7 Types of Pre-Employment Assessment Tests

Resumes and portfolios alone are not enough to test candidates' skills. Pre-employment screening tests and tools are faster and more reliable in selecting the best candidate. They are conducted before the primary job interview to determine whether a candidate fits your required position. In this comprehensive guide, we'll look at these tests, why employers conduct them, which tests can help you best, and five additional tips to conduct them effectively.

• Pre-screening tests are conducted to collect the necessary document information about a candidate during the hiring process.
• It involves a cross-checking process where the recruiter checks whether the candidate's information matches their skills.
• Many companies have a policy of conducting pre-employment screening tests before interviewing their list of candidates.

Employers conduct pre-employment screening tests due to several reasons, as listed below.

The pre-employment assessment testing is conducted to narrow down the number of applicants on the list to hire. This relieves the headache of the employer surfing through a mountain of resumes and selecting only the best candidates.

Pre-employment tests are conducted to check whether the candidate’s skills match the job description. For instance, if an employer is looking for a Python developer, the recruiter conducts basic coding tests to check his Python skills.

From the results of the pre-assessment tests, employers can be more specific about the skills and work experience of the candidate. This allows the employer to come to a conclusion, as to whether the candidate is technically strong or not.

Here are the top 7 types of pre-employment screening tests that streamline the recruiting process:

IQ tests are outdated in checking a candidate’s intelligence. Instead, recruiters assess the cognitive ability to understand whether the candidate is skilled in problem-solving. There are several assessment tests like memory tests, spatial awareness, numerical, verbal, and abstract reasoning, problem-solving, mathematical ability, etc. These tests require the candidate to use their vocabulary, presence of mind, intuitive thinking skills, and other soft skills.

However, this test alone is not enough to understand if the candidate is well suited for your job. To determine how good a candidate can be in cognitive skills, they must have the relevant knowledge of the profile the recruiter is looking for.

Many companies hire candidates based on their motivation and interpersonal skills, such as attitude, temperament, etc. Although this selection tool is based on personality, it is not as useful as the other listed tests, since a person who is fit in interpersonal skills may lack technical skills. Hence, a subjective interpretation of the candidate is required before making a decision.

An achievement test helps the recruiter analyze what a candidate has learned and achieved in their previous employment. The recruiters confirm if the candidate has completed any certification courses or projects related to the required job profile. This pre-employment screening test is essential since it helps the recruiter find the “job knowledge” of the candidate.

Recruiters conduct miniature job training and evaluation tests to check whether the candidate can perform the tasks that the actual job entails. The candidate’s performance is evaluated at the end of the task; hence the recruiter will find whether the candidate is fit for the job.

Companies conduct integrity tests to check if the candidate is honest, trustworthy, and dependable. There are two types of integrity tests: Overt integrity test involves questioning the candidate about dangerous or counter-productive behaviors. An example of an overt integrity test is asking, “Do you think taking unused printer papers from work home is stealing?”

The other is a covert integrity test involving a personality-type test questioning candidates to draw conclusions about integrity issues. An example of a covert integrity test is asking, “True or False: I hate people telling me what to do.”

Companies conduct emotional intelligence tests to check if the candidate can understand other people’s emotions, which is necessary to build healthy relationships between co-workers. This test is vital for jobs requiring frequent communication with clients, customers, or co-workers.

Language tests are important for any job that require knowledge of a particular language. These tests are conducted to check vocabulary, grammar knowledge, and comprehension ability (oral & written).

You must choose any pre-employment screening tests based on your hiring and capability needs.

• If your company finds that any new hires must possess the required skill sets, the skill assessment tests are important.
• If your team finds that any new hires have difficulty building a new positive team, you have to conduct personality tests or emotional intelligence tests to determine the cultural fit.

These screening methods can be used single or combined, for example, you can choose skill assessment tests along with integrity tests.

Here are five tips for effective pre-employment screening test conducted in your workplace.

• Test as earlier in the recruitment process as possible to save your time and money in the recruitment process.
• Always check what you have to measure first: skills, honesty, emotional intelligence, language, etc.
• Combine various pre-employment tests if necessary.
• Ensure that the selected role is related to the job profile.
• Make sure the test is short enough and easy to follow.
• You can also ask for a few basic pre-employment screening test questions, as listed below. They will help you to understand more about the employee and their potential.

What motivates you?

You can ask this pre-screening questionnaire to find what excites the candidates the most. Remember that this answer will help you get a clear picture of the candidate’s work style, personality, and whether they will fit this job.

Where do you see yourself five years from now?

This is a highly-preferred pre-employment screening test question raised to a candidate to check their determination towards the job. You can consider answers like, I see myself as a well-skilled person, and I will be an integral part of the company who can contribute to its success.

What's your ideal work environment?

Recruiters ask this pre-screening question to check if the candidate will fit their requirements and the company culture. Every workplace may vary, especially among several industries - so you need to determine if the candidate’s needs and wants align with what you can offer.

The candidate may come up with answers like I would love to work in a team where everyone can share their ideas and help grow each other. I also love to work in a collaborative environment where I can improve my skills personally and professionally. When you hear these answers from the candidate, you can confidently say that the candidate is a team worker.

Are you interviewing with other companies?

Interviews are time-consuming and a candidate who jumps to other companies for some reason after you have released the offer is counterproductive. Check if the candidate is interviewing with other companies; if yes, ask them for a reason and convince them (if you are satisfied with their performance) that your company is the better choice.

When would you be available to start a new role?

This question checks a candidate’s availability to join the position. Make it simpler that the candidate must join within the given time frame, and no excuses are permitted later.

What are your salary expectations?

Every company has a budget for particular job profiles. Hence, this is a key question to determine if you can actually afford a candidate based on the compensation they require.
Also, when you ask this question, do not defend directly. Instead, you can say they can be negotiated and revised if there are any possibilities.

Do you have any questions for us?

You can ask this question at the end of an interview. Check what types of questions the candidate asks you, how many questions they ask, and how much they know about the company.

This is all about the pre-employment screening tests and different types of pre-employment tests, along with a few valuable tips for you. Having a detailed plan and following all the relevant recommendations is critical to building a robust pre-employment screening test. Sourcing good candidates have become difficult recently, but you can successfully find qualified candidates by adopting the best pre-employment assessment test.

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