Should you use pre-employment assessments in your recruitment process?
Hiring is expensive and time consuming and, at the end of a long recruitment process, you might still end up hiring someone who is not a good fit for the role. A bad hire can have some seriously negative affects on your business ― they demand additional time and energy for coaching and training and can be bad for your workplace culture. Conversely, a ‘high-potential hire‘ can be a huge boost for an organisation, especially a growing business. This is why pre-employment assessment tools are increasingly being used in conjunction with standard interviews in the recruitment process. According to research, 76% of organisations with 100 employees or more use pre-employment assessments for external hiring.
This is expected to grow to 88% in the next few years. You may be surprised to know that tests are more common for middle and senior management positions than entry-level positions. Global estimates indicate tests are used for 72% of middle management positions and up to 80% of senior roles, whereas candidates are only required to take tests for 59% of entry-level positions.
Psychometric testing
Psychometric testing and other pre-employment assessment tools are becoming popular among recruiters and HR specialists because they allow you to easily identify who will fit into your workplace. While the standard job interview still plays an important role, psychometric testing and other pre-employment assessments can be helpful when you need to sort through a large talent pool.
There are two main types of psychometric tests: ability tests and behavioural assessments. As the name suggests, ability tests assess different abilities, such as mathematics or language comprehension. Behavioural assessments identify how a candidate would behave in certain situations and which work environment would suit them best. It can be difficult to assess these characteristics during a standard face-to-face interview. Modern psychometric tests were first used in the US during World War I to help recruit military personnel and after World War II they were adopted by businesses to screen applicants.
The benefits of psychometric tests
There are many reasons why you might want to consider using psychometric testing in your recruitment process. Psychometric tests assess three key factors in job success: competence, work ethic and emotional intelligence. These can predict performance on the job better than a candidate’s years of education, which is what they tend to highlight in their application.
Psychometric tests undergo statistical analysis and are designed to be objective and unbiased. This helps to limit the effect of unconscious bias in your hiring decision. Psychometric tests can easily be integrated into your recruitment process. They are usually done online and only take around ten minutes to complete. The tests are designed by a psychologist and usually consist of multiple-choice questions. Because they help to reduce recruitment and training costs by reducing the number of applicants and accurately identifying the right fit for the role, they can also save you money in the long run. They could also improve your company culture by creating more synergistic teams.
Other pre-employment assessment methods
Work samples
These are small tasks the candidate is asked to complete, which are closely related to the advertised role. For example, an SEO specialist may be asked to do some keyword research or a software developer could be asked to write some code. The advantage of using work samples is that you can quickly identify who doesn’t have the skills they claim to have. The task should involve just enough work to assess the candidate’s ability, otherwise the candidate may feel that they are working for free. It’s important to clarify that the task will not be used for business purposes, and you may even want to consider compensating the candidate for completing the task.
Job simulations
Job simulations are similar to work samples, but the candidate is asked to perform on the spot. A classic example is asking a candidate, ‘Can you sell me this pen?’ to test sales skills. You can do job simulations during the interview or via online hiring assessment tools. They allow you to directly test a range of skills quickly and easily. For example, you could ask a candidate to negotiate a business deal, do a presentation or sell something more difficult than a pen.
Exercises and games
Exercises and games aren’t only fun, they are a valuable tool for assessing the suitability of a candidate for a particular role. Recruiters usually use exercises in group interviews. They involve asking applicants to work together to solve a problem or debate an issue. Group exercises can provide useful insights into the candidate’s abilities, attitude, how they work with others and cope with stress. Another assessment tool is gamification, where you use online tools that are specifically designed to test a candidate’s abilities via games. You can use this assessment method at the start of the recruitment process to reduce the number of applicants.
Artificial intelligence
In line with a broader trend towards adopting AI technologies in a range of areas, AI is becoming increasingly important in the recruitment process. Using AI technology can help to overcome unconscious bias. An example is the assessment of candidate responses in asynchronous interviews. In asynchronous interviews, candidates record responses to questions, allowing interviewers to evaluate these in their own time. Face-scanning algorithms can be used to assess a candidate’s tone, word choice and other factors in order to find the right person for the job.
Automated assessments are another use of AI in recruiting, and they can also limit unconscious bias. This type of assessment includes AI-powered language proficiency assessments. Candidates have a ten-minute phone conversation with an AI agent who automatically assesses their fluency and communication skills. Such a tool can offer significant time and cost savings for recruiters.
