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Anyone Can Ace a Resume, But Not Everyone Can Ace Skills Tests

  
  
  
 

Skills TestsShould you be using skills tests as part of your hiring process? Imagine interviewing several potential hires for a position, and narrowing your search down to two. Both candidates have excellent resumes that include experience at reputable companies within your industry.

Both applicants seem like they would be a great fit for the job. You make a selection based on your "gut-feeling" only to find that the person you hired does not have the skills necessary to do the job.

Your options are to train the candidate or to fire them. Either scenario is more costly than it would have been to hire an applicant with the appropriate skill sets necessary for the job.

Resumes are no longer an adequate way to determine if someone is a good fit for the job. Statistics estimate that over 30 percent of all resumes are exaggerated. How can companies be sure they are selecting a candidate with the personality, skills and traits necessary to excel in his position?

Skills tests can be administered during the application process. These tests are designed to measure each candidate's ability to complete a particular set of skills.

Skills tests can measure a range of capabilities including basic computer, grammar and math skills they also measure advanced skills like html knowledge and languages. Each position has specific requirements that candidates are expected to fill and skills tests provide results that enable hiring managers to assess who is the best fit for the job.

An exciting feature of skills assessments is their customization options. Each job plays a unique and specific roll in an organization. Skills tests can be tailored to match a specific job.

Someone responsible for managing online systems will need a different skills set than someone responsible for customer service. Skills tests will match whatever job they need to in order to fairly assess each applicant to their desired position.

Are skills tests really necessary? Assessments are not only necessary, but logical. If businesses want to save money and hire smart they should invest in revamping their hiring processes. Skills test compliment the traditional interviewing process by providing hiring managers with more detailed information about each applicants aptitude.

With such inflammation of information on resumes, and so many resumes being submitted per available job, companies should consider using skills tests to make their hiring practices more effective and cost effective.

Doctors have to pass their boards to practice medicine; lawyers have to take their respective state bar, so businesses should feel comfortable administering skills tests to their potential hires. It costs more to lose an employee than it does to hire one that immediately fits their job.

Skills tests can also be used to consider who would require more training and development. Some candidates may possess attributes that the company finds more critical than a skill set. Skills tests will allow the company to identify which areas the candidate can improve upon in order to really excel.

Assessments are revolutionizing hiring processes worldwide. They provide in-depth information that may have been overlooked by hiring managers who simply review resumes and conduct interviews.

Skills tests are a non-invasive and objective way to collect pertinent information about a potential employee. The results from these assessments can be used to make decisions in hiring and development, and should be seen as an investment to the company.

Don't lose money by hiring the wrong person the first time around. Hire smart by testing each applicant with skills test to ensure that your company has a strong foundation of dependable and capable employees.

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Comments

The best-suited jobs I've ever gotten, and the most effective employees I've ever hired were based on a combination of skills-testing AND comprehensive, professional interviews focused on the REAL, SUBSTANTIVE CONTENT of the job, conducted by both the hiring manager and prospective colleagues - those who would be both peers and direct-reports.
Posted @ Thursday, October 06, 2011 8:54 AM by Sam Ray
I couldn't agree with your more!It is to everyone's benefit to know what they are getting themselves into and to make an informed decision. Thanks for your comment.
Posted @ Thursday, October 06, 2011 11:12 AM by Dario Priolo
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