysis in, say, a 15-minute session. Underline that the time allocation is strict, to be fair to all candidates and to limit the amount of effort they have to put into preparation.
• When they come back, give your hiring panel and any observers a rating sheet, with instruction to score each presenter on communication skills, slide quality, relevance and depth of analysis and value of the proposed solution.
• Consider their performance alongside other information gathered during their interviews, including assessments and reference checks.

Common questions about this approach:

• Will candidates be willing to do it, or will they bolt for other offers? You are only asking for preparation time of an hour or two, and a short return presentation. If they’re not willing to do that, why would you want to hire them?
• Will it slow the process down? Not much, if you move fast. If time is of the essence, you could even do it the day of the interview. If they pass the first interview, give them a private space, hand them the case study, and give them 90 minutes to prepare their slides. Towne Group uses the approach for all management and professional roles but only asks the final 3-5 candidates for presentations.
• What if none of the candidates provides a workable solution? Remember, the exercise is not about the answer itself but the thought process and what it reveals about how the candidates work. With incomplete information, even the best presentations by successful hires require substantial re-drafting once they are hired. Still, the work helps a new hire hit the ground running – and above all, it helps you make the right choice.

McKillop reports that, for Towne Group, the presentation approach has resulted in a perfect record of successful hires from 10 recruitments over the past two years – with no mis-hires or hiring failures.

For example, the recruitment for a systems manager at Towne Group came down to two strong candidates; the successful one came through by making an excellent presentation on key challenges impacting the marketplace and how he would manage a downturn. A successful candidate for a VP position presented a unique way to address issues with an important client. Both candidates proved they were thoughtful and creative, as well as experienced and practically oriented. Both have been positive hires.

“Candidates like having a chance to break out of the usual interview format and present their ideas in a group setting,” McKillop says. “The experience has been really positive, and brought us great results.”

Hiring senior executives is a big commitment for you. It’s a big commitment for them, too. If it goes wrong, it’s a bad experience for everyone, wasting energy, resources and opportunity. The modified case-study approach does require more effort from both sides, but it’s an approach any good candidate should respect. Staging a mini-trial run reveals a lot, and is actually more respectful of everyone’s time by making sure you get such an important decision right the first time – a win for all.

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Recruitment Strategies to Attract and Retain Talent Case Study | How To Attract Talent

Contact us left, improving access to skills, improving access to skills.

A woolly mammoth. A dodo. A software engineer. Sometimes recruitment can feel like an impossible quest for what you can only assume is now an extinct beast.

Whilst this alone may not lead you to outsource your recruitment, having an outsourcer than can help you conquer these conundrums is essential. You can have the fastest, cheapest resourcing processes in the world, but if at the end of all that you’re just putting bums on seats or finding you world leading experts that upset everyone around them, you’re not really solving anything.

Finding you better quality talent, whilst saving you time and money. That’s what Hays Talent Solutions does. Putting the right person, in the right job, at the right time.

Building new talent pools within a shrinking sea of skills

When one of our sourcing partners noted that job boards results were beginning to dwindle and salaries were on the up 10-15% over 18 months, in an area was going to be a continued area of focus for our client, he didn’t just wait for war for talent to come to him, he took matters into his own hands.

Having noted the financial services giant had demonstrable commitment towards progressing internal professionals from one area into this skills shortage waiting to happen, he began to explore how the external market for these people compared to their internal team and if the business would entertain applications from these external candidates into this area too.

The sourcing expert began by mapping the external market, to find out how many of these professionals were present and active across the various recruiting channels, from referrals to social media and other online communities, using as many different relevant job titles as he could.

A list of where the most relevant external talent was, not to mention the identification of 219 candidates in the right area. This new talent pipeline began to deliver for the client straight away, with three hires as a direct result, and the beginnings of a talent pool that the sourcing partner now maintains, keeping our client one step ahead of the competition.

We’ve achieved similar results with talent pools for clients around the world. Our talent pooling efforts for an RPO across 17 countries have seen direct hire fill rates rise from 80% after one year to 93% at the end of the second year, reaching 96% by the third year, whilst others have reached 98% as a result of pipelining, talent pooling and internal mobility support.

An example of the talent pool in action in a specific team was within the Finance division who were looking to engage an experienced intake of fresh talent to support their succession planning by bridging the gap between graduate programme hires and senior management.

Mobilising the internal workforce

Everyone knows the existing workforce and referrals are the most effective source for candidates. However, when you’re a global company with over 50,000 employees split across a multiple product lines and functions just communicating all the different opportunities available is no easy task, let alone asking your workforce if they know anyone suitable.

However, when a multinational corporation came to Hays with just that challenge, help us mobilise our existing workforce and their networks, to reduce the need to source, we set to work. We used the workforce from the start, canvassing their opinion to uncover what they thought would help. We found their employees would actually really the value the opportunity to get a deeper understanding of the different lines of business, and understand more clearly what types of career options exist. However, taking it one step further than this there was desire for a career network that would allow them to make connections with leaders in other areas.

In response Hays worked with the internal HR team to plan and develop a career development day, which included:

• A series of presentations from four business areas, showcasing what they do, the transferable skills and experience they look for, and what a career in their team looks like
• Promotion of open roles, existing career development tools and resources and referral schemes
• Live demonstrations of how to use the tools and resources
• Advice on how to secure a new role internally, from how handle potentially awkward conversations with line managers and approaching other business areas, as well as advice on who to introduce to the business and how
• Dedicated networking opportunities with leaders from across the business  

99% of the 340 attendees rated the day as valuable and worth the time they invested, with 78% stating they’d do something differently or take action as a result.

Going global for the best talent

Poor quality recruitment and retention of staff quality would be an issue for any business, but when you’re suffering from external brand issues, and striving for large scale change to address this, it becomes an even more complex concern.

This was exactly the situation Hays Talent Solutions was bought in to support when one of our UK public sector clients asked us to design and deliver an innovative recruitment campaign to attract high-caliber social work candidates. We worked closely with both the relevant operational department as well as the HR team to create an engaging package that would attract candidates, but most importantly retain them for the future. Targeted with employing 12 qualified senior social workers from New York to work in the UK the Hays Account Manager became an extension of the council, bringing together the HR department and the hiring team to enable a smooth delivery of the project.

The interview process was critical as it needed to be very thorough to ensure the right calibre of candidate. Therefore, using our UK and US presence combined the dedicated Hays Account Manager carried out a comprehensive process prior to the final interview and written assessment in New York.

From an original response of over 80 candidates, Skype interviews were undertaken and a shortlist of 30 candidates was produced. Hays travelled to New York alongside the Director of Children’s Services, the Head of Safeguarding and the Policy and Performance Manager to ensure the recruiting process went smoothly.

Compliance and safeguarding is a fundamental principle that underpins all recruitment activity at Hays, which was vital in this situation due to the nature of the work the social workers would be dealing with combined with the international complexities at play here.

From face-to-face interviews, 13 offers of employment were made, supporting the council on an exciting journey, shaping and transforming the services they offer to make a visible difference to the community.

Reducing external reliance

As testament to our performance with payrolling and then our success running an MSP, in February 2015 we added an RPO arm to our work with one of Australia's largest financial services brands. This originated from the business realising that the internal recruitment team was struggling to cover all of the roles they were required to deliver and agency spend was very high. With Hays Talent Solutions coming on site, the business was able to utilise its internal team to be more niche in their focus while our team manages all volume recruitment. This involves all administration and secretarial roles as well as a majority of their customer-centric roles, whether this is branch or phone based.

Utilising our centre of excellence model to scale up our RPO recruitment capacity has allowed us to ensure time to hire remains under 25 calendar days - within KPIs from the start of the service, whilst delivering 100% direct sourcing within the RPO model, ensuring cost savings directly to the business.

Contact us to discuss how we could help you access the best talent

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5.21 Case Study: Zendesk Recruitment: A Fictional Example

Case study: recruiting at zendesk.

Over the last few years, Zendesk , the company where Melinda works as an HR manager, has seen plenty of growth. Zendesk builds software designed to improve customer relationships. The company has a strong culture that encourages employees to grow and innovate. At the beginning, Zendesk recruited simply on the basis of the applications they received, rather than actively searching for the right person for the job. The first thing Melinda did when arriving at the company was to develop a job analysis questionnaire, which she had all employees fill out.

The goal was to complete a job analysis for each position that existed at the company. This happened to be at the point where the organization started seeing rapid growth, as a result of increased demand from their client base of small and medium businesses. Luckily, since Melinda followed the industry closely and worked closely with management, part of her strategic outline planned for the hiring of several new positions. Keeping in mind the employment laws and the company’s position on a diverse workforce, Melinda set out to write new job descriptions from the job analysis she had performed. She also used a significant part of her budget to produce a slick recruiting video that emphasized the strong culture of Zendesk.

Video: “ This is Zendesk ” By Zendesk [1:40]

She aggressively pushed this video through Twitter and Instagram. After a three-week period, Melinda had 345 applications for the different positions, a 146% increase from last year. Pleased with the way recruiting had gone, she started reviewing the resumes to continue with the selection process.

• Do you think Melinda’s approach was the best one? Why?  Why not?
• What other social media advertising could the company have included?

“ Chapter 4: Recruitment- Recruiting or the search for talent at Zendesk ” from   Human Resources Management – 2nd Ontario Edition  by Elizabeth Cameron is licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Human Resources Management - 3rd Edition Copyright © 2023 by Debra Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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• December 14, 2023
• By Amtal Seher
• Blog , Recruitment , Recruitment Services , Talent Acquisition

Why Interviews are Important in the Recruitment Process

In the ever-evolving world of human resource management and talent acquisition, interviews are a cornerstone of the recruitment process. These face-to-face or virtual interactions between candidates and a recruitment agency play a crucial part in shaping the trajectory of an organization.

It is not wrong to say interviews are more than just a string of questions and answers. They are assessments that enable employers to evaluate a candidate’s skills, qualifications, cultural fit, and potential contribution to the company.

 “A lot of times the interview relies not so much on the interviewee, but on the interviewer.” Ernie Johnson Jr.

Therefore, before going full speed ahead in the recruitment process, plan the interview especially if you are having an executive search hiring. A good hiring plan will help your business develop and simplify finding and hiring the candidate who fits.

In exploring the importance of interviews in the recruitment process , we delve into the multifaceted reasons why they are required, shedding light on their role as an essential component of an organization’s future success.

So, let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Evaluate the candidate’s professional background during recruitment:.

The interview is helpful in many ways, and the first and foremost is that it allows you to evaluate the qualifications and professional background of the candidate. You can ask questions as many as you want to get an idea of industry knowledge, work experience, and prior qualifications.

The answer to the question helps to evaluate the professional background. It lets you choose the best employee to align with the company’s goal. Moreover, you can know that after recruiting the candidate, you must train them, or it is optional.

Behavioral Assessments:

The applicant is going to be your next colleague or employee for years, and assessment and evaluation of professional and educational qualifications is one of many things you should be considering. The interviews help the interviewers assess and evaluate the candidates’ behavior, confidence level, ability to deal with hard situations, and ability to work with a team or individually.

Introduce the Candidate to the Company:

Want to hire a better person? You can introduce the applicant to your company’s leads. It helps you to make a decision on which candidate can have better work relationships with others and their authorities in the company. While doing so, you know whether the candidate can adjust and fit into the organization’s culture or whether there can be issues in the future.

Evaluate Candidate Skills:

The skills evaluation is another step that can be assessed in an interview. The recruiters can ask the right questions to determine the proficiency of candidates in different relevant soft and hard skills. You can ask questions about teamwork capabilities, communication, and problem-solving ability as a recruiter. Likewise, you can ask about their technical skills, like using Word or Excel sheets. A small hard skill test can be taken to check the candidate’s ability.

Find the Most Suitable Candidates:

All the effort is made to find the most suitable candidate who is best for the vacant position apart from assessment of their professional background, experience, and suitable skills. The interview is helpful to assist you in picking the right applicant to get into the next stage of recruitment . Moreover, it helps get the recruitment process done quickly and fills the vacant positions quickly in the organization.

Explain the Work & Company Expectations:

The interview is a crucial stage of hiring where both employee and candidate get to know each other and see whether they can or will comply with the company policies and work environment or not! While asking questions, you can introduce them to a few of the organization’s crucial expectations, rules, and regulations. A few of the details that should be explained are:

• Their responsibilities and duties
• Work schedule
• Work environment
• Introduce them to the managers or leads they have to be reporting to while on the job.

Types of Candidate Interviews:

The different types of interviews help assess the candidate most perfect for the job in your company, whether it’s normal hiring or an executive search hiring. A few of the interview types are:

• Group Interview: The approach helps you evaluate the candidate’s skills for the position and decide whether the candidate is qualified enough to be called for individual interviews.
• Telephone Interview: It is the best type to save time and help you quickly determine whether the candidate is suitable for the position. It allows you to assess whether the applicant called for a detailed one-on-one interview.
• Individual Interview: It is the most comprehensive and conclusive phase of the candidate’s assessment. In individual interviews, you can assess the prior experience, skills, and qualifications and analyze the candidate’s personality.

Key Factors to Assess When Interviewing Candidates

A few of the key factors that should be assessed during the interview are:

Confidence:

A candidate who appears in the interview with confidence means they are displaying the knowledge and skills they believe they have in them. Confidence is a key factor that shows the applicant is suitable for the company in the long run and can succeed as a lead in your organization. It also helps to evaluate their soft skills.

Leadership Potential:

While taking individual interviews, you can assess the candidate’s leadership potential . It also gives you an idea of how your future employee can work under pressure and difficult times.

Communication Skills:

Every organization seeks a candidate who has good communication skills. The skills can be evaluated by asking in-depth questions. You can also learn about their writing communication skills through email before interviewing and evaluating the answer with clarity and professionalism in the response.

It is a crucial stage for candidates, too. According to the stats , only 20% of applicants reach the interview round, and 40 % are rejected as they cannot make a good first impression.

Non-verbal communication:

You can also monitor the non-verbal communication in an interview. The non-verbal skills can be evaluated by noting a few things, including;

• Relaxed posture
• Eye-contact
• Leading in the communication.

Last but not on the list is evaluating the candidate’s attitude. The attitude can affect the work environment, so finding an applicant with a positive outlook is important. Learning about their attitude can help predict how they will interact with colleagues, customers, leads, and managers of the companies in the future.

The interview is an important round of evaluation for both the employee and the candidate. So, as a recruiter, you should know the right questions; on the other hand, as a candidate, you should answer with confidence and your best knowledge to get hired. The ideal practice is to hire the best recruitment agency as they have a team of competent and experienced headhunters. The headhunters help you assess and find the best candidate for the vacant position.

Also Read Our Related Blogs:

• Why Recruitment is Important in an Organization
• How to Achieve An Efficient Executive Search Process
• 6 Highest Paying Supply Chain and Logistics Jobs in 2023
• Top 5 Benefits of Working with a Local Recruitment Agency
• Top 10 IT Skills in Demand for 2023

Amtal Seher

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LHH Success Stories in Marketing Recruitment

At LHH, our expertise in the marketing sector is demonstrated through a track record of substantial success across a variety of industries. From national commercial real estate to major retail chains, our ability to provide both temporary and permanent staffing solutions helps companies achieve their creative and strategic goals. Here, we explore four key case studies that highlight our capability to address complex staffing needs and drive tangible results.

Case Studies of Recruitment Success with LHH

1. National Commercial Real Estate Company: A leading company in commercial real estate sought to outsource their creative services nationally. LHH was chosen to support the marketing and communications directors across the organization. Our contributions have ranged from developing C-level presentations for national townhalls to designing websites aimed at boosting sales efforts. Our growing partnership now extends to direct-hire and contract roles, including Creative Directors, Web Designers, and Communication Managers.

2. Major Retailer: Tasked with developing an in-house photography and video studio, a large retailer partnered with LHH to manage and payroll a dynamic team. Our sourced talent was pivotal in exceeding financial and operational targets, helping the studio scale from a core team of 30 to a peak season strength of 60 contractors. The roles filled include Photographers, Videographers, Photo Retouchers, and Marketing Coordinators.

3. Professional Services Firm: A professional services giant launched a strategic initiative to develop a scalable shared services model for marketing. As a preferred partner, LHH supplied a bench of specialized marketers to support global campaigns. Our strategy focused on retaining brand consistency and enhancing international client support, filling roles such as Global Marketing Leads and Digital Marketing Managers.

4. Fortune 50 Retail Company: A top pharmacy chain relies on LHH for freelance and direct hire talent in creative and marketing roles to support their e-commerce and creative studios. Our staffing solutions have placed key roles, from Interactive Retail Creative Directors to Senior Managers in User Experience, enhancing their marketing and creative capabilities.

These case studies showcase LHH’s breadth of expertise and our commitment to delivering recruitment solutions that empower businesses to excel in a competitive landscape. Whether you need interim support or a permanent addition to your team, our tailored approach ensures the right fit for your strategic needs.

Interested in transforming your team with expertly matched talent? Reach out today and let's craft a staffing solution that propels your business forward.

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How to Leverage LinkedIn’s “Open to Work” + Case Studies

• Effectively Use LinkedIn’s Open to Work
• Benefits and Drawbacks of Open to Work

Case Studies and Success Stories

Open to work faqs.

New opportunities can be hard to come by in some industries due to today’s competitive job market. Even if you’ve pored through the best resume examples and used an AI resume builder to create a stunning job application, if you’re still stuck about where to turn next in your job search process, you might want to consider using LinkedIn’s “open to work” feature.

Labeling your LinkedIn profile as “open to work” has its pros and cons. Some wonder if it will look desperate, others that their current employer might see it.

We can help in your job search process, with our top-notch resume checker and cover letter generator to tips that will boost your social networking efforts. We’ll provide you with all the best practices for using #opentowork on LinkedIn.

How to Effectively Use the LinkedIn “Open to Work” Feature

When you see someone with “open to work” labeled on their LinkedIn profile or #opentowork posts, it’s natural to wonder how you can leverage this feature yourself.

Deploying some best practices can ensure you use the feature successfully. Let’s review how to add the “open to work” label on LinkedIn, remove it when you no longer need it, and tips for a successful post using the hashtag.

In addition to #opentowork, LinkedIn also encourages the use of #opentoopportunities. While #opentowork is specifically used by job seekers to indicate they are looking for new employment, #opentoopportunities broadens the scope to include professionals open to various opportunities such as freelance work, consulting gigs, and collaboration projects. Using both hashtags can enhance your visibility and attract a wider range of opportunities suited to your career goals.

How to add “Open to Work” on LinkedIn

To turn on open to work on LinkedIn, follow these steps:

• On LinkedIn’s homepage, click the “Me” icon with your profile picture at the top right-hand corner.
• Under the dropdown menu that appears, click “View Profile.”
• On your profile page, click the “Open to” button.
• Click “Finding a new job.”
• Input the relevant information for the job you’re seeking, such as the desired job title, location, employment type, and start date.
• Choose whether you’d like anyone on LinkedIn to see your “open to work” label or just job recruiters.
• Hit “Save” at the bottom to add the label to your profile.

Once you complete these steps, the #opentowork green label will appear on your profile picture if you selected the option to allow anyone on LinkedIn to see that you’re open to job offers.

If you select that only job recruiters can see it, you won’t see that green label when you view your profile. However, don’t worry; recruiters will still see it when they view your profile, and you should still find a small label on your profile under the “Open to” button that says you currently have open to work active.

How to remove “Open to Work” on LinkedIn

To turn off open to work on LinkedIn once you’ve found a new job, you can go through the following steps:

• From LinkedIn’s homepage, click the “Me” icon with your profile picture.
• Select “View Profile” under the dropdown that appears.
• You should see a rectangular box labeled “Open to work” under the “Open to” button on your profile.
• Click the pencil icon on that box to edit your open to work settings.
• Click the “Delete” button at the bottom left-hand side of the box that appears.
• Then, under the next box that appears, click “Delete” again to confirm you’re removing the “Open to work” label.
• Refresh your profile page to ensure the label is gone.

How to write an “Open to Work” post on LinkedIn

Posts that use the #opentowork hashtag can also effectively get the attention of job recruiters and others in your professional network. Let’s review some best practices to get the most out of this type of post and look at an example of an “open to work” post on LinkedIn that would be effective.

Tips for posting an “Open to Work” update on LinkedIn

In many ways, formatting your post announcing you’re open to new opportunities on LinkedIn is like writing a short cover letter representing your top skills and experiences. It’s important to clearly present your experiences and what you’re looking for while remaining positive throughout the post to make a great impression on recruiters. Here are some tips to follow:

• Keep it brief: Posts announcing you’re open to work should be around two to three paragraphs or 75-150 words. Including more details than that, can risk losing the reader’s attention as they’re quickly scrolling through their feed.
• Personalize it: You can use templates or examples of successful posts using #opentowork as a guide. However, ensure it’s personalized based on your skills and your desired role. Try to include a specific job title you’re seeking, get specific about what you’ve achieved, and relate to the primary needs of recruiters in your field.
• Add some numbers: When reviewing cover letter templates , you may have noticed that reinforcing your accomplishments with numbers can make a strong impact. You can apply this same strategy in your LinkedIn post by including a few key achievements with metrics to demonstrate your capabilities.
• Include a call to action: What do you want recruiters to do after they read your post? Using a call to action will help guide them through the next steps, such as requesting that they message you on LinkedIn or view your portfolio on your website to learn more about your capabilities.

Sample open to work post for LinkedIn

Here’s an example of a web developer who used these tips to create a successful LinkedIn post announcing they’re open to work. Note the inclusion of the #opentowork and #opentoopportunities hashtags, which signify that they’re also open to collaboration.

Hey everyone! I’m looking for a new role as a lead web developer and would appreciate your support. Here are a few details about my experiences to help you get an idea of where I could fit in:

I’m a web developer with seven years of experience using HTML, CSS, and Javascript to bring pages to life and facilitate an excellent customer experience. In my previous role at Spire, I managed a five-person development team during a UI redesign project where we deployed wireframing to optimize page layouts for 45% higher conversion rates and 50% more return visits.

I’m seeking a management role in my next opportunity, where I can continue applying my leadership skills and finding innovative solutions that boost company performance. If you have any openings or know anyone who might, please message me, and I’d be happy to discuss your current web development and team leadership needs.

#opentowork #opentoopportunities

Benefits and Drawbacks of the “Open to Work” Feature

Having the label that you’re “open to work” on LinkedIn comes with pros and cons. Let’s review both, along with some expert opinions on the topic, to help you decide if the feature is right for you.

Benefits of using “Open to Work”

The biggest reason professionals use the “open to work” label on LinkedIn is that it helps job recruiters find them more easily on the platform.

Many recruiters have immediate job openings they must fill. So, a common filter they’ll apply when searching for relevant candidates is showing those with “open to work” active on their profiles. This ensures they use their limited time effectively by only reaching out to professionals who are actively seeking employment.

Statistics on the “open to work” label show that those who have it active get 20% more messages on LinkedIn than those who don’t. That means if you have this label active on your LinkedIn profile, there’s a much higher chance recruiters will message you, and you could land an opportunity sooner rather than later.

Additionally, saying that you’re open to opportunities shows that you’re willing to collaborate and network with others in your field. Even if company decision-makers don’t have immediate needs, they might still request to connect and learn about your skills to keep you in mind for the future.

This element can be especially beneficial for freelancers or those who run service businesses. Those who are self-employed know that continuous networking is essential to keep new business coming in month over month, so even if it doesn’t bring you new opportunities right away, you never know what could come up in the future.

Even if you’re looking for more traditional work opportunities, growing your professional network never hurts. You never know if you can land side projects that help when you’re in between jobs or get great referrals later as you expand your career.

Drawbacks of using “Open to Work”

One of the biggest concerns professionals have when considering whether to use LinkedIn’s “Open to work” feature is privacy and whether their current employer might see it. After all, appearing dissatisfied with your current job and showing that you’re looking for other opportunities could lead to problems in the workplace.

However, LinkedIn provides a simple setting to counteract this. When setting up the “open to work” label, choose the option where only job recruiters can see that it’s active. That way, if your current employer happens to view your profile, they won’t be aware you have the label turned on.

Additionally, if you’re worried about your employer seeing that you’re open to opportunities, it’s best to avoid posting that you’re looking for new opportunities with the “open to work” hashtag.

The other primary concern with activating “open to work” is that some feel it might make them look desperate. Especially if you’ve been in between jobs for an extended time, some will worry it’ll make you look underqualified for the roles you’re seeking or signify that you have other problems preventing you from getting hired.

The best way to handle this is to ensure you optimize your LinkedIn profile, resume, and cover letters as much as possible. For instance, you could make posts on LinkedIn showcasing side projects you’ve been working on in the meantime using your top skills or make sure you’re adding the right resume skills that represent your capabilities appropriately in the hiring process.

Lastly, one thing to consider when turning on “Open to work” on LinkedIn is you will get a few more spam messages, or have recruiters reach out with positions you aren’t interested in. While the feature helps you get more messages and connection requests, you’ll still have to sort through them to find those relevant to your career goals.

Expert opinions on “Open to Work”

What do hiring experts think about the “Open to work” banner? Opinions can differ quite a bit on the subject.

On the one hand, you’ll see some job recruiters say that seeing a candidate with the green “open to work” label on their LinkedIn profile picture is a red flag. Some believe that the best candidates for jobs are the ones who aren’t actively looking for them.

However, that assumption has several flaws and many job recruiters say thinking that way makes the hiring process much more difficult. It’s also much harder to find and hire people who aren’t currently in the job market.

In general, most recruiters say that you assess applicants in the interview process and by reviewing the overall qualifications on their resumes regardless of their current employment or job-seeking status. That’s why using tools like resume templates is essential to optimize your overall appearance when seeking a new job.

Many also say they filter for people with the “Open to work” label active since they already know they’re interested in hearing from recruiters, making it much easier for them to track down potential applicants.

Now that you know the basics of the “Open to work” feature, let’s review some examples of professionals who used it successfully. This will include their background, what they did, and the impact activating the banner had on their job search process.

Case Study 1: Successful Job Search with “Open to Work”

An example of successfully using the “Open to work” signal on LinkedIn was an operations manager in the tech industry.

She had seven years of experience in the industry but had been out of work for a couple of months due to her previous company downsizing and the competitive hiring market in the tech space.

After considering all the options, she decided that activating the “Open to work” label was right for her needs. Plus, she doubled down on it, making a post stating that she was looking for new opportunities as an operations manager in the tech industry.

The post received 147 likes and 42 comments from people in her network who offered encouragement or directed her to potential opportunities. The post even reached a former employer who just had a workplace lead role open up.

After going through the interview process, she accepted the new role as workplace lead at a company she was familiar with and is happy to rejoin as they look to develop tech that helps companies better manage environmental regulations.

Case Study 2: Networking Success

A journalist was searching for a new role after the publication she worked at closed. Despite having five years of experience, she was having trouble finding opportunities since the journalism industry is highly competitive. So, she decided to turn on LinkedIn’s “Open to work” feature to provide more visibility to recruiters.

After activating the feature, she saw a significant increase in connection requests and people in the industry reaching out to better understand her experiences and capabilities. Over the two months she had it active, she gained 52 new professional connections.

While she didn’t land a new full-time role with a publication, she was able to leverage the connections she met to land several side projects as a freelance copywriter. After successfully writing some landing pages for an organization, they referred her to their colleagues who needed consistent writing help.

Those opportunities through connections continued to add up, helping her start a full-time business offering her services as a copywriter. Even when new connections didn’t immediately offer new opportunities, she still found it valuable to make those connections since they could lead to new work later on down the line.

Case Study 3: Balancing Visibility and Privacy

A consumer sales professional was currently employed as an outbound sales rep with a cable TV and internet provider. However, he was looking for opportunities to grow his career as his employer didn’t have enough potential for advancement in his current role.

Since he didn’t want to risk his current employer seeing the “Open to work” banner on his profile, he activated the option to only have recruiters see it to ensure privacy in the process.

After about three weeks of having it active, he received a message from a recruiter with a local marketing firm that was looking to hire account executives. The company had a history and emphasis on promoting from within, so it looked like the ideal opportunity to continue growing his career.

After completing the interview and contemplating his options, he accepted the job offer as an account executive with the marketing firm. This position has helped expand his responsibilities, including managing large accounts, running local events, and learning new sales skills with an organization that promotes a team culture he’s passionate about.

Plus, the privacy of having the “Open to work” label only visible to recruiters helped him easily transition between jobs while still allowing relevant job recruiters to find his LinkedIn profile. It was a win-win in the end.

When you see “Open to work” on someone’s LinkedIn profile, it means they’re actively open to job offers. They are more likely to be interested when recruiters reach out to them, which is why many hiring teams will sort for profiles that have the feature activated.

LinkedIn provides features that will hide your “open to work” status from your current employer. When you’re setting it up, make sure to check the box that says only job recruiters can see you have it active to maintain your privacy as you look for a new position.

Some hiring experts say that using “Open to work” can make you look desperate. However, if you use it strategically by optimizing your LinkedIn profile with top skills, achievements, or what you’re working on as you look for new roles, it can significantly minimize that impression.

Navigate to your LinkedIn profile page. Click the pencil icon in the “Open to work” box toward the top of your profile. Scroll down in the box that appears and click the “Delete” button. Once you refresh your profile, the “Open to work” label should have disappeared.

The main benefit of using “Open to work” is it increases your visibility to job recruiters and provides another way to find opportunities rather than just sorting through job posts. The feature can also help you grow your professional network since you’ll get more connection requests and messages from those in your industry.

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CASE MANAGEMENT SUPERVISOR

• Agency: HRA/DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
• Job type: Full-time
• Title Classification: Exam may be required

FIA Operations-NM

Job Description

APPLICANTS MUST BE PERMANENT IN THE ASSOCIATE BENEFITS OPPORTUNITY SPECIALIST TITLE OR PERMANENT IN THE BENEFITS OPPORTUNITY SPECIALIST TITLE FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR; THIS IS A PROVISIONAL APPOINTMENT, WHEN A TEST BECOMES AVAILABLE IN THE ASSOCIATE BENEFITS OPPORTUNITY SPECIALIST (ABOS) TITLE, YOU MUST TAKE AND PASS THE EXAM TO REMAIN IN THE ABOS TITLE. Family Independence Administration's provides temporary help to individuals and families with social service and economic needs to assist them in reaching self-sufficiency via essential and diverse programs/services, such as: temporary cash assistance, SNAP, childcare, eviction prevention services, adult protective services, job training, employment plans/support, domestic violence assistance, child support enforcement, etc. Under the direction of the Associate Benefits Opportunity Specialist II, the Associate Benefits Opportunity Specialist I (ABOS I) is responsible for supervising a team of BOS staff, who provide various functions of eligibility determination, financial planning, and employment planning and monitoring and other related services to persons in need, to promote individual and family self-sufficiency. The ABOS I use supervisory, program development, quantitative analysis, and other research skills in accomplishing all the goals of FIA Benefits Access Centers and its components (Application, Financial Planning, Employment Planning, Undercare, etc.). FIA’s Operations is recruiting for one (1) Associate Benefits Opportunity Specialist I, to function as Case Management Supervisor, who will: - Supervise a team of BOS workers who handle the entire application process for all new applicants; Family Assistance cases which have been closed over sixty days; all Safety Net case reopens which have been closed regardless of date; and one-shot deals. - Assign application to staff, review application recommendations and sign off on all benefits as well as case entries. - Supervise a team of BOS workers who interview applicants and assess eligibility for immediate needs grant (food and non-food); for employability and eligibility for public assistance, SNAP benefits and Medicaid; works with applicants to remove barriers to employment and makes referrals to other services as needed. - Prepare daily and weekly statistical reports on work performed as well as monthly audits. - Assist with case consultation on individual cases and guidance on difficult cases in the case planning process as necessary. - Supervise a team of BOS workers who provide comprehensive service delivery to participants after the establishment of the participant’s case; Family Assistance case that have been closed less that sixty days or Safety Net cases that have been closed in error. - Supervise a team of BOS workers who manages all aspects of the case, including establishing on-going eligibility, assessing participants, developing appropriate Employment Assessment and Employment Plans and executing specific strategies designed to help participants achieve self-sufficiency. - Review employment eligibility decisions for appropriateness and correctness according to Agency and New York State rules and regulations and performs initial conference/conciliation interview. - Perform the Mandatory Dispute Resolution function. - Supervise staff that interview and correspond with homebound clients. - Supervises a team of BOS who provide quick service for those clients who walk-in or telephone the center. Additionally, the team will take appropriate action on reported changes, provide information and documentation as requested by the participants and maintain contact with other teams to ensure awareness of all activity that will affect the case management plan. - Supervise staff who interview and determine housing needs of tenants at risk of homelessness or already homeless reporting to Benefits Access Centers. Assist in the development of anti-eviction/ housing plan of intervention for referred participants. - May conduct field visits. Hourrs/Shift: Monday – Friday

1. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent, and three years of full-time satisfactory experience working directly in social/human services or a related setting, providing either: a) client services. b) employment planning/counseling services which involves job development, skills assessment, and employment placement or other economic opportunity programming. 2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college; plus eighteen months of full-time satisfactory experience working as a Benefits Opportunity Specialist; or 3. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college; plus eighteen months of full-time satisfactory experience as described in one (1) above. 4. College credit from an accredited college may be substituted for this experience on the basis of 60 semester credits for 9 months of the work experience described above. However, all candidates must have at least 18 months of full-time satisfactory experience working as a Benefits Opportunity Specialist or performing social/human services work as described in one (1) above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

Civil service title

ASSOCIATE BENEFITS OPPORTUNITY

Title classification

Competitive-1

Business title

• Experience level: Experienced (non-manager)

Number of positions

Work location

109 E 16Th St., N.Y.

• Category: Social Services

The Problem With ‘In Demand’ Jobs

Federal workforce-training programs prepare people for dead-end jobs that no one wants.

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Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

Even in the 1990s, at the peak of free-trade fever in Washington, Congress knew that globalization would be rough on some folks. Opening the economy up to cheap imports from Canada, Mexico, and China was bound to undercut domestic industries and cost many American workers their jobs. On top of that, welfare reform eliminated or sharply cut benefits for many families. To soften the blow, Congress offered one of its favorite solutions: federally funded job training to help laid-off workers and destitute parents find a new source of income.

It made sense in theory. Manufacturing workers would “re-skill” for the Information Age economy—perhaps moving from the factory floor to an exciting career in, say, computer science—and impoverished moms would get a hand up instead of a handout. In practice, it was a failure. A 2017 study by Mathematica Research compared people who had received job training under the 1998 law, now known as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, with a randomly selected control group. Thirty months later, the training had zero effect on earnings.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor published a comprehensive study of the WIOA and a host of similarly structured federal job-training initiatives. The programs did manage to put a lot of people through training, the researchers found. And many of those people were then hired in so-called in-demand jobs. But in the first three years after training, their wages increased only 6 percent compared with those of similar workers who didn’t receive training—from an average of about $16,300 to $17,300 a year—and the effect didn’t last. In the long term, their relative wages didn’t increase at all.

Read: The false promise of worker retraining

This poor track record is often attributed to ever-growing skill requirements for jobs in the fast-paced global economy. In fact, the programs fail because they’re designed with potential employers rather than employees in mind. In the case of the WIOA, the local workforce boards that decide which jobs qualify as “in-demand,” and therefore which are eligible for federal funding, are dominated by business interests—and what business wants is a steady stream of low-wage workers trained by someone else.

“In-demand” jobs aren’t necessarily good jobs. They might be the opposite, because, from an employer’s perspective, “in-demand” is another way of saying “lots of vacancies,” and sometimes employers can’t fill jobs because they expect grinding, potentially dangerous work in exchange for bad pay, meager benefits, and little room for advancement. In 2022, for example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a $25 million grant for meat-and-poultry agriculture-workforce training. The poultry industry, which is notorious for its unsafe working conditions, has so much trouble finding workers that it sometimes relies on migrant child labor. A 2023 New York Times investigation found that Virginia chicken factories had employed migrant children to clean “blood, grease, and feathers from industrial machines.” (The factory owners denied knowledge of child labor. In response to the Times article, Hobart “Hobey” Bauhan, the president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, suggested that federal immigration officials were to blame for allowing migrant children into the country in the first place. Bauhan is also the chair of the state committee that sets performance standards for Virginia’s job-training programs.)

The most common WIOA training program, by far, is truck driving. From 2022 to 2023, more people completed trucker training through the WIOA than for the next nine job categories combined. Although the trucking industry has argued for decades that it faces a shortage of drivers, its hiring difficulties are arguably a function of brutal working conditions that make it difficult for trucking companies to retain their workers, resulting in annual turnover within the industry above 90 percent. Trucking firms operate this way because it’s more profitable to just keep hiring new drivers. WIOA training programs—many of which are measured in weeks, not months—provide a steady stream of workers to churn through.

The law’s defenders claim that WIOA-style training programs really do steer graduates into good jobs. They point to seemingly successful programs that train “certified nursing aides” in as little as six weeks. Certified nursing aide does sound like the entry point to a solid middle-class health-care profession. It’s not. Only 6 percent of low-income people who went through a federally funded CNA training program from 2015 to 2021 advanced up the nursing career ladder, according to an Urban Institute study. Many earn near-poverty wages.

A better way to think about certified nursing aides is as a cheaper alternative to actual nurses, who command high salaries. Many CNAs work in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, a growing share of which are owned by private-equity firms focused on generating short-term profits by slashing costs. Elder-care investors can maintain large profit margins by keeping facility staffing levels and salaries low, but that leads to burnout and turnover. It is very much in their interest to have a steady supply of new CNAs for these “in-demand” jobs.

Unfortunately, Congress is currently considering a pair of bipartisan updates to federal job-training that would double down on the WIOA’s shortcomings. In April, the House of Representatives passed a new version of the law by a 378–26 vote, giving a bipartisan stamp of approval to the failed status quo. Meanwhile, a Senate bill introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Braun, with dozens of co-sponsors, would allow federal Pell grants for low-income students to be spent on short, WIOA-style training programs instead of on traditional college degrees. Taken together, the bills, if they become law, seem poised to expand the federal government’s investment in funneling unemployed workers into low-wage, high-turnover jobs.

Read: Why is the US so bad at worker retraining?

If Congress wanted to actually fix the broken system, it would make sure that federal training programs prepare workers for jobs with living wages, benefits, and the opportunity for career advancement. Some models exist at the state level. California’s state-funded High Road Training Partnerships initiative, for example, matches workers with employers who meet standards for wages and job quality, and who commit to collaborating with workers in the design of their training programs. Many of the jobs are unionized. The UC Berkeley Labor Center studied one High Road program developed in collaboration with major health-care providers and the statewide health-care workers’ union. It found that workers who came through the program were 40 percent more likely to get promoted, with an average wage increase of 36 percent.

Labor unions are the one force that might be able to persuade Congress to reform the WIOA system instead of doubling down on it. Last month, the AFL-CIO sent a letter to Bernie Sanders in his capacity as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, demanding changes to the House bill. Jody Calemine, the union’s director of advocacy, told me that the legislation should give workers equal power with businesses in running local workforce boards, and ensure that the WIOA trains people for authentically high-quality jobs. Whether union advocacy succeeds at changing the bill will shed light on just how reinvigorated the American labor movement is.

The 1990s approach failed to achieve its stated goal because its focus on short-term training for “in-demand jobs” was always designed to benefit employers, not workers. The Biden administration has pushed an expansive agenda to support unions, expand antitrust enforcement, and give workers more power to demand better wages and benefits. A newer, better WIOA could bring job training in line with those ideals.

Support for this project was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

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Career Path Services creates access to jobs and housing with Jotform Enterprise

Career Path Services is a nonprofit organization in Washington state focused on empowering individuals to access employment opportunities, achieve financial stability, and secure economic prosperity. Program analyst Christina Shaffer and business intelligence analyst and IT manager Jasmine Smith (collectively referred to as Jastina) play key roles in creating tools for the organization and standardizing operations across various departments and divisions, which is what led them to Jotform Enterprise.

Before transitioning to Jotform Enterprise, Career Path Services relied heavily on manual, paper-based processes. “We did a lot of scanning of PDFs, sending them back and forth through email, and manually uploading them to our state system,” Shaffer says.

The versatility of Jotform Enterprise helps us do really amazing things, like getting more unhoused people off the street. We’ve accomplished so much with Jotform Enterprise. We can’t put a dollar amount on someone’s life, but the impact we’ve been able to make with Jotform Enterprise, and the peace of mind it has given us, is more than worth the price of the platform. Jasmine Smith, Business Intelligence Analyst and IT Manager, Career Path Services

Shaffer and Smith initially tested Jotform using a Silver plan. At a Washington Workforce Association conference, they presented a session on what they had learned about the platform by sharing a form designed to mimic a digital escape room .

Their form caught the attention of a funder in the audience. The funder was so impressed by Jotform’s capabilities that they proposed using it to develop a universal intake system for job seekers for the largest county in the state of Washington. They also generously offered to fund the project.

As a result, Career Path Services expanded their Jotform Enterprise account and is in the process of transitioning all its processes across the state to the platform. “We use Jotform Enterprise for everything,” says Smith.

Using Jotform Enterprise to streamline services

Career Path Services uses Jotform Enterprise to serve its community and streamline its referral program, which enrolls clients in American Job Centers, a federal career and training services program. By leveraging Jotform’s conditional logic feature, the team created a single application form that adapts according to the user persona. That way, customers, staff members, and managers can all use the same form to submit and review applications, saving time and simplifying the form-filling process.

The team also uses conditional logic to display messages that redirect applicants to other resources if their submission data indicates they are outside of Career Path Services’ geographic range. “Jotform Enterprise is not just a form service to us,” says Smith.

By collecting more information up front, Career Path Services can prioritize services for veterans. “We get a lot of additional information [through intake forms] that we love to have, but we’re not always able to get,” says Shaffer. The timely collection of complete data ensures veterans receive the support they need promptly. “Being able to collect data efficiently has been really helpful for collaboration between the state agencies,” says Shaffer.

Using the Jotform-Trello integration , staff can easily manage caseloads across multiple states and automatically transfer the information into Trello. They also use the Trello integration to manage IT helpdesk cases. Shaffer and Smith also use Jotform Prefill to auto-populate the form with data they already have, saving applicants time in filling out the forms.

Being able to collect data efficiently has been really helpful for collaboration between the state agencies. Christina Shaffer, Program Analyst, Career Path Services

Creating efficient workflows

Career Path Services uses Jotform Enterprise to create a complete workflow for career services applicants, guiding them from their initial referral to a specific employment program through submitting their application. Once they are accepted, the form also helps onboard them to the program, providing additional information that the applicant can refer back to as needed.

“Using Jotform Enterprise helps eliminate human error when they’re submitting an eligibility approval, which helps the customer because it makes the process quicker rather than the back-and-forth we had with paper forms,” Shaffer says.

Once an applicant has been approved, a staff member automatically receives an email prompting them to review a checklist in the form that details what they need to do to process the enrollment. Staff use a Google Sheets integration to track approval updates as staff members review and submit forms. This automated approach expedites the whole process and eliminates manual work, providing a comprehensive solution for managing client intake.

Saving on e-signature software with Jotform Sign

Career Path Services replaced DocuSign and ContractWorks by using Jotform’s native e-signature solution, Jotform Sign , for their e-signature documents. Serving thousands of individuals and businesses across the state every year requires numerous forms and contracts.

“Jotform Enterprise fits the bill and provides an all-in-one solution for our organization,” says Shaffer. In addition to using Jotform Sign for audit trails, subrecipient agreements, and collaborations with other nonprofits, Career Path Services uses it for new contracts and monthly invoicing to funders for reimbursements.

Jotform Enterprise helps us serve people in our community more effectively and efficiently. Christina Shaffer, Program Analyst, Career Path Services

Empowering individuals with the entire Jotform Enterprise platform

Career Path Services uses Jotform Tables to give its whole team a comprehensive overview of their data. They use it to view the submission data from multiple forms. One of the team’s favorite features is the Edit Links , which allows respondents to modify their form responses after they’ve submitted them. They use webhooks in a SQL database and integrations with Airtable, Google Drive, and One Drive, as well as the Spreadsheet to Form Widget .

“Communication with customer service is great,” Shaffer says. “The Enterprise customer success team helps us create a workaround for anything we want to do.”

Drive success in your community with accessibility and flexibility

Career Path Services implemented Jotform Enterprise to create an online application for its new program Dignified Workday , which provides pathways to low-income housing and on-demand jobs for unhoused individuals. Career Path Services pays potential clients to clean up and repair apartments and assists them with waiting list applications for housing.

“The versatility of Jotform Enterprise helps us do really amazing things, like getting more unhoused people off the street,” says Smith. “We’ve accomplished so much with Jotform Enterprise. We can’t put a dollar amount on someone’s life, but the impact we’ve been able to make with Jotform Enterprise, and the peace of mind it has given us, is more than worth the price of the platform.”

Digitizing paper processes with online forms and information has opened up opportunities to individuals who live in rural areas where services are not available and maintained services during the COVID-19 lockdown when physical offices were closed. “Jotform has helped us extend our front door to people who have accessibility issues,” says Smith.

Advice for nonprofit organizations

Career Path Services has standardized its processes across departments and divisions with Jotform Enterprise and invites other nonprofits struggling with manual processes or tech complexity to do the same. “You don’t need a developer, there’s no coding needed, it’s easy to make live updates, and you can easily share information with staff,” says Shaffer.

“We’ve already done a lot of the looking; stop looking and pick Jotform Enterprise,” Shaffer says. “Nothing else compares to its ease of use.”

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• Published: 02 November 2023

Just transition

How energy transition affects jobs

• Greg Muttitt   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2323-3937 1 &
• Philip Gass 1  

Nature Climate Change volume  13 ,  pages 1162–1163 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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• Energy justice

Concrete analysis of job impacts is needed to inform efforts for a just transition. Now, a study finds that decarbonizing US electricity generation will create jobs, but with uneven distribution among states, industrial sectors and skill needs.

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Xie, J. J., Martin, M., Rogelj, J. & Staffell, I. Nat. Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01802-5 (2023).

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Energy Programme, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Geneva, Switzerland

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Muttitt, G., Gass, P. How energy transition affects jobs. Nat. Clim. Chang. 13 , 1162–1163 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01830-1

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Published : 02 November 2023

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01830-1

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