Pre-employment assessments are essential for you to make decisions when recruiting candidates. That’s because these tests make you better see their skills and abilities. Getting the best results from your assessments depends a lot on your chosen assessment provider. That means there are questions we should be asking about pre hire assessments.
That said, here are the questions we should be asking about pre hire assessments from our assessment provider:
1. What Kinds of Tests Do They Have?
To have an effective testing strategy, it’s very crucial to choose the kind of assessment needed. So, the assessments need to be tied directly to the qualifications for the position you’re hiring. The most important consideration in picking a test is if they are job-related or not. That’s why the assessments you require play a critical role in the assessment provider you partner with.
For instance, you can opt for an assessment provider that supplies different kinds of assessments if you plan to evaluate for different positions in your company. This makes it possible to have screening flexibility for various positions in the same system. Also, your recruitment process becomes a bit standardized and more effective.
But, if you want to evaluate for a single position and have a particular assessment you prefer, it’s better to look for one that offers specialized tests.
2. Are the Tests Reliable?
Aside from the test type, other questions we should be asking about pre hire assessments is how they are validated. Put simply, do these assessments foretell an applicant’s ability to perform a job? You have to keep in mind that your primary goal in administering pre-employment assessments is to boost the company. That means these tests should be dependable in predicting this.
Assessing your chosen test provider if they are valid or not mostly requires checking that they can show data gathered from the results of the tests. They can usually do this by correlating the results and their effects on the business, such as better productivity and employee performance, and lower turnover rates. If tests can predict the chances of candidates succeeding in their jobs, these are valid.
3. Can I Interpret the Outcomes?
Though this is obvious, this data has value only if the interpretation is accurate. Pre-hiring test results range from basic to complex. Some of these can offer one score to summarize a test set. Other tests offer paragraph-long outcomes for one test.
One of the questions we should be asking about pre hire assessments and the results is if there’s enough time to interpret detailed answers. If not, it can be best to opt for a pre-employment test provider that can provide a simple score report. This is recommended for companies looking for candidates in limited positions or regularly recruiting for one or two vacancies. That’s because they might not require additional information about complex qualities.
Comprehensive score reports give more details. But, this is great if the recruitment team has the time and skills to interpret these reports accurately. Providers offering this kind of test results have certifications or training for interpreting this. Attendance is needed to avoid incorrect interpretations.
In terms of details, some reports are in the middle. That’s why the details you need depend on your hiring and the company’s goals.
4. Can I Integrate the Test with Our Company’s Technology?
You would want to ask your preferred testing provider if you can integrate your platform if you utilize ATS or other recruitment software. There are different ways to integrate information. But, it’s likely for recruitment teams to see all the recruitment details on one platform. Because it streamlines the process, it is simpler to deal with many applicants.
Using ATS integrations often benefits big companies or companies that hire for various positions simultaneously. This might not be needed to ask for companies that don’t hire volumes of candidates. If you don’t utilize recruitment software, you don’t need to consider this for your pre-hire testing vendor.
5. What Is the Pricing Design of the Provider?
Service prices are some of the important questions we should be asking about pre hire assessments. But, we should also think of the different pricing designs. That’s because these can fulfill the needs of the company. There are many pricing designs, but pay-per-test and subscription pricing are the two most common.
From the name itself, pay-per-test design means you pay for every test you give. If you only have a few applicants or fill a small number of positions annually, this is a good option. But, predicting if the assessment expenses are within your budget can be difficult. The costs can change as your recruitment changes.
Subscription pricing means you need to pay a subscription for a certain period. You’ll likely have unlimited access to the test within the subscription period. You can better manage your testing expenses and be more flexible in the number of people you hire. Moreover, you can conduct the test in the early stages of the recruitment process because you don’t need to worry about paying more. As a result, you can have an easier time filtering qualified candidates.
6. What Customer Support Can They Provide?
Because you’ll reach out to different testing providers, it’s best to inquire about the support you can expect from them. Some of them provide help through phone or email. Some have managers, while some provide extensive training or extra support when you implement tests. It’s also best to ask if they provide help to applicants who’ll have technical difficulties while taking the test.
The support you need can depend on your situation. It’s better to prioritize getting a test provider who can give more support if your company utilizes a test strategy for different positions and departments. If the test results are somewhat challenging or complex to understand, you can make sure that your provider can give ample help to understand these results. You might not need to focus on customer support too much if your assessment needs are uncomplicated or hiring for a few vacancies.
7. How Are the Tests Developed?
Much data is utilized now. But, this doesn’t mean that we can concentrate only on analytics to create tests. Top testing providers created their tests using principles and are of I-O or industrial-organizational psychology and combined analytics to understand complex patterns of data.
That’s why one of the questions we should be asking about pre hire assessments is if the testing provider’s team has great expertise in the field of candidate experience, fairness, diversity, the science of selecting talents, and employment regulations. These laws ensure that the tests will show qualified applicants without being biased.
8. Is AI Integrated in the Tests?
AI is used in different ways in pre-hire assessments. That’s why asking if this is integrated into the assessments is crucial. Some methods are believed to be possibly unfair and not trustworthy. This can result in your company being damaged and cause bad experiences for candidates who apply.
Through AI, you can search for transparency. Your chosen testing provider must be open to discussing their AI methods in layman’s terms. They should also be able to tell you about the information gathered and what it can predict. Data scientists are part of the development team in many reputable testing providers. They are the ones responsible for integrating science, applying AI ethically in their product, and utilizing advanced analytics.
9. How Can I Determine That the Tests Are Fair?
Testing providers have to be transparent in keeping their methods unbiased and lessen the adverse effect on protected groups. Having pre-hire tests can be fair if there is enough appropriate data type, close monitoring, and advanced AI technologies. You have to remember that the perception of applicants on how fair you are in hiring is important.
You need to ask this question to ensure that information requested from applicants is the one they are willing to provide. It’s also good to ask the provider if they disclose to applicants how the data they shared is used and assessed.
10. What Proof Can They Provide That the Test Results Add Value to the Company?
You can get answers by requesting your test provider’s case studies and measurable outcomes. Knowing the possible job performance of applicants in the future and the turnover risk, your chosen test provider should be able to convince you that they’ve helped their clients reach particular cost savings through better employee retention, more productivity for new employees through a specific percentage, and better job results such as higher sales revenue.
11. Does It Take a Long Time to be Completed?
The duration of tests is different. Some can be completed in minutes and some in hours. When asking this, you have to think of the period you’ll require from candidates in completing the assessment. You also have to remember that long tests are not always the better option.
12. How Is the Data Collected?
You can ask your test provider if the tests are a free or forced choice. The former means that candidates only choose when they feel it applies to them. The latter asks candidates to pick from many choices.
Forced choice tests cause candidates frustration because they feel unnatural or discomfort in choosing from various options. You think of the format you think is beneficial and relevant to the data you need and the possible impact on candidates taking your test.
13. How Are the Results Presented?
To ask this your preferred testing provider, you can check if the results are in the form of writing, visual graphics, or report. Some providers combine two forms. You can correlate the results with the end-user of the data. To illustrate, comprehensive reports can seem better at times. However, it might take you a lot of time because of its complexity.
Visual graphics make it easy to obtain important information, but it doesn’t show a thorough report of the assessment. You should determine who will use the test, the amount of information needed from them, and the duration they are expected to review their outcome. Also, training is highly recommended for those who will review the data so that they can understand the information presented, whatever the format is.
14. Is the Test Global?
If your company’s workforce comes from different parts of the globe, it’s very important to ask this to test providers. That’s because the test has to be in the native language of the candidates. Support from analysts in the area where the test is conducted is critical, too. You need to check with testing providers that their tests and results are available in different languages. They should also prove to you that they follow the best practices in translating tests.
15. Is it Possible to Use the Data with Teams and Groups?
Aside from giving information about individual employees, some tests can provide awareness of group dynamics. This can be used to deal with conflicts, assess performance, and compare with other groups. You need to have this information available if group analysis is crucial. Some tools make it possible to compare the behaviors of two individuals or the entire team. This can help your recruitment team in defining what a top performer is in your company.
16. Do Their Assessments Comply with Professional Standards?
The APA or American Psychological Association and ITC or International Test Commission are some of the standard organizations that determine how tests should be made and verified. If your company is in the US, you can ask test providers how they make sure that they follow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s policy on giving tests or their processes. This is to avoid risks and give defense if there would be legal issues.
Conclusion
Finally, pre-employment tests can help you understand an applicant’s profile and better assess them objectively. This is why these questions you ask your chosen testing provider are important. You can make sounder recruitment decisions, lower turnover, and save your company time and money by answering these.
