Applicant Screening Practices at Korean Firms: Evidence from Interviews of Personnel Officers

Abstract

Most Korean employers screen job applicants' personal backgrounds extensively. Because this screening includes applicants' protected characteristics including gender, and is not directly related to job requirements, the practice may lead to discrimination and inefficiency in recruitment. This study surveys films' screening practices, their aims, and their rationalization vis-a-vis discrimination laws. Interviews with personnel officers of fifteen firms reveal that employers vary in their familiarity with discrimination laws, in the importance they attribute to job application forms, in the frequency with which they update them, and in their justification for intrusive questions on application forms. Employers familiar with discrimination laws ask fewer personal questions, and downplay the importance of personal questions in recruitment Frequency of updating of application forms reflects inversely the inertia in the firms' responding to market conditions and laws. Finns asking more personal questions employ fewer women, but appear no more prosperous or successful at selecting dedicated workers. Human resource departments should calibrate their screening practices more carefully and frequently, to align them with their underlying objectives and with social aims. Regulators should create an environment conducive to these efforts.