CODESP Recruitment and Sourcing Strategies 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following practices MOST directly supports 'structured outreach' to underrepresented communities in public sector recruitment?
- Extending the application deadline by one week
- Partnering with community colleges, HBCUs, and community-based organizations serving underrepresented groups (Correct answer)
- Offering online-only applications to modernize the process
- Allowing self-certification of qualifications to lower barriers
Correct answer: Partnering with community colleges, HBCUs, and community-based organizations serving underrepresented groups
Structured outreach through institutional partnerships with organizations serving underrepresented populations builds pipelines to qualified diverse candidates.
Question 2: A recruitment manager wants to evaluate whether the agency's job postings are reaching a sufficiently diverse audience. The BEST data source for this evaluation is:
- Post-hire employee satisfaction surveys
- Applicant self-identification data collected at the point of application (Correct answer)
- Exit interview data from departing employees
- Compensation benchmarking reports from industry surveys
Correct answer: Applicant self-identification data collected at the point of application
Applicant demographic self-identification data reveals whether diverse candidates are entering the pipeline, enabling targeted adjustments to sourcing channels.
Question 3: Which term describes the practice of re-engaging former employees as candidates for open positions?
- Boomerang hiring (Correct answer)
- Lateral recruiting
- Succession planning
- Transfer mobility
Correct answer: Boomerang hiring
Boomerang hiring refers to rehiring former employees who left on good terms, leveraging their existing organizational knowledge to reduce onboarding time.
Question 4: In civil service recruitment, an 'open competitive examination' is distinguished from a 'departmental promotional examination' primarily by:
- The difficulty level of the test questions
- Eligibility being open to the general public versus restricted to current employees (Correct answer)
- The number of candidates who can sit for the exam
- Whether the examination is administered in person or online
Correct answer: Eligibility being open to the general public versus restricted to current employees
Open competitive exams allow any qualified member of the public to apply, while departmental promotionals are limited to current employees seeking advancement.
Question 5: Which of the following is the MOST significant legal risk when using social media to source candidates?
- Posting positions on too many platforms simultaneously
- Accessing protected class information (race, religion, age) visible on profiles and allowing it to influence selection (Correct answer)
- Failing to respond to all applicants who message through social media
- Using professional tone in social media job postings
Correct answer: Accessing protected class information (race, religion, age) visible on profiles and allowing it to influence selection
Social media profiles often reveal protected class information; using this information—even inadvertently—in selection decisions creates EEO liability.
Question 6: When should a public agency consider using a 'continuous open recruitment' rather than a 'one-time exam' model for filling positions?
- When the position is highly specialized with few qualified applicants nationwide
- When there are frequent, ongoing vacancies in high-volume classifications (Correct answer)
- When union agreements prohibit periodic testing
- When the agency wants to reduce the size of its eligibility list
Correct answer: When there are frequent, ongoing vacancies in high-volume classifications
Continuous open recruitment suits high-volume classifications where demand is constant, avoiding repeated full exam cycles for frequently vacated positions.
Question 7: A recruiter is designing an outreach plan and must prioritize among several sourcing channels with limited budget. The MOST data-driven approach to prioritization is to:
- Choose channels that are most affordable regardless of past performance
- Analyze historical yield ratios and quality-of-hire metrics by channel and allocate budget accordingly (Correct answer)
- Use the same channels as comparable agencies in the region
- Select channels based on recruiter familiarity and ease of use
Correct answer: Analyze historical yield ratios and quality-of-hire metrics by channel and allocate budget accordingly
Historical yield and quality-of-hire data by channel provides objective evidence of where budget investment produces the best qualified candidates.
CODESP Recruitment and Sourcing Strategies 5
Which of the following practices MOST directly supports 'structured outreach' to underrepresented communities in public sector recruitment?