Every HR manager wants to recruit “perfect” candidates for their open roles, which has never been easy but has recently become very challenging. If you often feel like you are searching for a needle in a haystack, you are not alone.
If you and your team are having difficulty recruiting top candidates, it’s because there is a shortage of applicants with the skills you need. A Korn Ferry report shows a global talent shortage of over 85 million people. This is roughly equal to the population of Germany. The problem has become so critical that 71% of CEOs say a skills shortage will be their biggest business challenge during this decade.
If your organization is like most, you have upgraded your technology or implemented digital transformation initiatives, which means your hiring needs and your list of in-demand skills have changed. Many applicants’ skills have not kept pace with these changes, and the result is a huge skills and knowledge gap.
To address this gap, many businesses have implemented an industry-leading pre-employment skill testing solution like the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM to make identifying and hiring top candidates easier.
What Is Pre-Employment Testing?
Employers unfamiliar with assessments often ask, “What is the main purpose of pre-employment screening?” We tell them organizations like theirs use pre-employment skill tests to screen job candidates, as well as current employees, to confirm they have the skills to do a job. They also use behavioral assessments to determine if a candidate is a good fit for a job and the company culture.
They also ask, “What are two commonly used pre-employment tests?” We tell them there are many types of job assessments, but pre-employment skills tests and behavioral assessments are the most popular.
By reviewing skills test results, you can easily confirm that an employee can do a job. For example, if you need to hire an administrative assistant with advanced MS Office® proficiency, asking applicants to answer questions that pertain to advanced Word, Excel, and PowerPoint features will show you whether they understand these functions and know how to use them.
Behavioral assessments tell you whether a candidate is a good fit for a job and your company culture. They are not designed to be diagnostic, but they do indicate whether a potential new hire is likely to succeed in your organization. For example, if you are hiring a manager who must collaborate with other department heads, a behavioral assessment can identify candidates who are good team players.
Two other types of skills tests deserve mention—cognitive tests and simulations. Cognitive tests assess candidates’ ability to think, reason, solve problems, and learn new material. Employers use cognitive tests to fill positions where employees must think on their feet and consider multiple factors to make important decisions, such as a 911 dispatcher or emergency room administrator.
They also use them when hiring employees who will work in a dynamic, unpredictable environment or must constantly learn new techniques. Two examples might be a network administrator or cyber security manager.
Simulations mimic realistic job situations candidates are likely to encounter on the job. You will find they are one of the best indicators in determining which applicants are best qualified because they show how candidates will react in day-to-day situations. For instance, if you are hiring a customer service representative who is likely to work with several callers simultaneously on the phone, by email, and using chat applications, simulations that test computer skills and multitasking will show you which applicants are best qualified.
What Are Examples of Aptitude Tests for Pre-Employment?
Leading assessment solutions offer clients access to a library that contains hundreds of skills tests. Some examples of pre-employment tests in the eSkill Assessment Library include:
For IT and Technical Roles:
For Finance and Accounting Roles:
For Marketing and Communications Roles:
For Customer Service and Sales Roles:
For Healthcare Roles:
What Are the Most Common Aptitude Tests?
We are often asked what the most common aptitude tests are. There is no definite answer because it depends on your industry and the type of company you operate.
If you work in the call center space, you will most likely use the eSkill Customer Service Representative and Call Center Operator pre-employment tests along with Inbound and Outbound Call Simulations. Popular assessments for law firm recruiters probably include the eSkill Paralegal, Litigation Legal Assistant, and Labor and Employment Law skills assessments. Manufacturing companies most likely use the eSkill Industrial Production Manager, Manufacturing Engineer, and Assembly Technician pre-employment tests regularly.
The most common aptitude tests across all industries are computer proficiency pre-employment tests. According to the National Skills Coalition, 92% of all jobs require at least basic computer skills. Millions of companies worldwide use MS Office. Assuming your company is one of them, you can assess applicants’ computer proficiency using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills tests and simulations.
Implementing Pre-Employment Testing Programs Step-by-Step
If you are like most HR managers, you have learned that it is impossible to make informed hiring decisions by reviewing resumes and scheduling interviews. Since 80% of applicants lie on their resumes, hiring a candidate whose resume looks “perfect” and who says all the “right” things during interviews could end up being a mistake that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. The following scenario shows why it is important to implement a pre-employment testing program.
Inez, the HR manager for a computer chip fabrication facility, needed to fill a clean room technician position. She posted the job, reviewed resumes, and created a shortlist of promising candidates to interview.
Zach emerged as the top candidate. His resume included the right skills and experience, and he had worked for several similar companies. When Inez asked him why he was exploring new opportunities, he said he was not being challenged in his current role and wanted access to more training and development prospects.
Feedback from Nathan, the hiring manager, and prospective team members was positive, and references from past managers and colleagues were excellent. Inez was sure she had found the perfect candidate and offered Zach the job
It soon became obvious thatZach had misrepresented his skills and experience on his resume and during interviews. Inez and Nathan tried to teach Zach the skills he needed to be successful, but nothing worked. Push finally came to shove when shipments for a critical order were contaminated because Zach had not followed established clean room procedures, and he was terminated.
Inez had heard that implementing pre-employment skills tests would help her company reduce hiring errors. So, she started researching solutions and discovered that top solutions should provide her with the following features:
Legal Considerations for Using Pre-Employment Tests Fairly
Many organizations are leery of pre-employment skills tests because they have heard they can cause legal compliance problems. The opposite is true. Studies show that using pre-employment skills testing is one of the best ways to minimize hiring bias because it opens the door for applicants who might otherwise be rejected due to a requirement listed in the job description, such as the lack of a college degree or work experience at so-called appropriate companies.
Business leaders know minimizing unconscious and overt bias is important because irrational and unfair hiring practices lead to lower employee morale and productivity, as well as potentially incurring legal consequences. A Deloitte study showed that 68% of U.S. employees felt workplace bias hurt their productivity, and 84% reported that it negatively impacted their mental health. These are some ways pre-employment skills tests reduce your vulnerability to legal challenges.
Hiring top talent improves productivity. According to a McKinsey report, if you replaced 20% of the average talent on one of your project teams with top talent, it would take less than two years to complete the project if the team was 400% more productive and less than a year if it was 800% more productive. Furthermore, if a competitor hired talent that was 20% better than yours, that company would beat you to market even if it started on the same project a year or two later.
Why Organizations Need Pre-Employment Skills Tests
Companies in virtually every industry implement pre-employment skills testing to streamline hiring, decrease time-to-hire, and reduce turnover. These are some companies that have improved hiring outcomes and simplified recruiting by implementing the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM.
Getting Started with Pre-Employment Skills Testing
When you use a pre-employment skills testing solution like the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM, you reduce recruiting costs and time-to-hire and take the guesswork out of hiring. Many eSkill clients have reduced hiring costs by 70% and decreased time-to-hire by 60%.
Are you ready to learn how using pre-employment skills test scan help you improve hiring across your organization? Contact us to request a demo.