AmeriCorps Competitive Advantage Questionnaire

Thank you for your participation in this study. The purpose of this study is to identify what 

kinds of job applicant characteristics employers value when hiring. We are going to ask you to 

evaluate a series of fictional job candidate profiles and rank which candidates you would most 

likely hire for a hypothetical entry-level, general office position in your organization. 

The survey contains two sections. The first will ask you to rank hypothetical job candidates. The 

second will ask you follow-up questions to provide basic information about you and your 

organization. We anticipate the questionnaire taking about 15 minutes to complete.
Screening Questions

Q2 Do you make decisions about hiring new employees at your organization? [Radio 

buttons]

1 Yes

2 No
Instructions

You will now review profiles of hypothetical candidates competing for a fictional entry-level, 

full time position in your organization. This position is a general office position that does not 

require highly specialized experience or technical skills, but does require a Bachelor’s degree.

You will review 3 candidates at a time. All candidates have:

 Completed any screening processes, interviews, or other procedures normally used when 

hiring an employee at your organization; 

 Same salary requirements; 

 Completed a Bachelor’s degree within the last two years; 

 One year of work experience. The candidate is currently employed in the position for 

which work experience is presented. Experience may be in one of three areas:

o Private sector: candidate worked in a for-profit company.

o Public sector: candidate worked in a civilian capacity for either a government 

agency or a non-profit organization.

o AmeriCorps: candidate completed a year of service in AmeriCorps, a civilian 

national service program. AmeriCorps members are selected to work in a yearlong, full-time, stipended position at nonprofits, schools, and other communitybased organizations. They work to solve critical community problems through 

organizational capacity building, direct service provision, and community

development.

Any additional experiences not shown in the candidate profiles are comparable to one another 

and are satisfactory to meet your organization’s requirements. 

Each candidate’s profile will consist of 6 characteristics. All characteristics are related to the 

candidate’s current job. These characteristics are:

1. Related industry: The candidate’s current job is in an industry related to your 

organization’s industry. For example, if your organization is in marketing, a related 

industry may be public relations. An unrelated industry may be information technology

(IT). Candidates may present experience in a job Related, or Not Related to your 

organization’s industry.

2. Related skills: At their current job, the candidate developed skills related to those often 

used by your organization. For example, if your organization often needs employees with 

customer service skills, the candidate’s last job may have involved interacting with 

clients at a homeless shelter. Candidates may present job experience in which they

Developed Related Skills, or Did Not Develop Related Skills.

3. Leadership: At their current job, the candidate gained experience leading a team and 

guiding others toward completion of a goal. Candidates may present job experience in 

which they Gained Experience or Did not Gain Experience.
4. Cross cultural competency: At their current job, the candidate gained the ability to 

communicate and work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds or 

viewpoints. Candidates may present job experience in which they Gained or Did Not gain 

Skills. 

5. Project development and implementation: At their current job, the candidate 

developed and implemented a project, delivering results on schedule. The options are:

Gained Experience, or Did Not Gain Experience. 

6. Organizational fit: The candidate’s values reflect your organization’s values and 

“personality”. The options are: Is an Excellent Fit, or Is a Satisfactory Fit.

After reviewing each candidate, you will rank the candidates from 1 to 3, with 1 being your top 

candidate to hire, 2 being your next preferred candidate, and 3 being your least preferred

candidate to hire. If you feel that a particular candidate should be completely eliminated from 

consideration, you may select the option “I would not consider this candidate”. [Respondents 

should be required to make a selection for each candidate before proceeding to the next choice 

set. Respondents may exit the survey at any time; if a respondent exits the survey before 

completing a choice set, that partially complete set should not be used for analysis, however any

completed sets before exiting can be used for analysis.]
Part 1: Job Candidate Ratings

Rank the following three candidates from most (1) to least (3) preferred for the position. You 

may also select not to consider a candidate.

Candidate 1: 

Private sector

Candidate 2: 

AmeriCorps

Candidate 3: 

Public sector

Worked in Related 

Industry

Prior job in industry

related to your industry.

Related Not Related Not Related

Developed Related 

Skills

Developed skills related to 

those used in your 

organization

Did No 

Develop 

Related Skills

Developed 

Related Skills

Developed 

Related Skills

Leadership 

Experience

Led a team and guided 

others to completion of a 

goal

Gained 

Experience

Did Not Gain 

Experience

Gained 

Experience

Cross Cultural 

Competency

Communicated and 

worked effectively with 

individuals from diverse 

backgrounds, viewpoints

Did Not Gain 

Skills

Gained Skills Did Not Gain 

Skills

Project Development 

and Implementation 

In prior job, developed 

and implemented a 

project, delivering results 

on schedule

Did Not Gain 

Experience

Gained 

Experience

Gained 

Experience

Organizational Fit

The candidate’s values 

reflect your organization’s 

values and “personality”

Satisfactory

Fit

Excellent Fit Satisfactory Fit

Candidate Rank [Select 1, 2, 3, or 

“I would not 

consider this 

candidate”]

[Select 1, 2, 3, or 

“I would not 

consider this 

candidate”]

[Select 1, 2, 3, or 

“I would not 

consider this 

candidate”]

*This choice set will have 7 more iterations that the respondent will review. The content for 

each iteration will be generated according to an experimental design that is under development.
Part 2: Background Questions about You and Your Organization

We’d now like to ask you some questions about yourself, and what you thought about when 

responding to the previous questions. 

Q10 What is your sex?

1 Female

2 Male

Q11 What is your age?

1 21-24

2 25-34

3 35-44

4 45-54

5 55-64

6 65+

Q12 What is your highest level of education attained?

1 Less than high school

2 High school/GED

3 Some college/Associate’s degree

4 Bachelor’s degree

5 Master’s degree

6 Professional degree/Doctorate

Q13 How many new employees have you personally been responsible for hiring during the 

past year?

If you don’t remember exactly, please give your best estimate.

1 0 to 5 employees

2 6 to 10 employees

3 11 to 15 employees

4 16 to 20 employees

5 21 employees or more

9 Don’t know

Q14 How long have you been at your organization?

1 Less than 1 year

2 1-5 years

3 6-10 years
4 11-15 years

5 16-20 years

6 21 or more years

Q15 Thinking about your career as a whole, not just at your present employer, how many

years have you been responsible or had authority to hire new employees?

If you don’t remember exactly, please give your best estimate.

1 Less than 1 year

2 1 to 5 years

3 6 to 10 years

4 11 to 15 years

5 16 to 20 years

6 21 or more years

9 Don’t know

Q16 Had you heard of AmeriCorps before taking this survey?

1 Yes CONTINUE

2 No SKIP TO Q19

Q17 Please select Yes or No for the following questions:

Yes No

I know someone who served or is serving in AmeriCorps. 1 2

I have worked with an AmeriCorps member before. 1 2

I have hired an AmeriCorps member before. 1 2

I know of AmeriCorps projects in my community. 1 2

I have served in AmeriCorps. 1 2
Q18 To what extent do you agree with the following statements?

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I have a good image of 

AmeriCorps. 1 2 3 4 5

I think highly of 

AmeriCorps. 1 2 3 4 5

In the profiles you reviewed, you saw candidates with one year of work experience in 

AmeriCorps, the private sector, or the public sector. We would like to know more about 

what work experience in the different sectors means to you.
Q19 AMERICORPS: Candidate completed a year of service in AmeriCorps, a national 

service program. Experience in AmeriCorps means that the candidate completed a 

year of full-time, stipended service in AmeriCorps, a civilian national service 

program. AmeriCorps members in non-profits, schools, and other community

based organizations to solve critical community problems through organizational 

capacity building, direct service provision, and community development.

Rate on average how much AmeriCorps experience demonstrates the traits listed 

below.

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Leadership 1 2 3 4 9

Communication skills 1 2 3 4 9

Project management 1 2 3 4 9

Interpersonal and team skills 1 2 3 4 9

Problem Solving 1 2 3 4 9

Perseverance 1 2 3 4 9

Adaptability 1 2 3 4 9

Cross-cultural competency 1 2 3 4 9

Q20 PRIVATE SECTOR: Candidate worked in a for-profit company.
Rate on average how much private sector experience demonstrates the traits 

listed below.

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Leadership 1 2 3 4 9

Communication skills 1 2 3 4 9

Project management 1 2 3 4 9

Interpersonal and team skills 1 2 3 4 9

Problem Solving 1 2 3 4 9

Perseverance 1 2 3 4 9

Adaptability 1 2 3 4 9

Cross-cultural competency 1 2 3 4 9

Q21 PUBLIC SECTOR: Candidate worked in a civilian capacity for either a 

government agency or a non-profit organization.

Rate on average how much public sector experience demonstrates the traits listed 

below.

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Leadership 1 2 3 4 9

Communication skills 1 2 3 4 9

Project management 1 2 3 4 9

Interpersonal and team skills 1 2 3 4 9

Problem Solving 1 2 3 4 9

Perseverance 1 2 3 4 9

Adaptability 1 2 3 4 9

Cross-cultural competency 1 2 3 4 9