Preview Questions - ERE's Recruiting Excellence Awards 2011

500 words total. Please provide any basic/factual information, such as who works on your program (how many people, where they are, etc.), how many colleges you target, in what countries/states, etc. Now please describe evidence of the most important thing: how the college program is paying off or resulting in quality hires, or better hires than in years past. This will help narrow down applicants to a list of finalists; judges may get back to you for more information in selecting a winner.

In 500 words, please describe any qualitative and quantitative information about the site ... for example: traffic growth, conversion rates, drop-off rates, budget, who works on your site, etc. How has the site has paid off or contributed to improved profits, better employees, and other quantifiable outcomes? This will help narrow down applicants to a list of finalists; judges may get back to you for more information in selecting a winner.

In 500 words, please describe your diversity recruiting program and how it has helped your business. Please share any data you have in this area, such as demographic/workforce makeup data by race/gender/disability/etc., turnover, promotion data, or a breakdown of senior executives. You might also discuss if/how manager compensation has a diversity-recruiting component, and the same with senior executive compensation. This will help narrow down applicants to a list of finalists; judges may get back to you for more information in selecting a winner.

In 500 words, please describe how your referral program has helped you attract better people and has helped your business. Please share any basic factual (mainly quantitative) data on your program (e.g. percent of employees from referrals, and whether they stay longer or perform better). Tell us why the program's unique or successful. This will help narrow down applicants to a list of finalists; judges may get back to you for more information in selecting a winner.

In 500 words, please describe your employer brand and how it has paid off -- the quantifiable results. If you did a specific branding initiative, talk about the timeline, budget, who was involved, etc. Also let us know how it relates to your consumer brand or overall company brand. This will help narrow down applicants to a list of finalists; judges may get back to you for more information in selecting a winner.

In 500 words, describe your retention program and why it has been successful. Describe any basic factual information you want to provide, such as turnover rates in your industry and your company. Who's involved in your program? What makes your program unique? Also, talk about the business case ... after all, some companies have found that higher turnover is actually better for them -- so let us know why you strive for lower turnover. This will help narrow down applicants to a list of finalists; judges may get back to you for more information in selecting a winner.

In 500 words, please describe (qualitative and quantitative) how your recruiting technology (such as a website, talent acquisition system, screening technology, artificial intelligence, blogs, audio/video, forecasting/planning systems, etc. or some or all of the above) has helped your business. Your technology may be something not listed above! This will help narrow down applicants to a list of finalists; judges may get back to you for more information in selecting a winner.

Tell us in 800 words or less how your recruiting department, your recruiters, and (if applicable) others working on talent acquisition, have helped your business. How has it resulted in better hires? How is this translated to business outcomes? Let us know what you're doing that's unique. Talk about challenges you've overcome.