If you work in recruiting or are impacted by recruiting efforts—odds are you’ll agree when we say that recruiting solutions today are ineffective. Current recruiting processes use the same steps performed for decades and desperately need an upgrade to fit modern workflows and expectations. For years, studies have indicated that pre-employment tests, also known as candidate skill assessments, are an excellent and novel method of predicting candidate success. In fact, a recent study showed that 82% of companies use pre-employment assessment tests to screen for high-quality candidates.

 

While these tests are effective indicators, they are difficult to implement at scale. The creation of tests can be expensive and time-consuming to set up and manage. Tests must be tailored to each role’s specific skills and abilities to ensure effectiveness.
In recent years, with the development of new technology, it has become possible to scale the solution of pre-employment tests. These tests are now quickly generated for each company, skill set, and level and can be automatically scored upon completion. Aside from the recruiters, the candidates also have an enjoyable experience as they can take the test in the comfort of their homes and feel that the test was personalized through uploaded videos and customized branding.

 

There are many types of pre-employment tests. This article will explore what recruiters need to know about candidate skill assessments. This includes why they are essential, how they differ from traditional hiring methods, examples of different types of assessments, and the benefits of using assessments in recruitment.

 

What are assessments for recruitment?

 

These assessments are an essential tool employers use to evaluate job applicants and ensure the best match for the job and the organization. By evaluating a candidate’s skills, knowledge, abilities, and other qualities through these tests, employers can better understand their potential for success in a specific role. Assessments come in various forms, such as aptitude tests, skills tests, personality assessments, situational judgment tests, and more. Research shows that about 76% of organizations with over 100 employees use aptitude tests for external hiring.

 

These assessments have a wide variety of benefits. They provide an objective way to compare the qualifications of candidates by measuring their strengths and weaknesses, reducing bias in recruitment processes, and increasing recruiting efficiency by ensuring only qualified candidates are considered.

 

Why are assessments for recruitment important in the hiring process?

 

Recruiting is complex and involves multiple steps, stakeholders, and decisions. These assessments simplify the process by providing an objective, standardized, and reliable way to measure a candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and other relevant qualities. By using these tests, employers can save time and money by making data-driven decisions instead of judging based on hunches. Employers are also encouraged to make decisions based on performance as opposed to biases that are assumed based on name, location, university, and other CV details.

 

This ensures that only candidates who genuinely possess the necessary qualifications are hired. It also helps save time and money by avoiding costly mistakes in hiring decisions. The average cost per hire in the United States is around $4,000.

 

Assessments also offer employers valuable insights into potential cultural fit within their organization. The best practice is to use technical and soft skills when creating the assessment to cover the technical aspects and add the persona level. For example, an assessment can include questions about attitudes towards teamwork, problem-solving abilities, communication style, etc., which all play a big role in determining whether someone is suited to the company. Few platforms allow you to test the cultural fit as well as the hard skills, but it is possible – and encouraged – with Canditech.

 

In short, assessments for recruitment can provide employers with invaluable information that goes beyond simply looking at resumes or conducting interviews – making them an essential part of any hiring process. By taking advantage of assessments for recruitment, employers can ensure they make smart hiring decisions that benefit the company, workforce, and employer brand in the long run.

 

The many benefits of recruitment assessments

 

Recruitment assessments come with an abundance of benefits for the recruiting team and the entire company.

 

A standardized evaluation process ensures all candidates are assessed fairly and objectively, reducing the risk of bias or discrimination in hiring decisions. The assessments focus on the skills and abilities needed for the job rather than any personal characteristics or preferences that can be understood from the applicant’s CV (such as name, address, and university), which is usually the screening done in the traditional recruitment process. This results in a more diverse workplace, which can bring numerous benefits to the company, such as a greater variety of perspectives and ideas, better problem-solving skills, improved team collaboration, and more.

 

Assessments save employers time and money, as they are typically more efficient than traditional methods such as interviews. By using assessments to screen applicants, employers can quickly identify the most qualified candidates without investing significant resources into lengthy recruitment campaigns and weed out candidates who aren’t dedicated to their mission. You’re saving time by knowing who is qualified before picking up the phone for a traditional screening.

 

By using these tests, employers can better understand whether a job applicant is suitable for the position. They can help employers identify gaps in an applicant’s knowledge or skills, which could be addressed through additional training or coaching.

 

Additionally, assessments can help improve the candidate experience by demonstrating a commitment to fair and objective recruitment practices. This can lead to better relationships with prospective hires and improved recruitment outcomes – i.e. improved employer brand.

 

Finally, the tests help employers make better decisions about who they hire by providing them with data-driven evidence that objectively measures candidates’ suitability for the job. With assessment results, organizations can make decisions based on facts rather than relying solely on subjective opinions or impressions formed during interviews or resume screening processes. This helps employers make sound hiring decisions while avoiding costly mistakes caused by human bias or error.

 

You must add assessments to your recruitment process if you want invaluable information beyond simply looking at resumes or conducting interviews. By incorporating assessments into their hiring process, employers can benefit from increased objectivity and fairness in their decision-making while ensuring quality hires that fit the job role requirements and the organization’s culture.

 

Top assessment types for recruitment

 

Employers can use many different assessments to evaluate their candidates. Each assessment type has advantages and considerations for its use in the hiring process.

 

Job simulations: Job simulations provide insight into how well a candidate may perform within the workplace environment and can help employers identify potential gaps in knowledge or skills that need to be addressed before hiring. Job simulations also allow recruiters to assess cultural fit within the organization by observing how the candidate asks questions or interacts with other employees (if necessary) during the simulation.

 

Cognitive ability tests: These measure candidates’ mental and emotional abilities through multiple-choice questions that evaluate their reasoning, problem-solving, critical thinking, and other intellectual skills. Cognitive ability tests predict how well a candidate will perform once hired and can provide valuable, unique insight to their team.

 

Personality tests: These assess candidates’ personality traits and behavioral tendencies, which can help identify those who would most likely succeed in a given position and fit well with the company culture. Employers should use this type of test to see whether a candidate has soft skills, such as solid communication or self-motivation.

 

Skills-based tests: These evaluate proficiency in specific job-related skills such as coding, writing, data analysis, etc., making them invaluable when seeking candidates with particular technical abilities or qualifications. These tests also identify areas where additional training may be required before or upon hire.

 

Situational judgment tests provide insight into a candidate’s ability to analyze complex work scenarios and make appropriate decisions, providing employers with evidence about whether their prospective hire could handle various situations. This type of test is advantageous when recruiting for more senior positions where problem-solving skills are essential.

 

Video interviews: These allow recruiters to understand how well a candidate communicates by enabling them to record responses via video footage. This allows employers to assess communication capabilities, presentation style, body language, analytical thinking, creativity, comfort level with technology, public speaking abilities, etc., all from the convenience of their office space.

 

Tools to use for easier, more accurate assessments

 

Several considerations go into creating a good recruitment assessment, including its length or if there are language or cultural adaptations.

 

You also must consider how candidates will access the assessments and how their accurate their results will be. Are you afraid that with the rise of tools like ChatGPT, your candidates can complete their tasks through AI? You also need to understand how you’ll ensure accurate and honest test results. After all, you can’t hire a robot (yet).

 

It is essential to consider how you will use the assessment results and what feedback mechanisms you have in place. The results of an assessment should not be used as a sole decision-making tool but rather as part of a holistic recruitment process that considers other factors such as experience, references, and interview performance.

 

When creating an assessment for recruitment, it’s important to choose one that is valid, reliable, free from bias, and appropriate for your organization’s needs. With careful consideration of these factors, employers can make sure they select a practical candidate skill assessment that delivers accurate results while providing a positive candidate experience throughout their hiring process.

 

Canditech’s recruitment assessment takes all these factors into account. We design our assessments to be customizable, reliable, and bias-free while also being appropriate for all kinds of organizations. Our assessments are also accessible and user-friendly, with a focus on providing a good candidate experience so every candidate has a positive outlook on your employer brand.

 

We put together a few tips to help you start incorporating assessments into your recruitment process. We want to help you identify the best-fit candidates for the job and improve the overall effectiveness of your hiring process.

 

Before creating the assessment, determine its goals and objectives and how it aligns with your recruitment strategy. Starting with a goal before skipping to the means is always good. This step helps you determine the best type of assessment to use, such as personality tests, cognitive tests, or skills-based tests.

 

Choose the appropriate assessment type that aligns with the job requirements and desired skills. Ensure that the assessment measures both hard and soft skills necessary for the job. This will help you identify candidates who are not only qualified for the job but also have the necessary personality traits and interpersonal skills to thrive in the company.

 

Decide at what point in the recruitment process you’ll use the assessments. You can use them as a screening tool to narrow the candidate pool or use them for more established candidates later in the recruitment process.

 

Ensure that the assessment process is fair and unbiased and all candidates are treated equally. This involves using standardized assessments, anonymized answers, and providing all candidates with the same instructions and time limits. You should also ensure that the assessments do not discriminate against any particular group, such as people with disabilities.

 

Don’t forget to make the assessment personal. One of the best ways to do this is by adding a video introduction by either the recruiter or the hiring manager. They can add more context to the test, talk about the role, or just say hello to make the assessment friendlier and more welcoming. You can even add a video addressing the candidate taking the assessment so they feel like the test is personalized.

 

Evaluate the effectiveness of the assessments regularly and make any necessary adjustments to ensure that they deliver the desired results. This involves analyzing the assessment results and comparing them to the performance of the candidates on the job. You can also gather feedback from recruiters and candidates to identify any areas for improvement. By following these tips, you can successfully integrate assessments into your recruitment process and improve the quality of your hires.

 

Canditech offers an extensive library of customizable tasks and activities with valid and reliable assessments for any skill or position. Our library is constantly updated with new tasks and activities, ensuring our assessments remain relevant and useful and that you hire the best candidate for the job.

 

We offer tests for job-specific skills like coding, digital marketing, analytics, and more. Our library also includes tasks testing cognitive abilities and personality types. Canditech ensures you have the best selection to test soft and hard skills to get a complete picture of the candidate. Canditech also provides various options to confirm the validity of the test, such as screen monitoring, copy-paste alerts, and more to verify that your candidate is doing all of the heavy lifting and no one else.

 

The platform is easily customizable. In regards to your brand, you can add your logo or a video from one of the team members or recruiters for a personal touch, so it feels like a natural step in the interview process. Edit all the questions in the tasks to get the exact answers you’re looking for.

 

Canditech comes highly recommended as it is implemented in the recruiting processing of leading global tech companies such as monday.com, Fiverr, and Ironsource.

 

Shelly Albeck, Head of Talent Acquisition at monday.com, says: “By working with Canditech, we’re able to find and recruit candidates quickly and provide them with the space to easily showcase their skills and experience while using work-sample tests to provide a glimpse of what their future position at monday.com would look like”.

 

Final thoughts on the future of recruitment assessments

 

It is likely that artificial intelligence, machine learning, and an emphasis on soft skills and non-cognitive traits will shape recruitment assessments in the future. Bersin by Deloitte found that approximately 40% of businesses use artificial intelligence in HR, and that number is only expected to grow. Gamification and virtual reality are also used more in hiring and the workplace. For example, some organizations now use virtual job simulations to assess potential employees, allowing them to experience tasks and scenarios they may face on the job. So these assessments will become more dynamic and adaptive, providing a more accurate assessment of skills and potential.

 

In addition, data-driven analytics will be used to ensure that the right candidates are selected for the right roles. Human Resources is one of the latest adopters of quantifiable KPIs. Recruitment is part of that push, as 83% of HR leaders agree that data and analytics should be used for all people’s decisions.

 

Overall, the future of assessments in recruitment is likely to be characterized by more innovation and personalization, as well as a continued focus on fairness, objectivity, and candidate experience. It is important to stay ahead of the game and use tools such as advanced assessments in recruiting to hire the best talent.