A Comprehensive Guide to Pre-Employment Testing

The recruiting procedure may take time and effort. To reduce the number of candidates for interviews, recruiters invest a lot of time and effort in going through resumes. Making a bad hire can cost the company $15,000 per person in lost salary, training, and downtime. Pre-employment testing can reduce these costs by adding objective data to the hiring process.

What is a Pre-Employment Test?

Pre-employment tests help hiring managers gain deeper insight into candidates than traditional tools like resumes and interviews. The outcomes of these tests can offer insight into the type of employee an applicant will be and which individuals are most qualified for the position. Different types of pre employment testing can assist in speeding up the hiring process by eliminating those not genuinely interested in the position. For instance, it’s doubtful that people who don’t take the time to finish a job evaluation would go past the first round of interviews. These assessments can also weed out candidates who might be disqualified for legal reasons, such as a criminal record or drug use.

Administering tests during the hiring process can be done at any stage, but they are most valuable when implemented initially. Early testing can also prevent the problem of applicant fatigue, whereby candidates need help to complete multiple tests in a short period. A pre-employment test should be carefully designed and focused on the skills and attributes needed for a role. The selection process should not discriminate against any candidate based on race, religion, national origin, sex, age, or disability. It should be fair and impartial to all. Using a professional provider that helps ensure your test selection and administration follow all the relevant laws is recommended.

What are the Benefits of Pre-Employment Tests?

Adding pre-employment tests to the hiring process can help reduce the number of bad hires. These costs include recruiting expenses, training fees, and loss of productivity. Using pre-employment assessments can help reduce the number of poor hires and save time during the hiring process. The main benefit of pre-employment testing is that it provides a more objective measure of a candidate’s suitability for a particular role. It can also reduce the time spent reading resumes and conducting interviews. Finally, it can help avoid unconscious bias during the hiring process by allowing recruiters to narrow down candidates on skills and personality traits rather than age, gender, or educational background.

Pre-employment tests can also identify hidden gems that might not make it through traditional screening processes. Imagine a scenario where a product designer who has acquired skills alone may possess the necessary technical abilities for a job. Still, their resume could be ignored by screening software that only considers candidates with a specific level of formal education. Conducting pre-employment tests can help identify potential candidates and give them an equal opportunity to showcase their skills during the interview process.

They should be used alongside other selection methods. It’s best to consider a candidate’s complete profile, which includes their experience and personality.

Types of Pre-Employment Tests

There is a wide range of pre-employment tests and assessments available to employers. These include personality assessments, cognitive ability tests, job knowledge, skill tests, etc. Pre-employment testing can help recruiters and hiring managers identify the best job candidates and improve the recruitment process by reducing employee turnover, increasing overall satisfaction with new hires, and saving money on training and lost productivity costs. These tests can provide valuable insights that cannot be found from reading resumes or during the traditional interview process. Tests should be one of many considerations when hiring.

Moreover, it is essential to guarantee that every candidate is given equal time and opportunity to finish the test. Skills tests are a fast-growing assessment that measures the technical knowledge, expertise, and abilities required for specific roles. These can be anything from a software engineer’s proficiency in a particular coding language to a digital marketer’s understanding of SEO best practices.

Legal Issues of Pre-Employment Testing

The legal issues surrounding pre-employment testing can be complicated. While standardized tests can help employers gain objective information about potential candidates, they must be administered in compliance with federal and state laws. Not following proper protocols can lead to expensive legal battles and harm one’s reputation. However, it is permissible to use a test that assesses abilities, skills, or personality traits without revealing such information. Furthermore, an employer can only require a medical exam before hiring an employee if it is done in the context of a job offer and if the employer will ask all new hires to undergo the same examination.

Courts have not yet ruled that using personality or other standardized tests has caused harm to protected groups. Nevertheless, there is still a chance for someone to demonstrate that these tests were deliberately employed to treat minorities in the workplace unfairly. Companies should consult with HR professionals and attorneys before using standardized testing to avoid such risks. They should also review the law to ensure their tests are relevant and valid, are administered nondiscriminatory, and that the results do not reveal any information about protected groups.