The realistic job preview is a standard in recruiting and selection. It is a great tool to increase the quality of applications; it ensures a fit between the person and the role and between the person and the organization, and it helps to retain employees longer. In this article, you will learn everything you need to know about the realistic job preview: its benefits and drawbacks, how to create one, and we give some excellent examples that you simply have to see! Show
Contents What is a realistic job preview? A definitionA realistic job preview (RJP) is the presentation of both positive and negative information about the job and the organization to prospective applicants. This is aimed at showing a realistic picture of the job and organization to applicants. Recruitment is always a two-way street. Most of the time, however, organizations ask applicants a thousand questions so usually there is little time remaining to inform the candidate. The realistic job preview is a tool to inform the candidate about the job and the organization – both in terms of upsides and downsides. There is a well-known joke about an HR manager arriving at the pearly gates where St. Peter welcomes her. Before she can make the choice between the elevator to heaven or the one to hell, she has to try each of them for a day. Heaven turns out to be lovely but quite boring – while hell seems fun, with golf courses, a country club where she ate lobster, all her friends were there as was an infinite number of different drinks and cocktails. So when St. Peter asks her to make her choice, she opts for the elevator to hell without any hesitation. However, as soon as the doors of the elevator open, she finds herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She sees her friends dressed in rags, picking up rubbish and putting it in old bags. The Devil approaches her and put his arm around her. “I don’t understand,”nthe HR Manager stutters, “Yesterday I was here, and there was a golf course, a country club, we ate lobster, and we danced and had a wonderfully happy time. Now all there’s just a dirty wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable.” The Devil looked at her and smiled. “Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you’re staff.” This example illustrates the exact opposite of the realistic job preview. The goal of the RJP is to have the expectations of the candidate match the reality of the situation. The idea is to avoid disappointment when the candidate joins the organization. So if there is a match, this leads to a number of positive results. Realistic job preview – benefits and drawbacksOf course, the realistic job preview also has some drawbacks. As we saw in the example of the HR manager arriving in hell, she would have never opted to go there in the first place if she had gotten a realistic preview. Similarly, the number of applicants will drop when a realistic job preview is presented. Related online course ahead! Continue reading below ↓ Talent Acquisition Certificate ProgramAdvance your career by becoming a strategic & data-driven Talent Acquisition Specialist. Online, Self-Paced & Globally Accredited. Download Syllabus This is also what the science shows. A meta-analysis that analyzed 21 realistic job preview experiments, showed that RJPs tend to lower initial job expectations. This leads to self-selection, where candidates who don’t like the downsides of the job are less likely to apply, leading to a drop in the number of candidates. At the same time, the realistic job preview has a number of key benefits.
So, although the realistic job preview is likely to reduce the number of applicants, their quality will be higher and once they join the company their value to the organization (productivity & intention to stay) will also be higher. Also, on the human side: providing a realistic preview of the job is also likely to increase the candidate experience. While using a realistic job preview in your recruitment process will probably decrease the number of applicants, it will increase their quality.How to create a realistic job preview?A realistic job preview consists of multiple elements. We will list all seven of them below and explain them one by one using examples.
Communicating these factors before someone accepts the job will significantly impact their satisfaction, performance, and the intention to quit after joining the company. A video can be a great way to give candidates a virtual tour of their future work environment.Image source 5 Realistic job preview best practicesLet’s now dive into some realistic job preview best practices. These are about the RJP form, what to focus on, and where to use them.
There’s a lot more that can be said regarding the realistic job preview. For more information, you can check out this paper with a list of ten tough choices when it comes to creating a realistic job preview. Realistic job preview examplesLet’s wrap up this guide by going over three realistic job preview examples. HR Career PathToolPlanning out your HR career path is key to achieving your professional & personal goals. Map your own HR Career path with our new tool. Get Started 1. Kansas Child WelfareWhen it comes to realistic job preview examples, the following video creates a great template. Although it is a little bit lengthy and slow-paced, it provides a great overview of the role of Child Welfare workers. What I especially like is that different people, both men and women from different backgrounds explain their work through all layers of the organization. The interviews are sincere and sometimes sad but at the same time very powerful. Both good and bad things are included, like being perceived as ‘taking babies’, or the occasional hostility from parents. This video is a great example of providing a nuanced job preview that is very helpful for applicants. 2. Hiring at AIHRAt AIHR, we have been applying realistic job preview in our vacancy texts since our founding. However, we learned that the more detail we put in these ‘on a typical day’ sections, the more questions applicants have and the more enthusiastic they are. We do this for full-time and part-time positions, but also for freelance positions. We now cover at least a full day and feature our weekly work structure (team standup, company standup, monthly drinks, and so on). We also emphasize our core values, indicating that the role will involve a lot of hard work but also celebration of joint success. In terms of drawbacks, we do communicate that the role requires flexibility, moving fast, and managing a team – but also answering basic student questions, going through feedback, and other more operational tasks. Do note that this section is 350 words, which is longer than some job openings I’ve seen! However, we do see that people take the time to read it and make up their minds if there’s a match or not. 3. Waste ManagementAt Waste Management, they’ve created a great ‘on a typical day’ video. Antoine, one of the company’s drivers, takes you on a mini journey through his day talking straight; as a driver, you start as early as 3 or 4 am, working 10 to 12 hour days. You’re the public face of Waste Management which comes with a big responsibility in terms of safety. As Antoine puts it: ‘If you’re not into safety, this is not the company for you.’ What I like about this video is that apart from showing people what a typical day looks like in a very honest manner, it also clearly presents the company’s values and mission. Once I finished watching it, I felt that I had a good understanding of both the job and the company culture. The Waste Management video pretty much ticks al off the best practices boxes we mentioned above: it’s compelling and it shows a typical day on the job as well as the company culture from an employee perspective. Before you goIncluding a realistic job preview in your recruitment process should be a no-brainer. Candidates will know better what to expect from the job and the company which will greatly benefit both them and the organization. What’s your experience with realistic job previews, what formats do you use? Share your experience in the comments! FAQWhat is a realistic job preview? A realistic job preview (RJP) is the presentation of both positive and negative information about the job and the organization to prospective applicants. It aims to show a realistic picture of the job and organization to applicants. What are the benefits of a realistic job preview? Benefits of using a realistic job preview include increasing self-selection, an improved candidate experience, more commitment to the organization, higher job satisfaction and performance, and lower attrition. What are realistic job preview best practices? Best practices for realistic job previews are to make them compelling, show a typical day on the job, share honest employee interviews, and focus on culture fit. What is positive and negative recruitment?Positive – seeking out an increase in the applicant pool. Negative – seeking out ways to reduce the applicant pool until one ideal candidate is identified. Inviting more candidates to apply for a vacant position. Choosing the most suitable candidate and rejecting the rest.
Is recruitment a positive or negative process?Recruitment is a positive process because it involves searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for the job.
What are 3 recruitment methods?We want to share the various types of recruitment you can use:. Direct advertising. ... . Talent pool databases. ... . Employee referrals. ... . Boomerang employees. ... . Promotions and transfers. ... . Employment exchanges. ... . Recruitment agencies. ... . Professional organizations.. What are the two methods of recruitment?Recruitment is broadly classified into two different categories − Internal Sources and External Sources.
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