I don't like pre-interview surveys much. I tend to fill them out biasing against myself which tends to be a disservice to myself and to the employers.
To use an example. Lets say I'm considered an expert in a closed pretzel making community. I worked for the Bavarians who are renown in the pretzel making community. While there I made some waves in the pretzel making arts. Lets say the Bavarians are very secretive and won't talk about their pretzel making to other pretzel makers. They're Bavarians, they don't need to.
Later I saw a job at a medium sized pretzel factory in Portugal. I liked the location and applied as an operational pretzel maker. They asked me to fill out a survey and I listed that I didn't have experience with dough pullers and have only shaken the salt shaker a few times in recent history.
Quickly said factory sends a "you're not what we're looking for email". Needless to say, I was slightly perplexed.
The survey didn't give me a chance to state that I had invented new pretzel recipes (and pretzel making techniques that did not require dough pullers at that) and had a different view on pretzel making because I was working for the Bavarians for so long. They also missed out on my motivation to get closer to people eating pretzels and take my ideas outside of the schnitzel tower the Bavarian pretzel makers occupy.
In short, I wrote all this to say I'm not a fan of pre-interview surveys.
I did mention it shouldn't be used as a filter, for exactly this reason. A pre-interview form can be used during the interview, too. Instead of starting with a blank sheet in front of you, you have this chart. "I see here you have knowledge about VCS systems... which did you use?".
To use an example. Lets say I'm considered an expert in a closed pretzel making community. I worked for the Bavarians who are renown in the pretzel making community. While there I made some waves in the pretzel making arts. Lets say the Bavarians are very secretive and won't talk about their pretzel making to other pretzel makers. They're Bavarians, they don't need to.
Later I saw a job at a medium sized pretzel factory in Portugal. I liked the location and applied as an operational pretzel maker. They asked me to fill out a survey and I listed that I didn't have experience with dough pullers and have only shaken the salt shaker a few times in recent history.
Quickly said factory sends a "you're not what we're looking for email". Needless to say, I was slightly perplexed.
The survey didn't give me a chance to state that I had invented new pretzel recipes (and pretzel making techniques that did not require dough pullers at that) and had a different view on pretzel making because I was working for the Bavarians for so long. They also missed out on my motivation to get closer to people eating pretzels and take my ideas outside of the schnitzel tower the Bavarian pretzel makers occupy.
In short, I wrote all this to say I'm not a fan of pre-interview surveys.