External Employer Prescreening Services
RCTReview
Evaluating large volumes of job applicants creates high administrative and screening costs for hiring firms. High evaluation frictions discourage businesses from expanding their hiring or opening new vacancies for entry-level workers.
Picture this
External prescreening services function like a professional quality-sorting belt in a factory. Instead of the assembly manager sifting through unsorted raw materials, an external agency filters and categorizes inputs beforehand so the manager only handles pre-qualified, ready-to-use materials.
What the evidence says
Providing prescreening hiring services directly to firms reduced employer evaluation costs and accelerated vacancy fill rates across participating businesses.
- Who was studied
- Hiring firms and job candidates interacting with public and local employment agencies.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating firm-directed prescreening and candidate filtering services provided by local employment agencies.
What to do
Contract local employment agencies to provide standardized prescreening and candidate evaluation services directly to businesses before posting open vacancies.
From the source
"Credible skill signals help firms assess job seeker skills, fill vacancies more quickly, and better identify successful matches, which can lead to better fit hires who stay in the job longer."
Improving_job_seekers_employment_and_earnings_through_credible_skills.pdf