Checklist: Gaining Support for Producing a realistic job preview
Before producing your realistic job preview, gather information and determine to the greatest
extent possible the benefits of a realistic job preview for your agency.
realistic job preview Goals and Objectives: Communicate clearly what the realistic job preview is designed
to do and why your agency should produce one. A well-designed realistic job preview will not
scare off desirable job applicants. Keep in mind that the realistic job preview should present
a balanced representation of the job; it should accurately portray both the
positive and negative aspects of the job.
Time Savings: Whether you produce a realistic job preview in-house or hire a video production
vendor, developing a realistic job preview will take some time. As an example, one
agency spent between 400 and 500 hours over a 15-week period to produce
a 30-minute realistic job preview DVD using their in-house staff.
Your initial time investment, however, will save many hours of wasted new worker training. Consider the number of hours saved for every applicant who
views the realistic job preview and decides against pursuing a child welfare job who would
otherwise have taken the job and quit soon afterward.
Cost: Determine, if possible, the costs of early turnover to your agency. (For
help in calculating the cost of turnover to your agency, see Cornerstones For
Kids, Turnover Tool Kit.)
Cost Effectiveness: Compare costs of turnover to the cost of producing a
realistic job preview. For example, one agency spent $27,000 to produce a child welfare realistic job preview
DVD using their own staff. The majority of the costs were the wages and
benefits for the employees already on the payroll who produced the realistic job preview. This
same agency estimated that the direct and indirect turnover costs of one
children's services worker leaving were over $50,000.
Effectiveness: realistic job preview are an effective tool for reducing turnover in
occupations where the job duties are complex and difficult, and where
applicants often have a poor understanding of what the job really entails. In
one study, almost 7 percent of applicants concluded that a child welfare job
wasn't right for them, based on reviewing a realistic job preview (see realistic job preview Case Study:
Michigan Department of Human Services).
Ability: If after reviewing the realistic job preview Tool Kit, you believe your agency lacks
the capacity to produce its own realistic job preview in house, consider partnering with a local
college or university, or contracting with a private video-production vendor.