What is a Matching Program?
Matching Programs place applicants into positions based on lists of preferred choices submitted by applicants and recruiters. They have been implemented in a wide variety of professions and competitive recruitment situations, including: medicine, law, dentistry, optometry, psychology, accounting, pharmacy, podiatry, university co-op placements, sororities and student assignment to public schools.
With a Matching Program, applicants and recruiters evaluate each other in the usual manner (e.g. applications, interviews, etc.). However, no offers are made during this process. Instead, after all evaluations are complete, each applicant submits to the Matching Program a list of desired positions in numerical order of preference (first choice, second choice, etc.). Similarly, each recruiter submits a list of desirable applicants, in preference order. The Matching Program then places applicants into positions based on these stated preferences and ensures that all participants receive the best matches possible from the available opportunities.
What are the Advantages of a Matching Program?
A Matching Program is an effective and fair means of implementing a standardized acceptance date. It eliminates premature decisions based on incomplete information by allowing all offers, acceptances or rejections to occur at the same time. Therefore many common adverse situations are eliminated from the recruitment process, such as applicants hoarding multiple offers, applicants reneging on a prior acceptance in order to accept a more preferred subsequent offer, and recruiters overfilling the number of positions available. Applicants and recruiters benefit from having full choice of all potential placements. The best strategy for both applicants and recruiters is to submit preference lists that reflect their true preferences.
Will a Matching Program Work for Me?
A Matching Program may provide an effective solution to any of the following issues that typically arise in competitive recruitment processes:
- Pressure on recruiters to make offers earlier and earlier
- Premature decisions by recruiters and applicants - insufficient opportunitiy to evaluate alternatives
- Applicants/recruiters must guess the likelihood of receiving subsequent offers/acceptances - no guarantee of achieving best result
- Overfilling positions due to uncertainty regarding the number of acceptances
- Reneging on previous commitments, because of overfilling or better subsequent offers
- Unprofessional recruiting practices (e.g. "exploding offers", etc.), stressful and unfair process
- Limited outcome data available to recruiters for planning and managing future recruitment cycles
More Information
To discuss a Matching Program for your specific context, please contact NMS.