What Are the Different Types of Pre Employment Testing Used By Organizations?

Pre Employment Testing

Organizations have to assess the skills and capabilities of candidates before hiring them. Using traditional methods for hiring such as scrutinizing the resumes and conducting interviews are not being effective! There has been an increase in the number of applications for each job. Though it does sound like a piece of good news, the reality is quite different. More than 50% of the candidates who apply for a job do not meet the basic criteria specified.

It has become all the more necessary to conduct proper tests to assess the candidates and filter the best ones from the existing vast pool of applicants. Pre-employment tests have become popular for the same reason. Well-structured and comprehensive in nature, the assessment tests are helping numerous enterprises in selecting candidates who are skilled and can work with other employees in the organization. 

The assessments help the HR team in understanding the candidates better so that they can hire the ones who fit the enterprise in all ways.

  • Skills and abilities
  • Theoretical knowledge and practical application 
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Character traits/ Personality
  • Software application skills (for IT industry)
  • Language proficiency
  • Communication skills
  • Behavior patterns
  • Integrity

Pre Employment Testing is legally acceptable and used by many of the top organizations in all industries. The best thing about these tests is that they can be used by an enterprise of any business volume. There is no limit to the number of candidates who can attempt the test. And as the entire process is systematic, the chances of human error are reduced by a great margin. Unless the enterprise selects a wrong test or unrelated questions, enterprises can be sure that the assessment tests will result in selecting the best candidates for the job. 

Let us now take a look at the different types of pre-employment tests that focus on assessing various aspects of a candidate. 

  • Personality Test
    • The characteristic traits of a person are assessed using this test. The questions are open-ended, allowing the candidate to express what they would say or do if a similar situation arose at work. 
    • The extent to which a candidate can interact with strangers, the person’s opinion about cheating, theft, giving speeches and presentations, working with a team, etc. are assessed to understand if he/ she is right for the job or not. 
    • A sales manager has to be an extrovert and be able to talk effortlessly with strangers. An accountant doesn’t require the same level of public interaction skills, though the person should articulate enough to talk to colleagues. 
  • Cognitive Test
    • Also known as an aptitude test, this assessment helps in understanding the decision-making abilities, problem-solving skills, arithmetic and reading comprehension, memory power, and accuracy of a candidate. 
    • This test is conducted for almost all jobs as it is used to determine the basic intelligence of the candidates. The cognitive test is a must for call center jobs as the candidates have to handle the various complaints shared by the customers and provide them with solutions. 
  • Talent/ Skill Test
    • This test is best suited to assess the skills of a fresher or candidates who apply for entry-level jobs with zero or minimum work experience. The focus here is on the potential skills and abilities of a candidate in terms of the job they would be working on. 
    • A programmer would be tested for his/ her knowledge in coding and creating websites, while a candidate for the marketing field would be assessed about the knowledge of the industry.
  • Emotional Intelligence Test (EI)
    • Emotional Intelligence has gained a lot of popularity in the past few years. Enterprises have realized the importance of employing candidates who are capable of controlling their emotional outbursts and understanding others. 
    • Empathy, the ability to connect with other employees on an emotional level, the ability to handle a crisis without letting things go out of control are some of the points enterprises focus on. 
    • There are no right or wrong answers to the questions asked during the EI test or the behavioral test. Enterprises are only intent on finding candidates who can easily fit into the existing work environment. 

Apart from the above-mentioned tests, enterprises also conduct tests based on the requirements of the job. These tests usually include questions from all the above tests. Some of the job-based tests are as follows. 

  • Data Entry and Typing Test 
  • Auditing Clerk
  • Database Developer 
  • Administrative Coordinator
  • Food and Beverage Manager 
  • Project Specialist 
  • Field Support Supervisor
  • Data Analyst 
  • Electrical Engineer
  • Network Engineer
  • Pharmacist 
  • Copywriter
  • Compliance Officer

Pre-employment assessments are a great way to streamline the hiring process and make it cost-effective while saving time for the enterprises.