Matching (job placement)

Under Matching is the comparison of job requirements and personal qualities and skills of applicants for this job, understood. This comparison is often carried out using profiling tools such as questionnaires, tests or programs. Automated searches and assignments can be carried out on the basis of these results.

purpose

Matching techniques should ensure the greatest possible congruence and accuracy of fit between the requirements of the employer and the skills of the applicant and minimize incorrect appointments or training risks. They should minimize fluctuation and increase the length of stay in the job. Preconditions are precise communication of employer requirements as well as the awareness of those to be placed about their own abilities and strengths. This can often only be achieved through complex communication, but not through automated questionnaire comparison.

Matching algorithms are intended to make this easier. Both sides are automatically compared with each other. Participants complete a psychological test procedure in which a personal profile is created. The job profile is created through requirement analyzes, expert ratings and empirical data on labor market situations.

history

The idea of matching was developed by the social reformer Frank Parsons (1854–1908), who at the beginning of the 20th century in Boston with his trait & factor concept was able to compare traits that can be activated relatively independently of the situation with the operational requirements ( Factors ) placed at the center of career counseling and job placement. Physical characteristics, problem-solving and learning styles or the preferred work environment also play a role; the latter can e.g. B. can be determined with the RIASEC model from John L. Holland .

Today the idea of an optimal match is increasingly being replaced by that of a fit , i.e. the suitability for a certain activity that has to be proven in practice. This also makes the idea that matching should best be done through psychological tests becomes problematic. In contrast, practical testing of competency is gaining in importance. Internet-based job exchanges are satisfied with matching processes based on fewer entered keywords.

Matching strategies

The placement practice of the Federal Employment Agency is based on four different matching strategies, on the basis of which incoming job offers are processed.

The first strategy, which is used in the case of unspecialized workers and unattractive working conditions, only involves a rough system search.
In the case of job offers with attractive working conditions, but poor recruitment opportunities, this system search is supplemented by widely distributed and written applicant information.
In the third strategy, a system search is carried out, which is supplemented by a search for applicant profiles posted by applicants themselves but not supervised.
Matching strategy 0 means that the vacancies do not fit into the existing system, e.g. B. because of extreme specialization, and repeated searches have remained unsuccessful.

literature

Arthur Mann: Yankee Reformers in the Urban Age: Social Reform in Boston 1880-1900. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA) 1954. (Presentation of the work by Frank Parsons et al.)
Frank Parsons: Choosing a vocation . Houghton Mifflin, Boston 1909.
Ch. Scheller: Job placement, profiling and matching. In: F. Egle, M. Nagy: Labor market integration. Springer, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8349-9667-1 , pp. 259 ff.

Individual evidence

^ Matthias Oberstebrink: The Cultural Fit Principle. In: Springerprofessional.de. March 20, 2017, accessed on February 28, 2019 (German).
^ Anne Hacket: Is mobility worth it? Income prospects in internal and external labor markets in the first years of employment. 1st edition. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16300-0 , p. 69-70 .
^ Job matching. How to search for jobs or candidates methodically, efficiently and purposefully. In: BirdieMatch. February 1, 2019, accessed February 28, 2019 .
^ Tim Obermeier, Frank Oschmiansky: The public employment agency. In: Federal Center for Political Education. January 31, 2014, accessed February 28, 2019 .

[1] Matthias Oberstebrink: The Cultural Fit Principle. In: Springerprofessional.de. March 20, 2017, accessed on February 28, 2019 (German).

[2] Anne Hacket: Is mobility worth it? Income prospects in internal and external labor markets in the first years of employment. 1st edition. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16300-0 , p. 69-70 .

[3] Job matching. How to search for jobs or candidates methodically, efficiently and purposefully. In: BirdieMatch. February 1, 2019, accessed February 28, 2019 .

[4] Tim Obermeier, Frank Oschmiansky: The public employment agency. In: Federal Center for Political Education. January 31, 2014, accessed February 28, 2019 .