Pre-employment Assessment Tests to Use When Hiring

Your company doesn't want to hire an employee whose job it is to deliver presentations to clients, both internal and external, only to discover that they are unable to speak coherently in front of a large audience because of their nervousness. Hiring a programmer who isn't fluent in the languages claimed on their résumé is a bad idea.

How can you be sure that the folks you hire aren't merely fabricating their answers during the interview? It's safe to say that a formal background check is beneficial. In addition, many organizations use pre-employment examinations to establish the candidate's genuine talents.

In this article, we will run you through the pre-employment assessment tests that can help in employee hiring.

Setting Your Goals

When doing a pre-employment evaluation, you're looking to see if the person can handle the job duties, given the available time and resources. Because every business has its standards and procedures, it's unrealistic to hope for perfection on a pre-employment evaluation.

It would be best if you remembered this while choosing pre-employment tests to utilize with job candidates. You'll be better able to discover the right individual for the position if you have this knowledge. 

Because the business environment is constantly evolving, choosing someone who can pick up new skills is more vital than hiring someone who does the job flawlessly.

Different Types of Pre-employment Assessments

Rather than relying on subjective personality tests or technical skills tests (for software engineers, for example), employers may consider the following assessment tests:

Technical Skills

There is always a chance that the applicant inflated their abilities, but you also need to consider the potential that you and the candidate have different perspectives on the skill. 

When you ask a potential employee if they can use Excel, they could respond, "Yes, I can add columns of numbers and draw graphs, so yes." However, as the employer, you reason, "We develop macros that exchange data across databases and produce automated reports."

Assessment tests can help ensure that the candidate is capable of the required skill set.

Analysis Skills

In the workplace, many people have analyst positions, although the meaning of the title varies significantly depending on the organization and the position. What specifically do you need your new employee to analyze? 

Provide them with a pre-employment evaluation that includes a sample analytical assignment and a report-writing task. Their output will show whether or not they understand what is happening.

Presentation Skills

Does the applicant possess the necessary presenting skills? They can make exciting PowerPoint slides, right? Can they respond to inquiries in the middle of a presentation without getting flustered and losing their composure? Do they have a clear, cohesive voice? 

Remember that you only need a short period—around 10–15 minutes—to evaluate a candidate's presentation abilities when you ask them to give a presentation as part of the pre-employment screening process.

Customer Service Skills

How precisely do you evaluate a candidate's customer service abilities? Give them a customer—a customer played by an employee, of course. How would they react if someone became angry? Alternatively, what do they do to make clients feel heard and cared for?

If you think you could coach the applicant to meet your performance criteria, consider the candidate's overall performance and interactions. You must decide if they have a solid foundation on which to develop.

Conclusion

The pre-employment evaluation procedure can help you find the most qualified employees. It also enables you to determine if the person can, indeed, handle the job duties before you make the actual hire. The tests mentioned above can help you develop the right talent by hiring the right person.

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