I want to make a few things clear straight away. One, I concede that no test result will be 100% predictive of job success. Two, there are a few shortcomings with pre-hiring assessments, like measuring a narrow spectrum of abilities and skill sets. And three, the soft factors, like attitude, curiosity, discipline, etc., will never show up in assessments.
But despite all these, pre-employment assessments can still play an indispensable role in your recruitment process.
One, in India, the applicants to job openings ratio is very very high (sometimes over 200 to 1). It is very difficult to gauge which candidates are interested. If nothing, a candidate who completes an assessment shows some "INTENT". At least you will know that the candidates you will be dealing with in the latter stages of the process are the ones that are interested in your company.
Two, sending just some assignments to candidates, without assessments, may not give you a true reflection on that candidate because you can never ascertain that the candidate who is meant to complete that assignment did the job, at least not until a comprehensive interview. But as recruiters and entrepreneurs, your time is way too valuable to be spent on the wrong candidates. A pre-hiring assessment that is secure can provide you with that certainty. I am not asking you to replace your hiring assignments with standardized pre-hiring tests, but to compliment, even integrate, your assignments with a standardized assessment.
Three, using a proper pre-employment assessment service, like Merreo, will help you know the candidate on a much deeper level than otherwise; especially if you are using multi-measure assessments. And you can tailor the interview for the candidates. You can deal with each candidate on their own terms, giving them a better experience. For example, you are hiring for a business analyst role. By using a battery of cognitive, skill, and personality tests; you can interview an introverted candidate with an analytical bent in a different manner to an extroverted candidate with a visual mind.
While the Soft factors will play a major role in one's success in the long run, most jobs require a base-level cognitive ability. And with good, secure, and validated pre-hiring assessments, you can expect to find that base-level ability. We agree that hiring a top 1 percentiler may not always pan out the way you expect, but knowing the baseline ability of the candidate will help you make a reasoned decision between two equally suitable candidates.
We know that standardized testing and pre-hiring aptitude assessments are, especially with the current climate of liberal ideology, seen as unfashionable, controversial, and frowned upon. Despite most of the criticisms being baseless, we can all agree that some elements in pre-hiring testing are not perfect. But a good pre-hiring assessment product can help you to find hidden talents, pick the right talent, and especially weed out the wrong talent from the applicant pool.
This is what Merreo pre-hiring tests do. We want to help you find the best-fit talent from your applicant pool and certainly weed out the poor-fit candidates. Merreo has an ever-expanding library of over 45+ pre-employment tests that range from cognitive skills to marketing skills, to programming skills, and more. Sign up for free, avail 10 free credits, and start reinventing your hiring process.
