The hiring process has become complicated because traditional recruiting tools are ineffective. HR teams used to rely on resumes, applications, and interviews. However, they cannot assume the information on candidates’ resumes and what they learn during interviews are accurate because over 85% of candidates lie on their resumes and during job interviews.
Employers are also having trouble finding qualified candidates to fill critical job roles. This problem has been growing for about 10 years. Organizations’ needs changed when they upgraded their technology and implemented digital transformation initiatives. Unfortunately, applicants’ skills have not kept pace.
Companies across all industries have implemented pre-employment testing solutions to hire top employees. Pre-employment test results provide hard data that is more reliable than the information on resumes and applications. They help HR professionals determine which candidates have the required job skills and whether candidates fit their corporate culture well.
The three main types of assessments are skills tests, cognitive pre-employment tests, and behavioral assessments. The types you need depend on the positions you need to fill.
How Do Skills Tests Help HR Teams?
Skills tests evaluate a candidate’s knowledge, skills, and abilities, enabling HR teams to instantly determine whether the candidate can perform a job.
Companies that use an industry-leading assessment solution like the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM have access to hundreds of validated, subject- and job-based skills tests. HR teams can use the pre-prepared skills tests as-is or modify them by removing questions that are not relevant to the job and by designating difficulty levels for questions.
These are examples of skills assessments that are in the eSkill Assessment Library.
HR professionals can build customized assessments by choosing questions from multiple pre-employment tests and adding their own questions. For instance, if your organization is hiring a web developer, you can select questions from the Web Developer Skill Test to evaluate applicants’ ability to build and manage websites. Questions from the Web Designer Test can help you assess creative and design skills, and questions from the Quality Assurance Tester assessment can help you verify they know how to test, troubleshoot, and solve website issues.
What do Cognitive Pre-Employment Tests Measure?
Businesses need employees who can think critically and make good decisions. So, HR teams use pre-employment testing to measure cognitive skills such as verbal and math skills and problem-solving abilities. Cognitive tests also help them determine how well candidates can process and retain information and learn new skills and whether they can quickly size up situations and take appropriate action.
eSkill offers the following pre-employment tests to give hiring teams maximum insight into candidates’ cognitive abilities.
In general, applicants who score high on cognitive tests can absorb new information quickly and adapt to dynamic, fast-paced environments. They also thrive in dynamic work environments that undergo constant change.
Which Pre-Employment Tests Assess Behavioral Attributes?
A candidate’s skills test results may show they have the “right stuff” for a job, but they could be a bad hire because they are not a good fit for your corporate culture. Therefore, employers use behavioral assessments as part of their pre-employment testing process.
Behavioral assessments show you how candidates will act on the job, treat subordinates, and collaborate with colleagues, team members, and customers. With behavioral assessments, you can evaluate attributes such as:
How Different Types of Pre-Employment Tests Work Together
Different types of pre-employment tests work in synergy to help you identify top candidates. Job-specific skills assessments show whether candidates have the right skills, and cognitive pre-employment tests tell you whether they have the intellectual ability to do a job. Behavioral assessments tell you whether they are a good cultural fit for your organization.
The eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM gives you the flexibility to design pre-employment testing strategies for any position by allowing you to:
Are you ready to learn how skills tests, cognitive pre-employment tests, and behavioral assessments help you hire the best employees? Contact us to request a demo.