These Are the Critical Banking Skills Tests Banks and Credit Unions Use to Screen Top Talent

Did you know that employee turnover in the banking industry is at a ten-year high? Officer turnover now exceeds 7 percent.  Turnover in non-officer positions, such as bank tellers and personal bankers, is now nearly 19 percent.

Running bank operations securely and efficiently takes a diverse and talented team. Having skilled people performing calculations, providing professional customer service, and keeping your IT systems online will increase your customer service ratings and reduce your liability from errors. Banking skills tests are essential to making sure that the employees you hire can help you achieve your financial outcomes.

It is for this reason that the most successful financial institutions leverage banking skills testing as a critical part of the hiring process to ensure that they hire and train the best, most skilled people.

For example, Mission Federal Credit Union relies on eSkill’s banking skills tests and behavioral assessments to measure and predict employee performance in their call center. Mission Federal uses the Telephone Consultant Test and incorporated 25 custom questions from subjects like Inbound Call Center Simulations, Customer Service, and Bank Teller Skills.

Your bank or credit union performs best when supported by the most skilled and motivated tellers, bankers, and support staff. The most effective banker pre-employment assessments are designed to measure specific job-related skills such as Math Skills, Computer Skills, Financial Accounting Skills, Customer Service Skills, Critical Thinking, Money Handling Principles, Sales, or other knowledge unique to the role’s specific banking work environment.

As a recruiter, it is your job to understand the skills required for certain financial positions. eSkill’s banking skills test library can help you select the best tests for the role.

What Tests to Use:

For customer-facing positions, we recommend these six banking skills tests:

1. Bank Teller Skills Test – This test measures the candidate’s communication and customer interaction abilities, arithmetic knowledge and attention to detail, and basic MS Office and computer proficiency. Bank teller skills tests can cover subject areas including Bank Teller, Front Desk and Sales Clerk Skills, Attention to Detail and Customer Service, basic Arithmetic and Computer Knowledge for Windows, as well as MS Office. The test can be used to evaluate the performance potential of candidates for the following positions: Bank Teller, Part Time Teller, Teller Supervisor, Cash Handling Teller, and Cash Management Teller.
2. Primary Work Skills Test – This skills test measures the candidate’s knowledge regarding primary work skills. The test covers several topics, including spelling, reading, comprehension, keyboard and shortcuts and computer programs.
3. Digital Literacy Simulation Skills Test – This aptitude test measures the candidate’s ability to perform tasks on computers in an online environment. The test covers several topics, including basic computer operations, e-mail, internet, social media, and working with computers.
4. Customer Service Skill Test – This proficiency test measures the candidate’s knowledge of best practices for customer service. The test covers several topics, including problem solving, adaptability, teamwork and collaboration and communication skills.
5. Financial Analyst Skills Test – This test measures the candidate’s ability to perform financial analysis, participate in budget preparation, review financial data and recommend and implement changes, The test covers several subject areas: Financial Analysis (US), Financial Accounting (US) Accounting and Bookkeeping Principles and MS Office Simulations.
6. Cash and Banking Skill Test – This test measures the candidate’s ability to coordinate administrative tasks, maintain good relations with customers, manage and assign work to banking staff, and efficiently prioritize tasks. The test covers several subjects areas: MS Office, Bank Teller, and Leadership Skills, and Customer Service. It can be used to evaluate the performance potential of candidates for the following positions: Business Banking Supervisor, Teller Supervisor, and Cash and Banking Coordinator.

eSkill is a leader in professional skills testing for banks and credit unions, with easily customizable tests that map to almost any job description for maximum validity and EEOC compliance.

Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP and Mission Federal Credit Union deploy eSkill’s highly relevant, job-customized assessments to predict job-skill fit and expose skill gaps.  See how they can help your bank or credit union as well.

Over the past 15 years, eSkill has helped thousands of financial services organizations reduce their selection costs by 64% and the time to hire by 68%. Learn more and request a demo here.