Pre-employment testing now plays a much larger part in the workforce than it once did for many different reasons. First, as employees embrace remote work more fully, the organization’s ability to conduct in-person interviews declines, necessitating remote testing options. Second, pre-employment testing has become crucial to handling ever-increasing volumes of applicants because remote working has broadened the spectrum of roles that candidates can apply for.
What Is a Pre-Employment Assessment Test?
Pre-employment assessment tests aim to examine particular talents, qualities, abilities, and characteristics that are significant in the job. The outcomes of these tests are used to guide hiring decisions, which helps to increase the caliber of hires and lessen the administrative burden on HR personnel.
Pre-employment testing enables companies to evaluate applicants before hiring, improving the likelihood of choosing high-potential workers in both situations. A hiring organization might, for instance, include a numerical reasoning test in the hiring process to ensure that all chosen candidates possess the necessary numerical aptitude. As an alternative, a company may use a personality test to select individuals based on their behavioral profile.
These are the top five pre-employment testing assessments now available on the market to summarize the study findings in this area:
Tests Of Verbal Reasoning As A Pre-Employment Assessment Test
Tests of verbal reasoning assess a person’s capacity for processing qualitative information, such as spoken and written words. Verbal reasoning is a component of general cognitive ability, the best indicator of work performance. But because it cannot be directly assessed, available cognitive capacity must be indirectly evaluated using a variety of specific aptitudes, such as verbal thinking. Verbal reasoning is one of the components of cognitive capacity. It may be the most significant work because most of the information given to employees regularly is written or spoken. Verbal reasoning exams are among the most effective pre-employment performance predictors, especially when used with other aptitude tests.
Tests of Numerical Reasoning As A Pre-Employment Assessment Test
A person’s capacity to work with quantitative information, such as numbers and mathematical operators, is measured via numerical reasoning tests. When paired with other aptitude tests, numerical reasoning, a significant component of general cognitive ability, gives an indirect measure of overall cognitive capacity. In roles where employees must use data or analytics to make significant decisions, particularly in complicated technical, professional, and managerial responsibilities, numerical reasoning is extremely crucial. As a pre-employment evaluation, the numerical rationale is one of the best predictors of task performance because it is more closely connected to task performance than contextual performance.
Tests of Inductive Reasoning As A Pre-Employment Assessment Test
Tests of inductive reasoning gauge a person’s capacity for abstract problem-solving and logical thought. Inductive reasoning is sometimes referred to as non-verbal, abstract, diagrammatic, or logical reasoning in cognitive ability test batteries. In professions requiring complex problem-solving, creativity, invention, or systems thinking, such as highly technical roles, inductive reasoning is particularly crucial. Additionally, they have the advantage of being particularly linguistically neutral, which makes them incredibly appropriate selection tools for evaluating applicants across several languages. When paired with other aptitude tests, inductive reasoning tests are frequently used as pre-employment screening tools to assess engineers, tech employees, or white-collar workers in general.
Personality Assessment Test As A Pre-Employment Assessment Test
Personality tests are behavioral evaluations used to identify the most important facets of a person’s temperament and character. Using personality questionnaires enables you to measure the many personality factors inextricably tied to work performance, engagement, and culture fit. For instance, as it helps people stay organized and focused, conscientiousness is an accepted indicator of performance in practically all occupations. Similarly, resilience-related personality qualities are almost always linked to both performance and well-being at work, making personality tests extremely useful for pre-employment evaluations in nearly every position.
Test for Situational Judgment As A Pre-Employment Assessment Test
Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) are behavioral evaluations that test a candidate’s tendency for decision-making and the ability to reach rational conclusions. They give candidates fictitious examples of real-world professional situations and various alternative solutions. The effectiveness of each line of action must then be ranked or rated, allowing candidates to demonstrate their decision-making skills. SJTs can be used with these tests to maximize their practical utility because research indicates they can predict performance better than ability tests and personality questionnaires. Because they are created to forecast performance in very specific tasks, they are among the market’s most workplace-relevant assessments.
Conclusion
Although there are many pre-employment assessment tools on the market, the two types that work best are as follows:
Cognitive tests are intended to examine particular facets of a person’s overall cognitive capacity. Behavior evaluations are created to gauge various behavioral characteristics that shape a person’s personality, temperament, and ultimate behavior.
Utilizing pre-employment assessment tools that look at cognition and behavior will help you increase the effectiveness of your screening procedures and provide high-caliber short lists of candidates who merit further consideration for interviews.
Because both modalities can be used in a very effective assessment process and each helps to find qualified candidates for hire, businesses shouldn’t frame this discussion as “Pre-employment testing vs. Interviews.”
Also Read: How to Become a Self Employed | 5 Ideas for Your Business
