Pre-employment tests may be effective or ineffective depending on their quality and type. The result of asking candidates to complete an irrelevant or poorly constructed test is to obtain useless data. For help determining what kind of test would be best suited for your organization, we’ll explain five questions you should ask yourself.
- How do we identify the skills we need?
First and foremost, you must determine which skill sets the role requires. Currently, skills are more valuable than education or experience. Compared to 2019, the number of non-degree positions increased by 40% in 2020. As many people found themselves unemployed, recruiters began focusing on their transferable skills. This information will enable you to design a pre-employment test that assesses preexisting skills for all candidates.
- How can we make a list of essentials and desirables?
The pre-employment testing process may help you identify those candidates who need training even if they don’t meet all of the desirable criteria on the list. For example, a candidate could be required to use particular accounting software when applying for an admin position within the financial sector. A pre-employment test can then be given to determine their ability to work with this software and their skill level in using it.
You can determine if a training course would benefit the candidate by using this data to determine if they should receive training. The system also lets you rank candidates based on their existing skills and training requirements and distinguish between the strongest and weakest candidates.
- How does the role require language abilities?
There is no doubt that employers are looking for employees with language skills.
Increasingly globalized workplaces require multilingual employees, according to multiple studies. Multilingualism improves customer relationships, increases team productivity, and facilitates interactions with suppliers, stakeholders, and overseas colleagues.
The quality of the candidates you interview can be dramatically improved by including a language test in your pre-employment process.
- Is the company culture aligned with your attributes?
You should therefore take the time to consider the candidate’s personal qualities for the position and the qualities required for ‘culture fit’ before making this (often costly) mistake. An eagerness to learn, the ability to build relationships, accountability, honesty, and ambition are examples of these attributes.
Tests for emotional intelligence, cognitive ability, and personality can reveal the true nature of a candidate before they even meet you. You can thus eliminate misfits and select candidates who are likely to do well in the organization.
- Does this role require knowledge?
Many companies are willing to train and equip new employees with all relevant knowledge during the induction process for roles that require little prior knowledge. In other cases, preexisting knowledge is essential.
Occasionally, candidates claim to be knowledgeable when they aren’t. It has been reported that 40% of people lie on their resumes. You can endanger your company’s reputation and customers if you fail to identify those lies. Candidates who do not perform well on pre-employment tests are weeded out, leaving only those with the appropriate qualifications for the position.
If you know what questions to ask, pre-employment testing can help you distinguish highly desirable candidates from a huge pile of applications.
