Guide to Pre-Employment Assessments
Guide to Pre-Employment Assessments
Pre-Employment Assessment tools for different hiring requirements
Navigating the pre-employment assessments market is tricky. Most company websites don’t really tell you what they actually do. So we’ve done the research and compiled a list of pre-employment assessment types and vendors to help you find the right provider.
High volume, role specific hiring
If you’re hiring 100+ people every year into the same type of role then ThriveMap is ideal for you. We create personalised work simulation pre-employment assessments that authentically communicate what it’s like to work within a specific role in your organisation, whilst testing the skills needed to do the job.
Pre-employment assessments and low volume hiring
Research suggests that customised, work simulation pre-employment assessments are better all round; they’re more realistic, candidates prefer them and they’re more likely to predict great hires, but they’re not suitable for low volume hiring for three main reasons.
Practicality
Customisation takes time and effort, which is often impractical for low volume hiring, since you may have dozens of different types of roles and only hire a handful of people into each.
Cost
If you’re hiring large volumes of candidates, then the cost savings from using a customised pre-employment assessment are significant, but for low volumes, those cost savings aren’t there, and that makes ready-to-use assessments a more attractive option.
Validity
If candidate volumes are low then a customised pre-employment assessment won’t capture enough data to confirm it’s accurately measuring the right things (validity). Pre-written assessments are tested and already validated, so they don’t rely on your own data to test them. The downside of course, is that they’re generic, and not measuring your specific role requirements.
Pre-employment assessments and non role-specific hiring
If a pre-employment assessment is closely linked to the actual tasks and skills required for the role, then it’s more likely to select the best candidate. However, you might want an assessment that you can use for every role. For example, you might want to measure organisational values, a basic level of competence or “general intelligence”. If that sounds like your requirement, then off-the-shelf solutions will work well for these reasons:
Universality
You can select assessments that are appropriate for entry-level and senior hires. By ensuring your pre-employment assessments don’t mention any specific roles or context, you can send them to all levels of candidates.
Benchmarking
When you’re using a pre-employment assessment across multiple roles and seniority levels, it’s hard to know what a good and bad score is. By choosing off-the-shelf solutions, you should also receive their own candidate benchmarking, and you can use that as a reference point to assess your candidates.
Off-the-shelf assessment types
So, if you’re not hiring high volumes into a single role, then an off-the-shelf solution is probably the right choice for you. Here are some of the different pre-written assessment types and some suggested vendors to check out.
Technical skills tests
Pre-written assessments for testing hard skills required to do the job. These are great for testing hard skills for web developer and IT roles in particular.
Situational judgement tests
These test behaviour in generic, work-related, situations. They are typically more predictive than behavioural or personality tests, but ready-made solutions won’t be customised to your particular role requirements, work environment or company culture.
Cognitive ability tests
These are standard testing instruments designed to measure candidate’s cognitive functions such as learning and reasoning abilities. They have been proven to improve hiring decisions when used alongside structured interviews.
Behavioural / Personality tests
These are non-contextual pre-employment assessments that aim to measure personality traits or general behaviours. Assessment questions are asked outside of any context or environment and not usually directly related to the job, therefore the science does not usually support their use in recruitment.
Alternative assessment suppliers
Here’s a list of well-respected vendors that provide ready-to-go pre-employment assessments.
If you have any suggestions for other providers that we can add to this list, then please get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
Pre-Employment Assessment tools for different hiring requirements
Navigating the pre-employment assessment market is tricky. Most company websites don’t really tell you what they actually do. So we’ve done the research and compiled a list of assessment types and vendors to help you find the right provider.
High volume, role specific hiring
If you’re hiring 100+ people every year into the same type of role then ThriveMap is ideal for you. We create personalised work simulation pre-employment assessments that authentically communicate what it’s like to work within a specific role in your organisation, whilst testing the skills needed to do the job.
Pre-employment assessments and low volume hiring
Research suggests that personalised, work simulation pre-employment assessments are better all round; they’re more realistic, candidates prefer them and they’re more likely to predict great hires, but they’re not suitable for low volume hiring for three main reasons.
Practicality
Customisation takes time and effort, which is often impractical for low volume hiring, since you may have dozens of different types of roles and only hire a handful of people into each.
Cost
If you’re hiring large volumes of candidates, then the cost savings from using a pre-employment assessment are significant, but for low volumes, those cost savings aren’t there, and that makes a customised assessment a much less attractive option.
Validity
If candidate volumes are low then a customised pre-employment assessment won’t capture enough data to confirm it’s accurately measuring the right things (validity). Pre-written, generic assessments are tested before hand, so they don’t rely on your own data to test them. On the flipside of course, they’re generic, and not measuring your specific role requirements.
Pre-employment assessments and non role-specific hiring
If a pre-employment assessment is closely linked to the actual tasks and skills required for the role, then it’s more likely to select the best candidate, and will give the candidate a good idea of the job they’ve applied for. However, you might want an assessment that you can use for every role. For example, you might want to measure organisational values, or a basic level of competency or “general intelligence”. If that sounds like your requirement, then off-the-shelf solutions will work well for these reasons:
Universality
You can select assessments that are appropriate for entry-level and senior hires. By ensuring your pre-employment assessments don’t mention any specific roles or context, you can send them to all levels of candidates.
Benchmarking
If you’re only hiring one type of role and you have lots of candidates, then it’s easy to compare your candidates with each other. However, when you’re using an assessment across multiple roles, it’s hard to know what a good and bad score is. By choosing off-the-shelf solutions, you should also receive their own benchmarking, and you can use that as a reference to assess your candidates.
Off-the-shelf assessment types
So, if you’re not hiring high volumes into a single role, then an off-the-shelf solution is probably the right choice for you. Here are some of the different pre-written assessment types and some suggested vendors to check out.
Technical skills tests
pre-written assessments for testing hard skills required to do the job. Great for developer and IT roles in particular.
Situational judgement tests
test behaviour in a generic work context, more predictive than behavioural or personality tests. The downside to these are they aren’t customised to your particular roles, work environment or company culture.
Cognitive ability tests
standard testing instruments designed to measure candidate’s cognitive functions such as learning and reasoning abilities. Have been proven to improve hiring decisions when used alongside structured interviews.
Behavioural / personality tests
These are non-contextual pre-employment assessments that aim to predict success or measure personality. Often delivered as a game-based, assessment questions are typically not related to the job therefore the science does not support their use in recruitment.
Alternative assessment suppliers
Here’s a list of well-respected vendors that provide ready-to-go pre-employment assessments.
ROI Calculator
We believe technology should only be used if it demonstrates a clear ROI.
We’ve built a free, easy-to-use calculator to help you work out how much failed hires are costing you each year.
About ThriveMap
Personalised pre-employment assessments for volume hiring.
If you’re hiring 100+ people every year into the same type of role, then our assessments can save you time and money, and maximise your post-hire performance.
ROI Calculator
We believe technology should only be used if it demonstrates a clear ROI.
We’ve built a free, easy-to-use calculator to help you work out how much failed hires are costing you each year.
About ThriveMap
Personalised pre-employment assessments for volume hiring.
If you’re hiring 100+ people every year into the same type of role, then our assessments can save you time and money, and maximise your post-hire performance.