SHRM Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company is expanding into a new region and needs to hire 50 employees within 90 days. Which workforce planning approach is most appropriate?
- Succession planning
- Contingency workforce planning
- Strategic headcount planning (Correct answer)
- Replacement planning
Correct answer: Strategic headcount planning
Strategic headcount planning maps specific role needs to business expansion goals and timelines.
Question 2: Which sourcing strategy is most effective for filling highly specialized technical roles with limited candidate pools?
- Job board postings
- Employee referral programs
- Talent community building and passive candidate outreach (Correct answer)
- Campus recruiting
Correct answer: Talent community building and passive candidate outreach
Building talent communities and proactively engaging passive candidates is most effective when qualified active candidates are scarce.
Question 3: An HR team notices that their time-to-fill metric has increased significantly over the past year. Which action should they take first?
- Increase compensation packages
- Analyze each stage of the recruiting funnel to identify bottlenecks (Correct answer)
- Hire additional recruiters immediately
- Reduce minimum qualifications for open roles
Correct answer: Analyze each stage of the recruiting funnel to identify bottlenecks
Analyzing the recruiting funnel stages identifies where delays occur before implementing solutions.
Question 4: Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which form must U.S. employers complete to verify employment eligibility for all new hires?
- W-4
- I-9 (Correct answer)
- E-Verify confirmation
- W-2
Correct answer: I-9
Form I-9 must be completed by employers to verify the identity and employment authorization of every new hire.
Question 5: A job posting that requires '5 years of experience' for an entry-level role may create disparate impact on which protected group?
- Veterans
- Racial minorities
- Younger workers (Correct answer)
- Workers with disabilities
Correct answer: Younger workers
Requiring excessive experience for entry-level roles can disproportionately screen out younger workers who have not had the opportunity to accumulate those years.
Question 6: What is the primary purpose of a structured interview in the selection process?
- To make candidates feel comfortable
- To ensure consistency and reduce interviewer bias across candidates (Correct answer)
- To assess cultural fit subjectively
- To allow interviewers to explore any topic freely
Correct answer: To ensure consistency and reduce interviewer bias across candidates
Structured interviews use standardized questions and scoring criteria to improve reliability and reduce bias.
Question 7: Which external factor would most directly cause an organization to revise its workforce plan downward?
- A competitor launching a new product
- An economic recession reducing consumer demand (Correct answer)
- An increase in the federal minimum wage
- A new industry certification requirement
Correct answer: An economic recession reducing consumer demand
An economic recession typically reduces organizational revenue and demand, prompting workforce reductions or hiring freezes.
SHRM Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning 2
A company is expanding into a new region and needs to hire 50 employees within 90 days.
Which workforce planning approach is most appropriate?