The use of psychological tests to screen good candidates has been growing over the years. Surely, these tests are usually given to the prospective managers instead of giving to low-level employees, as tests consume time and money.
Some experts recommend against using psychological tests as they are not efficient to weed out the right candidates and they cannot provide a sufficient solution for companies’ turnover problem. Moreover, wrong usage of the test or an inappropriate question in the test may cause your company deal with a lawsuit. Nevertheless, when it is used properly, they may predict success on the job better than any other measure.
Cognitive ability tests are the best option among the psychological tests. In addition, personal tests, which were once viewed as useless, have gained support by some experts. Testing has some structural advantages over other means of selection. Candidates are asked to respond the same questions and the test applies the same standard to everyone, which may counterbalance interviewer’s stereotypes.
For example, the interviewer or the hiring person may have a bias against people because of their physical appearance, or without “right” educational background. Testing candidates will eliminate some biases that hiring decision-makers have and it will provide a fair hiring process.
Here are some experts’ tips to have an efficient pre-employment testing:
It is also practicable for companies to design their own tests with predictive validity.