Case Study: Mott Community College achieves faster, more candid reference checks and $600K in turnover savings with SkillSurvey

Getting honest feedback to make the right hires

Mott Community College, a nationally recognized institution, needed to ensure it hired only top‑quality candidates while preserving a strong candidate experience. Traditional, phone‑based reference checks produced only surface information, were time consuming (often 3–10 days of phone tag) and delayed offers, so the staffing team led by Sharon Ewles sought a more reliable, efficient way to get honest, actionable feedback.

Using SkillSurvey’s Pre‑Hire 360 Reference, Mott obtained candid input (including former manager feedback for over 85% of candidates), used Candidate Comparison reports to shortlist finalists, and detected potential misuse of the system when two applicants were disqualified after shared‑IP flags. The effort cut reference‑check time from about a week to 1.34 days (an 81% reduction), yielded an average of five references per candidate, and saved the college roughly $600,000 in turnover costs over three years.

Mott Community College

Sharon Ewles

Staffing Manager