Typing is not an optional skill anymore. Many employers require computer skills and a certain typing speed to even consider people for some positions. Needless to say, they aren’t looking for 20-30 word per minute hunt-and-peck typists. A touch typist can easily reach typing speeds above 75-80 words per minute.
Adding an online typing test to your pre-screening or employee testing process may put you ahead of your competition when productivity and quality are differentiating factors. Here is a list of just a few jobs requiring typing with accuracy and speed (words per minute—wpm):
Many job positions such as Office Assistants, Call Center Assistants, Ghostwriters, Online Chat Supports, Customer Service Representatives and Copy Editors also require these typing skills. For typing speed and accuracy assessments to be consistent and valid, online typing tests must give test takers a standard reference text or audio dictation passage to transcribe. Many on-the-job typing tasks are self-generated, with employees using a keyboard to write their own thoughts. This kind of typing is more fluid and may give employees an inflated sense of their typing speed.
With a reference text, typists must shift their attention from the keyboard to the reference text and back again, unless they are fluent touch typists. This introduces a lag that can reduce the number of words they can type per minute. However, the scores derived from having applicants or employees type the same reference text will give a fair relative evaluation of their potential words per minute.
Some positions, such as phone-based Customer Service Representatives, require the skill of typing vocally dictated words. To test customer support roles with validity, eSkill offers Form-Fill and Audio Dictation Online Typing Tests that assess typing-from-voice skills in the manner Customer Service Representatives will actually use on the job.
eSkill’s online typing tests assess typing speed and accuracy in a valid manner, using reference texts, and strive to minimize any lag from the reference text. eSkill uses clear fonts that look the same across platforms and highlights the word to be typed next, making it easy for the test taker to read what must be typed and recover their place if they need to look away from the reference text.
What can you expect in an eSkill typing skills test?
The advent of mobile technology is here to stay, and hiring managers can’t afford to miss out on this trend. With top talent out there, smartphone in hand, more and more companies are turning to apps and mobile websites to attract candidates, and with good reason. According to a 2012 survey, more than 77% of job seekers have used a smartphone to search for a job.
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