What is an Applicant: One Year Later

sunny

One year after the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published its final rule on Internet applicants, more guidance showed up, updating the frequently asked questions (FAQs) section in mid-October.
+ L7 r% U0 X; e& r4 P+ H) L
, U9 j9 m- r5 OLike the original definition, these FAQs need to be an integral part of staffing training. It isn’t the compliance issue that is paramount. Instead, we believe the strategic implications for building disciplined, staffing processes that work is the mindset that is critical. SHRM’s article on the new additions by Allen Smith is available to members and offers some basic analysis for the 12 new FAQs (Five involve the use of job boards).

. O: ~6 Y! B! }# o5 _SHRM’s article pointed out that “the updated FAQs drill down further into the definition, stating that:

$ G; d: W" L8 B  ~
Software using a “hit feature” that identifies and ranks candidates who best match the job- qualification search criteria is not a data- management technique. Rather, it’s consideration of a job applicant under the Internet applicant rule.
  q2 X, \# [! C0 QSearch protocols may be tailored narrowly (for example, by type of position, location or salary sought by the job seeker) in initial searches for resumes that indicate an interest in the position.
We’ve maintained from the beginning that search algorithms should initially and simply define candidates that meet ALL criteria and, combined with (limiting) data management techniques, would offer practical and reasonably small numbers to define an applicant pool (from which a hire can be made). Techniques that return rank ordered candidates and use fuzzy logic on qualifications as an initial screen won’t work. Once the pool is established, prioritizing the pool using sophisticated algorithms makes sense but not before.

We also believe that internal capabilities for ATS and external databases should offer “what if” queries that return only a “number” - not the actual candidate results. For example:
8 b+ a  e' c! \" R, B& X
- G1 _  [2 x; d9 N. z
Q: What if I searched for all Accountants?
A: You would find 1,000 interested candidates.
* \+ g  F! X) v5 C0 d: C. ^Q: What if I Searched for Accountants in NJ?
0 Z  {# C6 |  h0 _A: You would find 500.
Q: How about Accountants in NJ who submitted within the last week?
% O# |) T% Z6 f; i8 yA: 150
* F' B  {. [) c( J* VQ: What if I included a request for “credit and collections” to be in a title- present or past?
; y8 V* [( b# b+ f* \1 z8 iA: 48