5 Questions That Determine Which Pre-Employment Tests You Need

It is commonly accepted that pre-employment tests assist in a more successful recruitment process. That is why, according to the 2018 Talent Board Candidate Experience Research Report, 91% of companies are using them. But the quality and type of pre-employment tests can determine their overall usefulness to an organization. Asking candidates to sit an irrelevant or poorly constructed test means you end up with data that is ultimately worthless.

In this article, we will describe 5 questions you can ask yourself to help determine which pre-employment test is right for your organization. 

1. What are the key skills we’re looking for?

First and foremost, you need to know the skill sets required for the role you are recruiting for. 

Now, more than ever, skills are more desirable than education or level of experience. In the past year alone, LinkedIn has reported a 21% increase in job postings advertising skills and responsibilities over qualifications, and in 2020 there was a 40% increase in the number of positions that don’t require a degree compared to 2019. Covid-19 played a role in this. With masses of people finding themselves unemployed, their transferable skills became the number one focus for recruiters looking to fill spaces. 

So, which skills are needed? Once you know this, you can formulate a pre-employment test that assesses the pre-existing skills of candidates from all backgrounds, while also identifying training needs. For example, if you are recruiting for an international call center, one desirable skill might be that candidates are multilingual. These language skills can then be tested before the interview, so that you know exactly what the candidate’s language ability is. If they don’t pass the test, you might decide not to proceed with the interview process, saving you time and money. 

2. What are my ‘must haves’, and my ‘nice to haves’

It’s one thing listing the skills and attributes of your ideal candidate, and quite another separating these into ‘essentials’ and ‘desirables’ via an in-depth job analysis. 

When determining these lists, it’s important to think about what training you might be able to offer those who don’t meet all of the desirable criteria, and how pre-employment testing could help you to identify those training needs. For example, when recruiting for an admin role within the financial sector, a desirable skill might be that the candidate can use a particular accounting software. You can then use pre-employment testing to determine a) whether they can use this software and b) the skill level of using this software. 

Knowing this data helps you to determine whether or not the candidate would benefit from a training course to help them refine their skills in using this software. It also helps you separate the strongest candidates from the weakest, and rank them in order of existing skills and training needs. 

3. What are the language abilities required for the role?

Language abilities are arguably one of the most sought-after skills wanted by employers. 

Multiple studies have shown that there is a genuine need for multilingual employees in an increasingly globalized workforce. Speaking several languages can improve customer relationships, increase team productivity and aid relationships with suppliers, stakeholders and colleagues overseas. Even if the role you are recruiting for does not require multiple languages to be spoken, it is still a desirable attribute. Studies have shown multilingual people can be more creative, have a higher IQ and possess more empathy. 

Adding a language test to your pre-employment process can make a world of difference to the quality of candidates you interview. 

4. What personal attributes align with the company culture?

A study of 312 companies demonstrated that 46% of new employees were fired or quit within 18 months. 11% of them left because their skills were not compatible with the role. Most of them left due to interpersonal problems. Alarmingly, 82% of managers admitted they spotted ‘red flags’ during the recruitment process but chose to ignore them, possibly in desperation to get the roles filled. 

So, before making this (often costly) mistake, it’s crucial that you consider which personal attributes the candidate needs for the position in question, and which attributes are needed for ‘culture fit’. These attributes could include - eagerness to learn, ability to build relationships, honesty, ambition, and accountability. 

Thanks to emotional intelligence, cognitive and personality testing, you can discover the true nature of your candidates before you’ve even met them, allowing you to weed out the misfits and interview those who are likely to settle in well. 

5. Is knowledge important for this role?

Some roles require very little pre-existing knowledge, and companies are happy to train new employees and equip them with all relevant knowledge as part of the induction process. Other roles require a huge amount of pre-existing knowledge. 

For example, if you are recruiting for a patient facing healthcare role, you may require the candidate to have pre-existing knowledge and training in infectious disease control, health and safety and using certain medical equipment. When hiring for a role, think carefully about what pre-existing knowledge you need the candidate to have, and then formulate a pre-employment test that assesses this. Sometimes, candidates can say they have knowledge when they don’t. In fact, research has shown that 40% of people lie on their resumes. Failing to spot those lies can put your company, reputation and customers at risk. Pre-employment tests weed these candidates out, leaving you with people who are appropriately qualified for the role. 

It’s clear that, once you know which questions to ask, pre-employment testing can help you to bring a huge pile of applications down to a much smaller pile of highly desirable candidates. 

Now we want to tell you about how Pipplet can help with that.

How can Pipplet help?

Pipplet is a pre-employment test that assesses the language abilities of your candidates. If you have decided that language ability (both native and foreign) is important for the roles you are recruiting for, Pipplet can help. 

Pipplet will give you the opportunity to test the language skills of your employees before they reach the interview stage. You will receive in-depth reports about the candidate’s skills, and can test for more than 40 languages! Plus, Pipplet can test candidates in bulk, spanning multiple roles, so even if you are inundated with resumes, Pipplet can sort through them for you and give you a list of the most desirable candidates based on their language abilities.

To find out more about Pipplet and set up an account, click here. 

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