Choosing the right pre-hire skills test provider will help you reduce HR costs and decrease time-to-hire. Many HR teams and hiring managers have adopted pre-hire skills tests so they have a standardized, objective method for evaluating job candidates and employees. According to the American Management Association (AMA), almost 90% of companies that assess job applicants will not hire candidates if pre-employment testing shows they lack basic skills.
Pre-hire skills tests are commonly used to screen candidates during recruiting but can also be used to:
Pre-hire skills tests also lead to faster onboarding and training. When newly hired employees have the right skills, they get up to speed faster and become valued team contributors more quickly.
HR leaders and hiring managers have also learned that pre-hire skills tests significantly decrease the time required to hire new employees and reduce overall hiring costs. As a case in point, organizations that use the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM as part of their recruiting process have reduced time-to-hire by 60% and hiring costs by up to 70%.
Selecting the Best Pre-Hire Skills Testing Provider
Choosing the right pre-hire skills testing provider will significantly impact hiring outcomes. These are some areas to examine as you evaluate assessment providers.
Pre-Hire Test Quality and Validation
Pre-hire skills testing can only provide an objective assessment of candidates if the questions are valid and asked correctly. Therefore, you should only work with a reputable company that provides validation services and has a perfect compliance and legal challenge record. eSkill provides validation services and has the best compliance and legal challenge record in the assessment industry.
Comprehensive Assessment Library
One-size-fits-all skills tests are ineffective, which is why the best skills testing providers offer clients access to a library of pre-hire skills tests designed and validated by industry experts and allow them to customize them for each job role. The eSkill Assessment Library contains hundreds of off-the-shelf skills tests. You can use them as is, add or delete questions, create a pre-hire skills test using questions from multiple tests, and add your own questions.
Remote Working Skills
The number of remote workers increased in 2020 and 2021 and is predicted to continue growing. According to a McKinsey report, 58% of employees in the U.S. work from home one or more days per week. This means you need skills tests that help you determine whether a candidate can work independently without supervision. eSkill offers pre-hire skills tests that measure candidates’ software and Internet proficiency and the skills employees need to work in a less structured environment, such as time management, organization and planning, and collaborative skills.
Video Response Questions
Including video response (or on-demand) questions in pre-hire skills tests helps you assess qualities you cannot evaluate using a written test, such as verbal communication and foreign language abilities. This is especially important now because employees who work remotely must collaborate with team members and co-workers online and conduct a lot of business using video conferencing. Video response questions also help you get a 360o view of candidates and standardize the interviewing process by ensuring all candidates answer the same questions in the same order.
Ease of Use
A pre-hire skills testing platform should be so easy to use that you can set it up and start using it immediately. The eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM includes a dashboard to track the status of pre-hire skills test invitations you have sent and received and check analytics. You can also run various reports that give you a closer look at individual candidates and help you assess the effectiveness of assessments. eSkill is so easy to set up that most clients go live the first day and 82% are up and running within a month.
Integration Options
Integrating your assessment solution with your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or Learning Management System (LMS) will save you countless hours. So, confirm that your pre-hire skills test provider integrates with popular ATS and LMS systems as the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM does.
Expert Guidance
Although your assessment solution should be intuitive, there may be times when you need help. Perhaps you have a paper-based skills test and need it digitized. Maybe you are creating a pre-hire skills test or launching a hiring or training strategy and need a “second opinion.” Verify that the assessment provider offers prompt customer support and that you can get help when you need it. eSkill offers 24/7 support via phone, email, and chat, and every subscription client is assigned a dedicated Assessment Expert.
Questions to Ask Pre-Hire Skills Testing Providers
When evaluating pre-hire skills testing providers, these are some key questions you should ask:
Pre-Hire Skills Tests
Test Management
Technical Features
Cost
Support and Training
Do you want to see how pre-hire skills testing helps you streamline and simplify your hiring process? Contact us to request a demo.