Many companies skip this, while some make this a part of their hiring process. What should you do if you are also hiring people? Should you ask for essays or not?
In my opinion, yes, they should. And here is why I believe this should be the case.
Better judgement
Usually, a job requires very less interaction with the clients. Unless it is a sales or client meeting job, people are mostly hired for sitting jobs. And for this, verbal communication don’t really matter. Moreover, people who apply for such jobs might not be very well with their speech part.
So, giving them an essay option is a great way to judge their thinking process. An essay will let you know better how a person is in real life. Because we all know, an interview can more or less be faked as well.
Screening process
Essay writing also serves as a good screening process. Obviously you cannot ask a candidate to write essay on a general news topic or ambiguous topic. Because they can not serve as a proper screening criteria. You can analyze them on questions you were going to ask in your interview. For example, their long term career planning, some previous situations in their life which show their personality, and so on.
These questions will help you decide which person is better suitable for your job and which cannot be taken forward.
One important thing you need to keep in mind is that these candidates should be made to write essays in one dedicated area only. There are many companies which make essay writing a part of application process. While submitting an application online from home, candidates are required to fill up their details along with some essay part.
Drawbacks?
Since no one is looking after them, the candidates tend to cheat here. They either get help from any essay typer, or simply take help from their friends and families in writing an impressive essay. Anything written from home can never be a good judge of a person’s personality. Because here, they tend to write things that are known to impress the employers.