pre-employment skills assessment

Making the right hiring decision is critical for a company. The employees are the most important asset for the company. The higher the efficiency and skill level of employees, the higher the success rate of business endeavors. Traditional employment evaluation tools like work experience, resume, and interview do not give a complete picture of the employee’s performance/skill level. Moreover, the authenticity of the information provided in the resume is subject to verification. This is where an online candidate assessment tool can help employees make the right hiring decision. Pre-employment skills assessment tests help close the recruitment gap that arises when companies stick to archaic recruitment methods.

Types of Pre-Employment Assessment Tools

The use of online pre-employment assessment tests has become a norm in companies looking to make informed recruitment decisions.

Common types of pre-employment assessment tests are:

  • Personality-based assessments: Personality-based assessments evaluate the candidate’s personality and behavioral traits. Examples: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DISC (dominance, influence, steadiness, conscientiousness), and Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI).
  • Skill-based Assessment tests: This test evaluates the candidate’s ability to perform work-specific tasks, industry knowledge, software, and technical skills required to perform everyday tasks by simulating real-life work challenges and tasks.
  • Integrity-based assessments: Candidate’s behavior and thought process affect work performance. The integrity tests cover areas like drug and alcohol dependence, honesty, integrity, and anger and violent tendencies. Specific questions are asked to spot behavioral patterns.
  • Cognitive assessments: The mental capability and intelligence of the candidate relating to the job are evaluated by these tests. Verbal skills, IQ, math skills, spatial perception, critical thinking, and reasoning abilities are evaluated through cognitive assessments.

Online Pre-Employment Skill Assessment Test

The benefits of using online pre-employment skills assessment tests are obvious, but are they really worth it? Are they the perfect assessment tools or do they lack in any area? We evaluated the pros and cons of online pre-employment skill assessment tools, here is what we found:

Pros of online pre-employment assessment tests:

  1. Provides a broad scope for evaluation of objective and subjective aspects: Recruiting managers can choose from a wide variety of online tests that evaluate the subjective and objective knowledge of the candidate.
  2. Standardized tests: Online pre-employment skill assessment tests are standard and transparent ways of evaluating the suitability of candidates. The responses to questions are auto-evaluated, which eliminates human bias or errors.
  3. Cost-effectiveness and speed: Not only are pre-employment skill assessment tools easy to set up, but also cost-effective. A single test can be used for assessing skills for a variety of jobs. Taking the test is also easy and convenient. The test responses are evaluated quickly, and results are available almost immediately to the recruitment team.

Cons of online pre-employment assessment tests:

  1. Incomplete assessment: Each of the pre-employment assessment tests assesses only a handful of personality traits. In some cases, candidates may be highly skilled for the job, but not competent in using the computer. The test results may not reflect the skills of the candidate completely in such scenarios.
  2. Integrity of candidates: Online tests can be easily faked by people who resort to discreet cheating methods. Especially with personality tests, candidates might choose all positive responses in order to get a good test result.

Conclusion

Online pre-employment assessment tests are a useful tool in the hands of recruiters. Choosing the right tool makes all the difference. SkillRobo is an online pre-employment assessment tool that helps screen potential candidates effectively. Our online pre-screening software offers a wide array of tests on technologies and skills. Visit our website for more information.

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