What are the expected results from pre-employment screenings? It is important for companies to have realistic expectations and goals about the potential results of pre-employment tests. By using professionally-developed, validated testing instruments, employers are adding objective, data-driven metrics to the hiring process. Tests should lead to incremental improvements in hiring and lower the risk of making mistakes. It should drastically streamline the hiring process. It should also translate into tangible improvements in a business's productivity and turnover by lowering training and hiring costs and improving productivity. This streamlining should produce tangible results. A ROI Calculator is a tool that can help companies calculate the potential returns after testing.
Instead, general skills tests are meant to show a person's current job-related skill level.
Multi-testing is a great strategy to increase the effectiveness of preemployment testing. It is very common to test aptitude and personality or skills and personalities. Employers can take multiple tests for each applicant to help them assess different aspects of the applicant. This helps to speed up the hiring process and allows them make more informed decisions.
Figure 3. According to the American Management Association's (AMA) survey, 70% of employers carry out some kind of job skill test. 46% of employers administer personality and/or psychological tests to applicants or employees. 41% of employers also test applicants for basic literacy, math, and 41% use psychological tests.
In recent years, preemployment testing has been used in a significant increase. Due to increasing applicant pool due to the ease with which applicants can apply online, many hiring managers and recruiters now rely on data-driven talents management practices that simplify the hiring process. American Management Association (AMA), a survey, has shown that pre-employment testing has grown steadily over the last fifteen years. According to the AMA, these data showed that:
The data for the AMA were compiled from surveys of its members. These tend to include larger organizations. Criteria Corp believes small and medium-sized businesses should have access to pre-employment tests. Its mission is to make such assessments available to all types of organizations.
However, it's equally important to be realistic. It is impossible to predict the future, and tests do not provide a guarantee of success. Test companies that claim to have 99.9% accuracy and "Never make another poor hire again" are lying. They either don't understand the science behind testing, or they misrepresent it to sell their test. Employers should not include tests in their hiring process. It does not guarantee that they won't make another bad hire. One test does not guarantee success. Test results can be misleading. Some employees who fail to test well might be great employees. While tests are statistically more reliable than resumes and interviews as predictors, employers must remember that there is no perfect method for predicting performance.