Acme Consulting Enterprises (ACE) is a two year old staffing agency that provides very specialized scientists to research facilities on a project by project basis. Recently, ACE was approached by a university, on behalf of Wilson Bros to find a scientist to join a team working to insure that Wilson Bros maintains the highest quality assurance programs available in the world . All of the ACE scientists are presently out on other contracts, so it is your responsibility to hire a new scientist. Management is requesting a scientist with very specific skills. In fact, it has been estimated that there are only about 100 scientists in Canada with the skill set the company is seeking.
Although challenging, things are going relatively well. First, you completed a job analysis and then you posted a job ad and you’ve received 15 responses to the advertisement. Now, you want to screen the applicants to narrow the applicant pool down to the 3 top applicants. You plan to conduct interviews with the top 3 applicants to make a final hiring decision.
Part A:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Weighted Application Blanks (W.A.B.s) to screen applicants? (3 marks)
Advantages:
- easy to use - economical - not considered instrusive - information given can also be verified - good indicator of how successful the employee will be
Disadvantages:
- may not be able to measure the complexity of the job - it takes time and money to develop
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Biographical Application Blanks (B.I.Bs) to screen applicants? (2 marks)
Advantages:
- provides more information about the person's personality - indicator of behaviuor on the job
Disadvantages:
- some of the questions may be too personal - answers might not always be truthful - need a big amount of people
Would you recommend the use of W.A.B.s and/or B.I.B.s for ACE? Why or why