Hiring the right candidate goes beyond checking boxes; you need someone who is well-informed about the role’s responsibilities and can thrive in your work environment. Realistic Job Previews (RJPs) bridge this gap, offering candidates clear expectations with firsthand insight into the job while preventing costly hiring mistakes for the company.
To attract stronger candidates and build teams that perform, it’s essential to know how to create RJPs that work. In this guide, we’ll explore what they are, why they matter, and how to craft them for your organization effectively.
What does a realistic job preview mean?
The US Office of Personnel Management defines a realistic job preview as a recruiting tool that provides candidates with a realistic view of what a job entails, including its good and bad aspects. It can include simulations, videos, tasks, or detailed written descriptions of day-to-day responsibilities and the work environment.
While an RJP is a useful assessment tool, it’s typically more of an opportunity for the candidate to discern whether this position is a good fit for them.
With a full picture of the job, candidates are better equipped to decide whether they truly want the job and see themselves performing well in it. As a result, those who are likely to leave in the first few months can be screened out early, reducing turnover and its associated costs.
How do realistic job previews differ from other skills assessments?
There are realistic job preview pros and cons that recruiting teams should weigh carefully before offering RJPs. First, let’s start with the realistic job preview benefits.
Alt text: A man with a tablet
Like RJPs, skills testing and assessment platforms like Vervoe provide insight into what it’s like to perform on-the-job tasks, usually through simulations or questions that evaluate job-relevant abilities. However, these types of skill assessments focus more on verifying that a candidate has the right capabilities to perform successfully.
In contrast, a realistic job preview provides candidates with the information they need to accept a job offer. It shows candidates what the job is really like, from daily tasks to environment and culture, helping them decide if it aligns with their interests and aspirations.
Generally, where skills assessments let you evaluate candidates, RJPs let candidates assess the job and your company before officially joining the team.
Components of realistic job previews
A properly structured realistic job preview should contain all relevant information a candidate will need to make an informed decision. This includes positive and negative aspects of the job, as the RJP must be as honest as possible to help you achieve your purpose. A typical realistic job preview template includes:
1. Company culture and work environment
Here, you give candidates insight into your team’s pace, core values, and communication style to help them gauge how well they’d fit in. For example, a video tour of your team at work could show candidates how they interact, pointing out whether your company prioritizes collaboration or independent work.
2. The role’s responsibilities
What responsibilities does the job entail, and how would you expect an ideal employee to carry them out? Spell out these duties, outlining not just tasks but also what success would look like in the role. This ensures clarity in communication and prepares the candidates before they step into the role.
3. Perks and development opportunities
Highlight growth paths, learning resources, and benefits to attract top performers who are interested in long-term impact, not just a paycheck. Mention things like internal mentorship programs, promotion timelines, training stipends, or flexible work options. With these opportunities, candidates see that your company invests in employee growth and well-being.
4. How to approach possible challenges associated with the role
Sugarcoating or glazing over difficulty breeds distrust and leaves candidates with unrealistic expectations. Instead, be transparent about possible challenges they may face on the job, such as workload, customer demands, or learning curves. More importantly, share how successful employees overcome them to help them build resilience and flexibility beforehand.
5. ERGs and other employee-led initiatives
Candidates are more enthusiastic about working for companies where they feel a sense of belonging, and employee resource groups (ERGs) are one way to implement this. Showcase your commitment to inclusion, belonging, and community through ERGs that offer a vibrant, supportive atmosphere. Mention groups like women in tech or cultural clubs and how they help employees to ignite their interest.
Realistic job preview formats
Alt text: Man watching a video on a laptop
Many job previews combine multiple formats to paint a picture for a candidate. Take into account how much time a candidate has available, the volume of applicants, and whether they are able to interact in person or virtually. Here are a few realistic job preview formats to consider.
1. Written material
Written RJPs are cost-effective and easy to scale, making them ideal for roles with a high volume of applicants. PowerPoint presentations, brochures, and text-based online material can all provide the foundation for a realistic job preview.
However, try to go beyond employer branding documents to give a deeper look at the company from an insider perspective that can resonate with the applicant. Some companies use employee-written blog posts, while others use internal social media posts to illustrate the culture.
2. Video
Video is among the most effective forms of conveying a realistic job preview. Employee testimonial videos, office tours, and video interviews all give remote candidates a feel for the company, offering context and emotional connection.
It can also be helpful to set up live, informal chats between candidates and current employees, allowing them to ask questions. Regardless of the video’s content and whether live or on-demand, ensure you bring your workplace to life and demonstrate what a typical day in the role would involve.
3. Interviews
Featuring real employee interviews adds authenticity and relatability. Think about who a prospective new hire would need to have access to in order to form a realistic expectation of life at the company, and interview them. These could include future coworkers, managers, and senior leaders.
For a more rounded evaluation process, you can pair these with candidate interviews to test their preparedness for the role. A good example of this would be simulation-style questions, which ask the candidates how they would respond to a specific scenario.
4. Virtual reality
Virtual reality is a great option for companies with substantial resources seeking top-notch candidate experience. Its cutting-edge technology empowers recruiters to meet a candidate “in person” and interact more meaningfully than video allows.
VR RJPs are ideal for hands-on or high-stakes roles where physical experience matters, such as customer interaction or factory-floor professions. For example, Deutsche Bahn, a German railway company, used VR to give candidates a simulation of the conductor role and what their responsibilities would entail.
5 benefits of realistic job previews
Realistic job previews are highly beneficial, particularly for reducing hiring mistakes and improving candidate experience. Below, we’ll discuss a few advantages of realistic job previews.
1. Enhances candidate self-selection
RJPs offer a way for candidates to evaluate the company and self-select out of the process. With job previews, they are more empowered to make informed decisions about whether the role truly suits them.
A better understanding of the realities, both the challenges and rewards, lets them opt out early if it’s not the right fit. This way, you have only genuinely interested and qualified candidates in your pipeline.
2. Lower turnover and recruitment costs
High turnover costs can quickly sink a company’s profit margin. Without proper information, new hires who are unfit for the role may end up unenthusiastic and leave the company prematurely, causing you to incur rehiring costs.
With RJPs, those who self-select in — choosing to continue in the hiring process — will have more realistic expectations of the position, leading to motivated, committed employees. By giving candidates an honest look at the role, you can filter out mismatched applicants before you make any offers, preventing unnecessary turnover costs.
3. Improved candidate experience
Realistic job interviews also improve the candidate experience, and, inevitably, the employee experience too. Candidates get a window into the inner workings of the business, and this transparency is highly valued, especially by Millennial and Gen Z candidates. Companies that set clear expectations throughout the hiring process tend to have strong employer brands as a result.
4. Higher employee satisfaction
When expectations match reality, employees are likely to have higher job satisfaction. An RJP sets an employee up for success by providing a clear picture of what the job will be like. This first impression can lead to increased confidence from day one, higher performance, and higher employee retention.
5. Builds trust and transparency
RJPs demonstrate to candidates that your organization is upfront about both the strengths and challenges of the job. This level of honesty fosters trust from the outset, reinforcing a culture of openness and integrity that often carries into long-term employee relationships.
How to create an effective realistic job preview
An effective RJP combines transparency with engagement. Let’s review how to create a realistic experience of what it’s like to work for your organization.
1. Write an accurate job description
An effective RJP starts with an excellent job description. No matter where you decide to offer realistic job previews in your hiring process, the job description must paint a true picture of the job and its responsibilities. Avoid vagueness; instead, use precise language to describe daily tasks, reporting structures, KPIs, and team collaboration.
For inspiration, check out some of our free job description templates.
2. Highlight the perks and benefits of the role
An employee value proposition (EVP) includes the mix of compensation, benefits, perks, work culture, professional development, and connections that make working at a company rewarding. Modern hiring trends show that how you convey your company’s EVP can determine the quality of talent you attract into the organization.
Recent Randstad research emphasizes this, stating that 39% of Australian workers wouldn’t take a job if it didn’t provide the benefits they want. Rather than bland bullet points and salary details, utilize real-life employee stories or short videos, as these can make these perks feel more tangible.
3. Showcase company culture
54% of workers in a 2024 FlexJob survey cited a healthy company culture as the most important factor in job search. Company culture is nearly as important to job seekers as compensation, and the best way to convey your culture is through your employees.
Share behind-the-scenes glimpses of team events, virtual tours, communication style, or even a quick message from a future manager to depict a lively environment. This prompts candidates to visualize themselves in the role, increasing their excitement about it or making them opt out early if it’s not for them.
4. Include a comprehensive skills assessment
Pairing your RJP with a job-specific skills assessment helps both you and your candidates evaluate job fit. Skills assessments use task-related questions to provide the recruiting team with the information it needs to verify a candidate’s abilities. Secondly, candidates also get the opportunity to simulate what it would be like to do the job.
Questions can be either hyper-specific or broader, depending on how niche the required skills for success in that role are. This not only demonstrates candidate capability but also gives them a real sense of what the job entails.
5. Provide information about employee growth opportunities
A final element of your realistic job preview should cover the future: How can a candidate grow with your organization? This piece enforces the idea that a new employee will stay in the business for the long run, helping your retention rates.
Talk about training and development opportunities, mentorship, promotions, and company goals for the future. This way, candidates can discern early if their professional goals match up with the company’s growth goals.
When to use realistic job previews in the hiring process
Determining when to use RJPs during hiring largely depends on what format your job preview takes and its ease of deployment. Where written content or pre-made videos can easily be distributed to a large number of people, for example, interviews and VR are costlier and more time-consuming.
This means that written or video format RJPs can be used earlier in the hiring process, where you still have several candidates. On the other hand, interviews and VR should be reserved for later stages with top candidates only.
Generally, realistic job previews should be used after screening or shortlisting candidates. This ensures that you’re extending the opportunity to those individuals whom you are seriously considering hiring. It’s also not so late in the hiring process that it will be a setback if a candidate self-selects out.
5 examples of realistic job previews
Every RJP is as unique as the company and the role it portrays. Below, we’ve compiled some great realistic job preview examples for you.
1. Tennessee Department of Children’s Services
Being a Caseworker: A Realistic Job Preview
Realistic job preview using a video testimonial of a caseworker for Tennessee Department of Children’s Services
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services offers an example of a realistic job preview video on being a caseworker. It shows various staff members explaining the day-to-day demands, challenges, and impact of the role. More importantly, they highlight the deep sense of purpose that comes with supporting children and families.
2. Hilton
Realistic job preview video from Hilton of hospitality training with VR
Hilton offers a strong example of a realistic job preview using virtual reality. The video shows employees mimicking real-world scenarios like guest check-in, housekeeping, and resolving service issues through immersive VR training. The experience not only builds practical job-ready skills but also helps employees develop empathy and a deeper understanding of the guest experience.
3. Comcast
Realistic Job Preview: Customer Care
Realistic job preview of Comcast customer care workers
In this Comcast Customer Care video RJP, viewers follow employees through a typical day handling inbound calls and troubleshooting service issues. Team members describe the pace of the role in detail, the important soft skills required for success, and how they support customers efficiently. It also discusses Comcast’s EVPs and perks, providing a glimpse into the company’s work environment and values.
4. ActBlue
Realistic job preview from ActBlue, showing a day in the life of a software engineer
ActBlue provides a clear example of a realistic job preview with a day-in-the-life blog. The post follows one of their software engineers through a typical workday, from morning stand-ups to afternoon coding and bug fixes. It highlights the collaborative, mission-driven nature of the work, as well as the supportive team culture behind the scenes.
5. LA City Personnel Department
Los Angeles Personnel Department’s realistic job preview
Finally, the Los Angeles Personnel Department uses a simple brochure to outline expectations for potential detention officers. It’s not the most exciting way to learn about a job, but it is comprehensive and provides applicants with the information they should know before applying — a slightly different take on the RJP process.
Create stronger realistic job previews with Vervoe
RJPs facilitate better hires by showing candidates what the job is really like before they officially begin their role, improving retention and engagement rates. But for many hiring teams, creating RJPs that are both accurate and scalable can be time-consuming and difficult to standardize. Utilizing a skills assessment platform, such as Vervoe, helps you create more realistic, lifelike RJPs with minimal stress.
Vervoe is one of the best recruitment platforms available, offering candidates a real sense of the role while measuring what matters most—their skills. Its robust features include a vast assessment library with over 300 customizable templates and job simulations.
Furthermore, Vervoe’s AI-powered assessment builder converts your job descriptions to detailed assessments in a few minutes. Automated grading and ranking take this a step further, identifying top candidates according to your desired criteria. Whether it’s customer support, sales, or tech roles, Vervoe helps you replicate real-world tasks in a way that’s fast, fair, and scalable.
Want to see it in action? Schedule a demo and discover how Vervoe can help you create more engaging, effective RJPs that ensure you never make another bad hire.
