You need all the help you can get to pin down the perfect hire. But how, exactly, do you accurately identify the right people with the perfect skills, capabilities, and attitude? It isn’t a simple task.
Candidates sometimes exaggerate their skills and experience. Some people think it’s OK to say they can carry out the role when they don’t have the right experience, then try to learn on the job, and they can be very convincing at the interview stage. Some people are unusually modest, playing their skills down. Some people are reserved, not comfortable with what they feel is ‘showing off’ and not that great at interviews. All this – and more – means aptitude tests will save you time, hassle and money. Let’s explore.
For a start aptitude testing lets you carry out a completely objective assessment, without any of the subjective prejudices or assumptions that can get in the way. It’s part of being human. Recruitment managers can’t help factoring in their personal observations, judgments, feelings, and experiences when trying to evaluate a candidate at an interview. The same goes for analysing CVs and application forms. Aptitude testing delivers the real story, removing the recruiter’s unconscious views and attitudes from the equation.
Aptitude assessments are usually done online these days, which gives you a fast and simple way to weed out the best candidates really quickly. The tests are low cost and simple to administer. And because there’s no need for candidates to come to your premises to do the testing, it’s good for them as well as you. Everyone’s valuable time is used efficiently and effectively. The scoring is automatic, as is the analysis, which saves you even more time. There’s no need for recruiters to struggle with data, and the results are always objective.
Because the testing means you get standardised results, it’s much easier to make a sensible decision. You can be confident the test results are always correct and fair. The intelligent test scoring systems that are baked into these tests enable balanced comparisons between different candidates, often very different indeed. This sort of testing even helps you to verify compliance with equal opportunities requirements and other employment legislation. Again, human error is removed to everyone’s benefit.
Aptitude assessments reveal key competencies in a reliable way, too. They let you accurately evaluate a person’s specific skills, knowledge, and capabilities along with the needs of the role. This means you can realistically compare people for highly defined roles and easily assess their key competencies. Again there’s no dangerous subjectivity, which means the candidates with the most relevant skills and capabilities are easy to shortlist. While a CV can deceive, you can’t fool aptitude testing.
The result of all this is very high quality hiring. You’ve improved the quality of your hires, done it faster, and it has cost you less. The people you hire are perfect fit for the job, less likely to leave you in the lurch after a short time and more likely to become valuable long-term employees. And your confidence as a recruiter grows. The more exceptional hires you make, the better you feel about your own role. No wonder aptitude testing cuts staff churn, an HR expense you’ll be keen to keep to a minimum.
