The Importance of Assessment Tests in Employment Selection

As a candidate, you may be wondering why During the hiring process, some recruiters use assessment tests, during the hiring process,  several methods to evaluate the candidate’s skills, potential and ability to perform the job. Surely, resumes and interviews are the traditional primary methods used by employers to gather as much relevant information about a candidate as possible.

However, research indicates that 78% of resumes are sprinkled with statements that make the candidates appear ideal for the job. Similarly, interviews, that are not well-structured and standardized, do not offer valuable insight regarding the candidate’s likelihood of success on the job.

Assessment tests that are designed to test a candidates’ personality, ability and aptitude serve as a much more effective recruitment tool. Read on to better understand the importance of assessment tests for making successful hiring decisions.

How Assessment Tests Affect an Organization’s Performance?

The workforce of an organization is its competitive advantage. An effective team of skilled and competent employees can deliver exponential value to an organization because of a significant performance differential. At the same time, wrong hires can be incredibly detrimental to a company’s success.

Assessment tests are specially developed to measure the capabilities and gather significant information about a candidate’s personality, skills, and ability. Most commonly, these tests help identify how well a candidate is likely to perform on the job.

While an aptitude test can help measure how well an employee might grow in their new role and how quickly they learn new skills, a personality test evaluates how well the candidate’s personality is likely to fit the job. It does this by measuring traits such as conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and more.

Therefore, conducting these pre-employment tests can help an organization save time and cost during the selection process and also reduce turnover rate after the hiring. Furthermore, assessment tests help analyze characteristics like ambition, leadership, teamwork, stress-tolerance, emotional resilience, analytic thinking, problem-solving abilities, etc.

Common Reasons for using Assessment Tests

More and more companies are leveraging assessment tests these days. Enlisted below are some of the most compelling reasons why organizations are using assessment tests when hiring:

• Every candidate wants to make a powerful first impression to score the job. Hence, the information provided in the resumes is generally exaggerated to enhance one’s credentials for a job.
• Assessment tests are based on hiring and retention case studies. The tests indicate how closely a potential candidate will match the hiring requirements. This helps reduce the risk of wrong hiring decision and improve the quality of the company’s hiring.
• The tests are normative, which enable the employers to conduct a comparative evaluation of different candidates and find the best fit for the role. Besides, assessment tests also have proven scientific reliability, and the score can be used as a strong indicator for the candidate’s future job performance.

Benefits of Assessment Tests

So, far we’ve discussed how assessment tests increase the likelihood of a new hire’s success in his or her position. But the benefits of assessment tests go beyond streamlining the hiring process and increasing the quality of the hire. It helps align the recruitments process with the desired business goals and company culture. Here are some paramount benefits:

• Streamlined hiring process save time and get better results.
• Increased employee satisfaction and retention rate.
• Reduction in the negative cost which is related to a wrong hire.
• Higher productivity of the hires.
• A good fit the the company’s culture.
• Enhanced equitability, objectivity and legal defensibility of a company’s recruitment process.

Conclusion

As you can see, undoubtedly, companies that invest in a structured hiring process have a higher likelihood of attracting top talent, and well-validated assessment tools can be a great resource in streamlining the process. In summary, it’s clear that the Return on Investment (ROI) of assessment tests is quite high and organizations that leverage it are bound to experience tangible positive impact. All the more reason for you to take these tests seriously, to get yourself in top shape, and to Get That Job!