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4 Types of Pre-Employment Assessment Tests 

“Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.”         – Malcolm Forbes


Finding top-notch staff for your company is crucial to its success. Several tools are available to help you achieve this goal and find the perfect fit for the position. Assessment tests are one of these tools.
Assessment evaluations are not a one-size-fits-all solution; they are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. They provide an objective method to determine the skills, personality traits, or cognitive ability of a potential employee. You must be selective, however, and choose the right tests that fit with your company’s needs.
The most widely used tests include:
Personality Tests: Personality tests help to predict how well a person may fit into your company’s culture. However, there is a downside.

  • Because of the personal nature of the questions, these assessments may be offensive to the candidate.
  • There’s a high risk of a person answering dishonestly to win favor.
  • If the results infer a mental disorder that disqualifies a person, it can lead to EEOC violations.

Popular personality tests include The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Disc Assessment (DISC), and the Holland Code (RIASEC) Test
Cognitive Ability Tests: Their purpose is to evaluate a person’s aptitude and intelligence through numerical, verbal, deductive, logical, abstract, and figural reasoning. They are a great way to see how well a potential employee will perform or how quickly they will learn new skills. It measures integrity factors, such as a potential employee’s honesty, dependability, and trustworthiness. It suggests how well he/she will follow the rules, respect authority, etc. Downsides include:

  • Factually, test results differ significantly by gender and race, and results that eliminate a candidate can be subject to scrutiny under the EEOC.
  • Answers to questions may be untruthful, and due to the personal nature of these questions, they can also seem offensive

Occupational Inventories Tests: Occupational inventories evaluate a person’s level of interest and motivation for their work. They pinpoint a person ‘s interest in a field, giving hiring managers insight into job compatibility. A common one is the Holland Code (RIASEC) Test.
Situational Judgement Tests (ASJT):  Situational judgment tests measure an individual’s adaptability in applied settings. In other words, they determine how well a person will react to various situations that occur in the workplace using real-life scenarios through video, audio, or text.
Gone are the days when pre-employment tests were black and white, used only to assess a candidate’s abilities related to specific tasks. A 2016 study by The Talent Board indicated a growth spurt in the popularity of tests, especially those related to job simulation (54 percent) and culture fit (51 percent). They continue gaining popularity across industries; in fact, SHRM reports that 82% of employers use pre-employment testing. Companies invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire the best staff for their organizations.  Pre-screening on a deeper level can eliminate a portion of those expenditures and is a wise move to thwart revolving doors. When reviewing results, however, it’s crucial that recruiters err on the side of caution and be aware of unconscious hiring bias – a fast track to anti-discrimination law violations.
Lingo Staffing is a full-service staffing company that has a true understanding of what it takes to partner with a client and become a primary resource for a wide variety of staffing solutions. Every client’s needs differ, and Lingo adjusts and adapts services to meet those needs every time. Contact us today.

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