SAP SuccessFactors has a Question Library feature which can be useful for recruiting.
SuccessFactors has a section on requisitions to add screening questions. This is separate from the questions or fields the candidates complete on the application. The application fields are purely informational and do not automatically cause an action on the candidate. But screening questions can be used to perform actions on candidates or provide information to help the recruiter quickly assess and/or eliminate candidates. Screening questions are added by the recruiter on each requisition and can be used as “knock out” questions to automatically disqualify candidates, score candidates, and weight answers. If you use screening questions on requisitions, consider having a requisition Question Library.
Recruiters can add questions to requisitions manually by creating questions within the requisition ad hoc.
The recruiters can also create the questions in Preferences => My Saved Questions to have access to use as needed. This is by recruiter and the questions cannot be shared with other recruiters. Each recruiter creates their own saved set of questions.
Question Library – Why bother?
The Question Library is a shared library and contains questions which recruiters can choose to add to requisitions. Questions from the Question Library can also be used to disqualify, score and weight candidates. But why bother setting up a Questions Library when recruiters can create their own personal set of questions?
A few reasons for setting up a Question Library for recruiting:
- Company policy on questions
- Consistency
- Category grouping
- Cascading questions
- Turnover
- Maintenance
COMPANY POLICY ON QUESTIONS
Make sure the questions do not put the company at a risk. Having recruiters only use questions from a Question Library gives control to the administrator as to the content of the questions. The questions can be reviewed by the company’s legal team before being added to the library to ensure the company is comfortable with what is being asked of a candidate.
CONSISTENCY
The same style of phrasing and wording leads to consistency. Some items to consider include:
- How the company name is worded – is a shortened version/nickname allowed?
- The way the questions are asked – length, wording, style, etc.
- Answers to questions – do they all need to be multiple choice, is free text allowed?
- Abbreviations – make sure they are meaningful and not confusing to the candidates.
- The candidate experience when answering questions
CATEGORY GROUPING
This is a good feature that breaks down the questions by type of role, especially if you use only one requisition template but have a variety of roles within the company. Categorize the questions by type of role to easily add specific questions to the requisition depending on what is needed for the position.
For example, having separate categories for sales positions, accounting, driver, warehouse, manufacturing, finance, etc. Whatever the role, a category can be created. A “General” category can be used across roles.
CASCADING QUESTIONS
Cascading Questions are questions that can lead to other questions depending on the answer to the original question. Cascading questions help eliminate the number of questions that are seen by every candidate. The cascaded question(s) only appear depending on the candidate’s answer to the original question.
Original question:
“Do you have a Pilot’s license?” Answers available: Yes/No
Only if the candidate answers “Yes”, will a new question will appear:
“How many hours have you flown?”
Cascading questions need to be added through a question library file and imported to the question library by the business partner or support team. Recruiters cannot create ad-hoc cascading questions.
TURNOVER OF RECRUITERS
If a recruiter leaves the role and a new recruiter takes over any outstanding requisitions, the new recruiter will have access to the Question Library. If the questions were stored in the personal preferences of the original recruiter, then the new recruiter would not have access to the questions in order to update the req or add the same questions to new requisitions for similar roles. The new recruiter would have to create their own My Saved Questions library and add the questions. This can lead to the similar questions being worded differently or not being created and added to the requisition. See “Consistency” above.
MAINTENANCE
If a new question is needed, add it once to the Question Library and all recruiters have access. If a question needs to be updated, update it in the Question Library. Any requisitions currently using the question will not automatically get updated, saving the integrity of the question the candidate originally answered. But recruiters adding the question going forward will have the updated version.
If you decide to start using the Question Library, work with your business partner or support team to create the Question Library.
Question Library for Requisitions – Take Note:
- The questions will appear in alphabetical order by Category then alphabetically under each Category no matter how they are input to the Question Library.
- Questions will appear on the application for both internal and external candidates.
- For the applicant, screening questions appear at the very end of the application and cannot be moved from that position.
- For the recruiter view of the candidate application, the questions will appear in SCREENING DETAILS section after the application information and before the candidate profile information.
application
- Any questions in this section are not reportable.
- The Screening Details does not move with the candidate application if the application is forwarded to another requisition, even if the same questions are on the other requisition. The candidate will need to be invited to apply to answer the questions on the forwarded to requisition. The same is true for Late Stage Application candidates.
Conclusions
We hope you enjoyed this quick overview of the recruiting questions library functionality. For more information on integrating and automating this question library, check out our book here!
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