The Role of Aptitude Tests for Jobs in Identifying Top Talent and Improving Job Fit

Job aptitude tests are critical for organizations that want to improve performance. According to the Harvard Business Review, top companies are over 40% more productive than their nearest competitors and have operating margins 30% to 50% higher than their competitors.

Hiring and placing the right people in the right jobs ensures operational efficiency. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Recruiting top-quality candidates has become challenging due to the worldwide talent shortage. The problem has become so critical that 71% of CEOs say a skills shortage is their biggest challenge for the foreseeable future.

Since the recruiting environment has become so challenging, HR leaders know having a sound hiring strategy is imperative, which is why many have implemented an industry-leading assessment solution like the eSkill Talent Assessment Platform^TM.

What Is a Job Aptitude Test?

Job aptitude tests help companies evaluate candidates’ ability to perform a job. The two most popular types are skills tests and behavioral assessments.

Skills tests measure candidates’ abilities and experience and show whether they can perform job-related tasks. Behavioral assessments provide insight into an applicant’s personality to see if their leadership style, management approach, and values are compatible with your work environment.

Both are typically administered online and include questions in various formats, such as multiple-choice, short-answer, and true-false. You invite applicants to complete the assessment, and you and your team sort, review, and evaluate the results.

Why Hiring the Right People Is Important

Business leaders across all industries strive to avoid hiring mistakes because they hurt team morale and negatively impact productivity. They are also expensive. It can cost thousands of dollars to hire and onboard a new employee. If the new hire does not work out, the company loses what it has invested and must incur additional expenses to find a replacement.

Using Job Aptitude Tests to Build a Strong Team

Skills tests show whether candidates can do a job, and behavioral assessments tell you whether their personality and work habits are compatible with your corporate culture. This is how job aptitude tests help you identify top talent and ensure a good job fit:

• Expedite Initial Screening: You probably receive thousands of responses for a single job posting, and reviewing them manually can take hours. With job aptitude tests, you can instantly sort completed assessments, rank candidates by score, and identify top candidates.

• Reduce Turnover: Almost 70% of new hires leave within the first three months, and 90% of new employees keep exploring new opportunities. The key to reducing turnover is recruiting employees likely to stay with your organization. Job aptitude tests help you find them.

• Minimize Unconscious Bias: Organizations want to believe they evaluate candidates fairly and impartially. However, business leaders would be surprised to learn how often unconscious bias affects hiring decisions. Job aptitude tests minimize the chance that unconscious bias will compromise hiring decisions because the hiring team focuses on candidates’ proven skills and abilities.

How Organizations Use Job Aptitude Tests

Employers in virtually every industry use job aptitude tests to hire top candidates, reduce turnover, and prevent hiring errors. These are examples of eSkill clients in the public sector that have achieved success by implementing skills tests and behavioral assessments:

• Canadian Government: In 2020, the Government of Canada began consolidating the job aptitude testing processes of 118 locations in eight service centers across six provinces. It plans to map over 65,000 skills tests in the eSkill Assessment Library to country-wide behavioral and technical competencies.

• Texas811: Texas811 wanted to test applicants’ typing and data entry skills to minimize hiring mistakes, decrease time to hire, and reduce turnover. After implementing job aptitude tests, it simplified its hiring process and decreased time-to-hire by approximately 75%.

• City of Philadelphia: The City of Philadelphia uses job aptitude tests to assess candidates who apply for non-managerial positions, including general clerical and administrative positions. Most positions are in Health and Human Services, Public Works, and Public Safety.

• State of Colorado: The State of Colorado uses job aptitude tests in 11 agencies and four educational institutions statewide, including the Department of Personnel & Administration, Department of Revenue, and Colorado State University, to assess candidates for non-managerial positions.

• World Health Organization: The World Health Organization uses some online job aptitude tests, but most testing is done on-site. Candidates are given a scenario and set of problems, and they have two hours to think of a plan and write a document that offers a solution. Scenarios are real-life job situations that have either already been addressed or must be addressed.

Get Started with Job Aptitude Tests

Organizations worldwide in every economic sector are revamping their recruiting to improve their agility in making hiring decisions. For many, this means implementing a job aptitude testing solution. Are you ready to learn how job aptitude tests identify top talent and improve job fit? Contact us to request a demo.