The SMART Application© (SMART APP™), is a simple-to-use, web-based software tool designed to empower the hiring process by using a dynamic application form that gathers information about the applicant, analyses the responses and prepares a narrative report for the hiring manager. The SMART Application is not a psychological test. It is a new kind of application form. It’s designed for a company to replace the current paper or electronic employment application form. Even though some companies have an on-line application process, the main benefits are the convenience to the applicant and some record keeping abilities. The SMART Application skips several generations of application information gathering. It provides a true interactive application form that gathers huge amounts of information about a prospective employee and instantly analyzes the responses in a way to give new insight and facilitate the important hiring decision.
The questions used in The SMART Application have been evaluated and analyzed to minimize liability exposure and risk. They were developed based on highly researched literature and decades of experience. Subsequently, the application questions were reviewed by a group of forensic psychologists and human resources professionals. Finally, a nationally recognized leader in labor and employment law has vetted The SMART Application with an unequivocal endorsement.
For most companies, the application form is filled out by the applicant, either in-person or online. The answers are then reviewed and perhaps an interview or other tests will then follow. This is the same process that has existed for generations of HR professionals. The Smart Application, because it is dynamic and web-based, will ask the applicant better, more in-depth job-related questions. The complex algorithms, invisible to the user, will determine follow-up questions, analyze the responses, and identify behavioral trends that suggest both positive and problematic employee behavior. There are approximately 450 core questions. Based on the applicant’s answers, the dynamic branching algorithms will select as many as 150 questions for that specific applicant. The question content and sequence depends upon how each question is answered. In other words, two applicants applying for the same position will fill out the same basic core and specialty area questions, but may be asked to answer different follow-up questions, depending on responses. There are more than a million question combinations. By combining the data contained in the application, the algorithms analyze and organize a tremendous amount of information that is virtually impossible for a human being to do in a meaningful and coherent way. The narrative will not recommend whether the applicant should be hired or not. That continues to be the decision of the HR professional or hiring manager.
There are five Core areas (illegal drug use; employment history; educational history; residential history; military history) that are always asked about. Three additional job specific areas of inquiry (legal history, financial history, driving history) can be selected as needed for special circumstances. Each core and specific job area asks targeted job related questions in a dynamic environment. Each core and specific job area question has a behavioral code attached to it that allows for tracking of trends across the applicants’ life. All of the applicant’s responses are then integrated into a narrative report that lets the company view the complete employment history and key problematic workplace attitudes and behaviors. The SMART Application narrative will then suggest unique follow-up interview and background investigation questions. Additionally, the narrative report links automatically to the O*Net. The O*NET – the Occupational Information Network — is a job description website created, hosted and updated by the U.S. Department of Labor. Every occupation requires a different mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities, and is performed using a variety of activities and tasks. From data collected by federal agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the O*NET Content Model encapsulates the key features of an occupation into a standardized, measurable set of variables called “descriptors.” Through a proprietary relationship with the Department of Labor, the O*Net has been seamlessly integrated into The Smart Application process. Special steps have been taken to ensure that navigation of the O*Net is much easier than going directly to the O*NET site. All applicants for the same position are then rank ordered, based on selected criteria, to give a much more powerful, and streamlined, application process.
The Smart App™ is the only application form available that will identify those applicants who are attempting to give socially desirable answers as opposed to being candid. The SMART Application does not have to be completed in one sitting. Applicants can move at their own pace, picking up where they left off, if desired.
Additionally, each specific content area is evaluated for discrepancies, omissions, and problematic trends. The Narrative Report is available within seconds after the application is completed. It will analyze, in plain English and graphical representation, areas of inconsistency or concern, potential follow-up issues, sample questions to use in the interview and other critical information that will help make a SMART hiring decision.
Summary
- Items have been approved by one of the largest employment law firms in the U.S.
- Item generation follows scientific/research format.
- The SMART APP™ is not a psychological test. It does not “predict” or “diagnose”.
- It is an extraordinarily, sophisticated, dynamic web-based application form that utilizes invisible algorithms to gather, sort, and analyze bio-data supplied by the applicant.
- A summary narrative report is immediately available.
- There are “regular” and “short” forms available. The “regular” form will take one to one and one-half hours to complete. The “short” form will take 25 – 45 minutes to complete.
- Costs are very low per applicant and will not be a prohibitive factor.
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