Grammar is not just an important skill for copywriters, editors, and technical writers. Today’s digitized world has brought back the craft of writing, and proper grammar is arguably more important now than ever before. Any grammar or spelling online are visible to a far-reaching audience or, if made in email or private message, may be irreversible once sent.

Identifying candidates who communicate effectively is key to maintaining a positive business brand and reputation. eSkill’s pre-employment grammar skills tests reduce the time it takes to fill positions and keep hiring costs low by helping you identify whether or not a potential employee possesses the necessary skills required to perform the job in question.

Why Test Candidates for Grammar Skills?

Grammar skills are essential for employees who engage in written communication on behalf of their employers. Businesses are increasingly emphasizing hiring candidates who are able to communicate with few grammatical errors. Below are some of the top reasons employers are choosing to do so.

1. First impressions matter:  Good spelling, correct grammar, and the appropriate use of punctuation gives consumers more confidence in a company.
2. Good reputation: Clients and suppliers are more likely to trust a company that communicates clearly and correctly.
3. Avoid miscommunication and misunderstanding: Spelling errors and grammatical mistakes can change the meaning of messages and result in misinformation.
4. Make your communications more effective: Grammar and spelling mistakes create an unnecessary distraction.
5. Keep your business’ competitive edge. Bad grammar impacts business and customers may hesitate to purchase from a website that has obvious grammar and spelling errors.

The CEO of iFixit, the online global repair manual, Kyle Wiens, places good grammar at the top of the list when making hiring decisions. According to Kyle, “Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in emails, and on company websites, your words are all you have. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can’t tell the difference between their, there, and they’re.”

And Kyle is not alone. A recent survey of professionals found that 65% of respondents reported typos were unacceptable in their industry. Typos were reported to be the most taboo in the business and support logistics sectors, with nearly 88% of respondents identifying typos as unacceptable in their workplace.

Administer eSkill’s Off-the-Shelf Tests

eSkill’s grammar skills tests assess candidates’ ability to correct some of the most common grammatical mistakes in examples relevant to a professional environment without the assistance of those ever-helpful red squiggly lines. These online skills tests can be taken anywhere and anytime, with the results automatically appearing in the hiring team’s dashboard once complete.

Below are eSkill’s most popular off-the-shelf grammar tests.

1. eSkill’s Advanced Spelling & Grammar Skills Tests

• This test covers irregular verbs, idioms, prepositions, subject-verb agreement, linking verbs, passive voice, spelling, tenses, plurals, abbreviated adverbial clauses, pronouns, phrasal verbs, nominal clauses, recognizing adjectives, and recognizing verbs.
• Example question:

Type in the correct form of the verb.

The students have ______ from the water fountain. (to drink)

2. eSkill’s Basic Spelling & Grammar Skills Test

• This test covers verb tense, compound subjects, spelling, choosing the appropriate article, choosing the appropriate preposition, idioms, recognizing adverbs, use of present perfect, conjunctions, prepositions following verbs, subject-verb agreement, past tenses, irregular plurals, “me” vs. “I,” tenses, plurals, choosing the appropriate conjunction, and conditional clause.
• Example question:

Fill in the pronoun that correctly completes the sentence below.

Just between you and ___, I think this employee has great potential.

3. eSkill’s English Proofreading Skills Test

• This test covers position of prepositions in questions, phrasal verbs, choosing the appropriate adjective, spelling, punctuation, conjunctions, choosing the appropriate preposition, acronyms, abbreviations, position of adverbs in questions, positions of time expressions, idiomatic phrases, prepositions plus nouns, it’s vs. its, recognizing the subject, rephrasing, choosing the appropriate verb form, placing negative quantifiers with perfect tenses, order of adjectives, and verbs followed by prepositions.
• Example question:

Which of the following options is grammatically correct?

1. I haven’t talked recently to him.
2. I haven’t talked to him recently.
3. I haven’t recently talked to him.
4. I recently haven’t talked to him.
5. I haven’t to him talked recently.

Other pre-employment communication skills tests offered by eSkill, include eSkill’s English Spelling and Vocabulary Skills Test, Punctuation Skills Test, and Business Communication Skills Test.

Combine Skills Tests

eSkill’s out-of-the-box grammar skills tests can easily be combined with any other single-subject skills test or job-specific skills test to create an assessment that matches the exact requirements of a position. For example, combine eSkill’s Basic Spelling & Grammar Skills Test with eSkill’s job-based Hospitality Manager Skills Test to create a comprehensive assessment. eSkill’s vast library of job-based tests include positions across a wide variety of industries. From customer service representative to online marketing specialist, sales associate, medical transcriptionist, and retail manager, eSkill has hundreds of job-relevant skills tests.

Create an Open Response Question

Another way to get an accurate assessment of candidates’ grammar skills before making a hiring decision is to include a writing exercise that instructs the test-takers to write a response to an open-ended question or prompt. eSkill’s free response questions are a great way to gauge job applicants’ writing skills in a scenario that mimics the tasks of the open position.

eSkill’s Free Response Questions:

• Bolster an Existing Skills Test: Easily add a free response question or questions to any of eSkill’s assessments.
• Define Difficulty Level: Set the difficulty level of the test to beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert, or undefined.
• Write a Question or Upload Custom Content: Easily write a question or prompt for candidates to respond to or upload a video, audio recording, or file (Word, Excel, etc.) to the free response question.
  • For example, when evaluating candidates for a property management position, you could upload an email from a tenant with a complaint and ask test-takers to write a response to the tenant as if they were the current property manager.
• Time Limit: Set a time limit for each open response question or allow for an unlimited amount of time. The amount of time elapsed from a test-taker beginning the free response question to submitting their work is displayed on the hiring team’s dashboard regardless of the time limit setting.
• Response: Copy and paste capabilities are disabled for free response questions, so test-takers are not able to write a response in Word and paste it into the assessment forcing candidates to rely on their own writing skills.
• Scoring: Choose reviewers from your hiring team to score free response questions. Decide how the free response will be graded; choose the number of points each free response question is worth and the set of grading criteria. eSkill offers a pre-defined grammar criteria option that standardizes the scoring process. The grammar criteria option is designed to measure job test-takers’ ability to:
• craft written sentences and paragraphs to present information with clarity and brevity within a set timeframe;
• employ rules of grammar and correct spelling;
• and effectively communicate relevant information and ideas.

Whether administering off-the-shelf subject-based or job-based skills tests or creating free response questions to measure candidates’ grammar skills, it is best to use a trusted pre-employment testing company like eSkill. With a nearly 20-year record of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Compliance and no litigation, eSkill is the ideal choice for testing candidates.

eSkill’s dedicated U.S.-based Client Success Managers can help you identify the key skills needed for a position and guide you through creating an assessment that streamlines the hiring process and mitigates the risk of a mis-hire.

Interested in Grammar Skills Tests?

Learn more about the benefits of using eSkill’s grammar skills tests to find qualified candidates quickly.

Request a demo today.