Member Company Uses the Oregon Bio Career Center and Tools to Improve Hiring Process and Results
By Robin Bernard, president, Filtrox NA, Kirkland, WA

The Oregon Bioscience Association offers an automated and secure Career Center as a valuable, free service to members.   Upgrades are also available that include a fully functioning applicant tracking system and assessment tools. These are offered at a discount to Oregon Bio members by Career Center partner Jan Foster of Performance Resources.

Through its association with Oregon Bio, Filtrox NA recently engaged Oregon Bio’s Career Center partner to support the recruiting and hiring for a senior-level position. Contracting with this Oregon Bio resource was probably one of the best decisions I have made in the area of human resources. The low-cost tools greatly reduced our risk of making a costly wrong decision and assisted us through the entire advertising, interviewing and hiring process.

We contracted to upgrade the Oregon Bio standard site for a small fee to allow for increased flexibility and reporting. We were able to set up our own, branded career site (linked to the Oregon Bio Career Center) with an expanded company profile and custom application. The job advertisement was posted automatically on several major job boards, providing a broad search for our specialized candidate. The system allowed for simple, straightforward management of our applicants. We benefitted from the fact that the on-line application allowed us to add multiple qualifying questions specific to the position requirements. We saved much time and energy through our ability to quickly screen out those applicants that did not meet the basic requirements for the position.

Once candidates completed the application, they completed an on-line assessment that measures an individual’s basic work-related values – very important information for the position we advertised. This tool provided us valid insight into our applicants’ work ethic, reliability, propensity for substance abuse, and attitudes toward theft – including property, data and time. We paid a small fee to get the results for only the candidates that appeared promising (at Oregon Bio discounted pricing).

Next, top applicants were invited to complete a ‘job fit’ assessment. The baseline for this assessment was a very successful employee who currently holds the position. The applicants’ responses were compared to the successful employee’s responses to show how well they matched the characteristics of our proven employee. An interview guide based on the candidate’s specific responses facilitated a more meaningful interview. A second report provided us information that will be helpful in managing, motivating and coaching our new employee for increased productivity. Again, the small investment we made for this assessment ensured we only interviewed candidates who were likely to succeed, and we enjoyed the Oregon Bio discount.

The most important result of using this process and tools was the amount of time saved by effectively collecting and screening applicants on-line before focusing energy on the most qualified candidates. Oregon Bio’s Career Center partner was very responsive in its administration of assessments and other related support.

Hiring the right candidate in any business is the most important function management exercises. We found the customized utilities in this program to be outstanding and thank Oregon Bio for providing this resource to its members.

More information can be found online at the Oregon Bio Career Center information page or by contacting Career Center partner Jan Foster at (503) 297-1814 or jan@prol.ws.