When hiring a new team member there are many complex factors for you to consider. Will they fit into the existing team? What are their career aspirations? And, of course, do they have the capability, drive and experience to do the job? It’s incredibly difficult to make the right decisions from a face to face interview alone. This is where psychometric testing can enhance your recruitment and on-boarding process.

What is assessment testing?

There are a range of tests that focus on certain aspects of a candidate’s strengths, such as numerical and verbal reasoning, motivation, and other capabilities , such as problem solving. They usually take the form of on-line questionnaires and can be time restricted or completed at the candidates convenience. There are different types of tests, but generally they’ll be used to measure how people differ in their opinions, motivation, values, and priorities with regard to different tasks and situations. Certain tests can also provide an individual learning agility, which is a valid predictor of potential.

Why do employers use testing in their recruitment?

In a competitive talent market, the pressure to select the right candidate first time is crucial to your recruitment strategy. Testing can also allow you to evaluate a larger number of candidates through methods of analysis which you may not be able to determine through interview alone, adding value as it helps to create an on-going development plan.

Four reasons to use assessment testing:

To reveal inconsistencies

Whichever testing method you use, the purpose is to discover behaviour, traits and characteristics about your candidate in ways that they wouldn't necessarily reveal to in an interview. They’re designed specifically to expose how individuals behave and what motivates them. A good test will be set up to pick up on any inconsistencies and make it difficult for the candidate to answer falsely.

To validate interview responses

An interview on its own can be a very poor prediction of the success a candidate will have in a role. If recruiting for more senior positions, assessment centres, psychometric and ability tests should work in parallel alongside the interview process . From there you can then validate the results at interview and build your questions so the candidate can give strong evidenced examples of their behaviour,experience and understanding.

Benchmarking

Knowing what you want to measure is key to the success of your testing, but the results of the tests will be able to show how your candidate compares to others in the running, giving you the best fit candidate and in turn, a higher retention rate.

Onboarding and development

Given that tests are designed to help you better understand the drivers, strengths and weaknesses of your preferred candidate, don’t overlook their potential to help you structure an individual onboarding plan as well as a personal development plan. This will help you convey the very powerful message to your new recruit that you understand them and have committed to working with for success.

Make testing in your recruitment count

In your business, people make all the difference and nothing could be more important to you than your talent. Ensuring you have the right balance of testing, assessment and validation for your recruitment is key to the success of your future hires, particularly in those difficult to fill roles.