Suppose that you are involved in the hiring process for your educational institution. In that case, you are undoubtedly aware of just how hard it is to find quality candidates for vacant positions, especially in the maintenance department. However, you may not be aware of just how severe the situation has become. According to Industry Today, more than two-thirds of employers are having difficulties filling job openings.
In light of this fact, you may be scrambling to fill maintenance worker vacancies with the first viable candidate who walks in the door. Unfortunately, this approach can have significant unintended consequences.
On average, a bad hire can cost your organization roughly 30% of that individual’s annual earnings. With school budgets already stretched thin, can you afford to absorb such a financial burden? In addition to the monetary costs, bad hires can also seriously affect your facility’s culture and may even lead to the loss of other qualified and important personnel.
While it may seem like you are stuck in a “no-win” situation, that is not the case. There is a way for you to overcome the maintenance worker shortage without compromising your hiring standards. To do so, you should assess candidates using maintenance worker skills tests.
This article discusses what these assessments are, which ones you should be using, and how they can improve your hiring practices.
What Is a Skilled Maintenance Worker Test?
As the name suggests, a skilled maintenance worker test is designed to assess the talents and abilities of an individual applying for a position with your educational institution. Skills tests can be used to measure a candidate’s “soft skills” or “hard skills.”
Soft skills refer to abilities that are not job-specific, such as the ability to communicate, listen, or manage one’s time. Conversely, “hard skills” are skills that are required for maintenance-related positions, such as a janitor, HVAC technician, or repair worker.
After a candidate completes a skills test, your hiring team can easily review their results. The skills assessment will include a cumulative score and a section-by-section breakdown of each topic. This breakdown allows your staff to identify which skills the candidate lacks and which subjects they know well.
Top Maintenance Worker Skills Tests
There are many maintenance worker skills tests that can be used to evaluate candidates for positions with your educational institution. The specific assessment you use will depend on the vacancy you are trying to fill. However, we have outlined some of the most popular skills tests relevant to the field of maintenance to help you better understand your options. These assessments include:
Maintenance and Repair Worker Assessment: The Maintenance and Repair Worker Assessment is a 40 question skills test. It includes multiple-choice, select all that apply, and true/false style questions. This assessment covers assembly skills, attention to detail, basic industrial math, workplace safety, and more.
Janitor Skills Test: The Janitor skills test is also 40 total questions. It includes multiple-choice, select all that apply and true/false questions. The Janitor skills test also utilizes a V2 Simulator, which presents the applicant with real-world scenarios that assess their digital literacy.
Plumber Skills Assessment: The Plumber skills assessment covers broad topics such as basic math, blueprint reading, piping and instrumentation, diagram basics, plumbing skills, reading rulers, and spatial reasoning. This assessment also contains 40 questions of various formats.
HVAC Technician Assessment: This skills test includes multiple-choice, select all that apply, and true/false style questions. It covers mechanical aptitude, basic electronics, HVAC skills, industrial math, and more. This assessment is an excellent tool for evaluating HVAC maintenance staff working in an educational setting.
The assessments outlined above are just a few of the many skills tests available. In addition to these skills tests, you should also consider incorporating other assessment protocols into your hiring process, but more on that below.
Additional Assessment Tools to Streamline Your Hiring Process
We recommend conducting a behavioral assessment if you want to get a comprehensive overview of a maintenance candidate’s attributes. This assessment will reveal the applicant’s behavioral traits, such as their work ethic and willingness to work with others.
A behavioral assessment can help you hire candidates who are a good fit for your organization. This screening is essential because it can avoid creating friction between new hires and existing staff.
Another useful assessment tool is the Interpersonal Skills in a School Setting skills test. This assessment covers building relationships with community members, interacting with coworkers, and communicating with parents. While a maintenance employee will have minimal interactions with the parents of students, they will regularly communicate with other school personnel.
Skilled Maintenance Worker Testing Solutions from eSkill
Request a demo to learn how using maintenance worker skills tests can help you recruit the best support staff candidates for your educational institution.