Assessments Are Good Tools

Luckily, tools exist that can help. When it comes to hiring, an assessment test may be the fastest way to secure the right person for the job. These tests offer efficient ways to weed through and conduct a process of elimination, allowing you to pick from a more selective and qualified group.

The assessments are more than just inventories; the questions are not meant to just collect data. Rather, the tests are carefully designed to craft a better picture of a candidate’s soft skills, fortitude, and cultural fit. They are measurements based on scientific methods to develop a more complex picture of a person beyond a resume listing achievements or experiences. Resumes cannot encapsulate the nature of person. Therefore, use assessment tests to build a more complete picture of candidates and help you choose the right one.

Types of Assessments

When you’re looking at a group of viable candidates, one or more of the following assessments can help you select the right person not just for the job but for the team, culture, and organization:

• Aptitude Tests. A candidate’s aptitude may already be determined by their inclusion in the resume stack, but anyone can put words onto paper. An Aptitude test validates the skill-sets, job knowledge or cognitive ability professed by the candidates.

• Personality Tests. While no one’s personality can be determined 100% from a test, you can get a pretty good picture of someone’s general qualities. When people come together to form a team, it’s helpful to know whether the members are compatible. A personality test will identify major characteristics that a person possesses and can predict the candidate’s potential fit with an existing team.

• Emotional Intelligence Tests. The days of the corporate Lone Wolf have been replaced by cultures of teams and collaboration, so it’s helpful to know the make-up of candidates’ responses to stress and their ability to work well with others across departments. An Emotional Intelligence (EI) test offers foresight about the ways in which the candidate would interact with others and whether the person can monitor and modify his or her behavior appropriately.

• Integrity Tests. This is a classic assessment for a reason. Integrity will always matter to an organization, and this test is a good tool to weed out potential candidates with issues. Results from this test can better support your decision to trust the person or reveal reasons to re-consider hiring.

Tests Support Decision-Making

At the least, assessment tests offer a good starting point on which to base your hiring decisions; during personal interviews, you can always vet the data from an assessment by using your own judgement. For the most part, one or more of these tests serve as good indicators of a candidate’s fit for a role, and they work well to evaluate and whittle down your final selection.