to assess their own suitability and likelihood of success, including "fitting in." Reduces the considerable cost of third-party service providers who would have previously conducted the screening and selection process. An op-ed in Crain's in April 2013 recommended that companies look to employee referral to speed the recruitment process for purple squirrels, which are rare candidates considered to be "perfect" fits for open positions. The employee typically receives a referral bonus, and is widely acknowledged as being cost-effective. The Global Employee Referral Index 2013 Survey found that 92% of participants reported employee referrals as one of the top recruiting sources. As candidate quality improves and interview-to-job-offer conversion rates increase, the amount of time spent interviewing decreases, which means the company's employee headcount can be streamlined and be used more efficiently. Marketing and advertising expenditures decrease as existing employees source potential candidates from existing personal networks of friends, family, and associates. By contrast, recruiting through third-party recruitment agencies incurs a 20–25% agency finder's fee – which can top $25K for an employee with $100K annual salary. There is, however, a risk of less corporate creativity: An overly homogeneous workforce is at risk for "fails to produce novel ideas or innovations." Social network referral Initially, responses to mass-emailing of job announcements to those within employees' social network slowed the screening process. Two ways in which this improved are: Making available screen tools for employees to use, although this interferes with the "work routines of already time-starved employees" "When employees put their reputation on the line for the person they are recommending" Screening and selection Various psychological tests can assess a variety of KSAOs, including literacy. Assessments are also available to measure physical ability. Recruiters and agencies may use applicant tracking systems to filter candidates, along with software tools for psychometric testing and performance-based assessment. In many countries, employers are legally mandated to ensure their screening and selection processes meet equal opportunity and ethical standards. Employers are likely to recognize the value of candidates who encompass soft skills, such as interpersonal or team leadership, and the level of drive needed to stay engaged—but most employers are still using degree requirements to screen out the 70+ million workers Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) who already possess many of those skills. In fact, many companies, including multinational organizations and those that recruit from a range of nationalities, are also often concerned about whether candidate fits