In pre-employment testing, HR assessment tools play a crucial role in screening candidates, differentiating between them, and selecting the ones who match the job profile the best. As you know, recruiters and companies use such tests for employee evaluations and leadership development programs.
Today, we will offer you a quick roundup regarding the most popular talent acquisition assessment tools that the Hire Talent offers recruiters and companies!
At the end of this article, we will also invite you to tell us which of them you use in your current practice and what other pre-employment talent testing practices you would recommend to your fellow recruiters.
Best HR Assessment Tools from the Hire Talent
What is an HR assessment? How can we refine the process to find the best talent for the job position while cutting high costs with rehiring or employee turnover? Performing an HR assessment in the pre-employment phase means using certain tools and instruments to know everything you need about the applicants.
When we screen candidates to select them for particular jobs and roles, we usually use a diversity of HR competency assessment tools. A single instrument or inventory cannot offer us an integer perspective on who candidates are and what they can do.
As we have insisted many times before, we should carefully handpick our HR assessment tools to test employability skills, candidates’ mental prowess, personality traits, leadership potential, and much more. So let’s see today some of the most popular types of HR assessment tools to use in the pre-employment stage!
The Hire Talent Ability and Aptitude Tests
Ability and aptitude tests are very popular in pre-employment testing because they are standardized, valid, and yielding fast measurable results. Recruiters use a handful of them to learn more about a candidates’ numerical and special reasoning skills, logic, verbal reasoning, abstract reasoning, etc. Let’s discuss some types of aptitude assessment instruments we provide HR experts and organizations. Use them mostly when they want to recruit for positions with a strong technical or people-oriented component!
1. Numerical Reasoning Test
Recruiters use the Numerical reasoning test to identify and determine numeracy skills on different difficulty levels. Recruiters commonly employ them when they assess clerical jobs, accounting, economy & finance, IT&C, data management, etc.
2. Logical Reasoning Test
We use the Logical reasoning test to give the recruiters a broader idea of candidates’ cognitive capacity, critical thinking, decision-making, problem-solving, and more.
3. Verbal Reasoning Test
With the Verbal reasoning test, you can evaluate applicants with high overall verbal reasoning abilities.
4. The Matrix Reasoning Test
We are particularly proud of the Matrix reasoning test, as it identifies candidates with great visual-spatial problem-solving skills. It will help you employ individuals who can find unique solutions where it seems there are no solutions at all.
As we are sure you know already, we have developed a series of ability tests that measure multiple dimensions for assessing candidates. With such tests, you can get a clearer and larger picture of what candidates could do in specific job positions that require both “technical skills” and people skills.
5. Sales, People, and Logic Tests
The Sales, People, and Logic Tests help you identify fast the candidates with the strongest sales skills as reflected by cognitive skills.
6. The Aptitude and People Skills
This Aptitude and People Skills battery of tests measures cognitive intelligence in corroboration with emotional intelligence. As you can quickly figure out, you could use this battery when you assess leadership.
Don’t forget to mix and match several such tests with the candidate’s profile and the skills/competencies demanded by the role in question.
HR Assessment Tools: Cognitive Tests from the Hire Talent Portfolio
Next on our list of most popular HR assessment tools for pre-employment are cognitive tests. We all know why we should use them – or some of them – during the recruiting process. Cognitive tests are excellent job performance predictors, among others. Of course, most organizations benefit from them as they develop employee growth programs. So, let’s see some highly sought cognitive tests from our offer!
1. The Cognitive Ability Test
Use a Cognitive ability test to measure candidates’ skills and competencies on memory, reasoning, logic, cognitive intelligence, problem-solving, focus, and more.
2. The Attention to Detail Test
This Attention to Detail Test is one of the most popular human resource testing tools we offer recruiters and organizations. Our attention to detail test identifies candidates who can maintain a consistent focus, manage details accurately, and provide impeccable error-free work. We recommend this test when you hire for data entry, accounting, engineering, project management, customer service, and more.
Before, we have said that professional recruiters never use cognitive tests, ability tests, and specific skills assessments separately. Cognitive assessments come with their fair share of bias. On the other hand, just because a candidate aces a math test, it doesn’t mean she/he is the right choice for a management position in a stock broking company.
Hire Talent’s Specific Skills Evaluation Tools
When choosing the best HR assessment tools to match the candidate with the job profile and the position’s challenges and demands, we recommend you throw in some specific skills evaluation tools on top of attention to detail tests. We are talking about the following assessments:
1. Microsoft Excel Tests
The Microsoft Excel Tests measure basic, intermediate, or advanced Excel skills levels. If you want your candidates to prove specific Microsoft abilities, pair this test with the MS Word test, the Outlook test, the Typing test, and more.
2. Data Entry Tests
With the Data Entry Battery, you can screen the candidates who accurately and quickly enter alphanumeric text and data. Organizations use this test to find employees who type the fastest and most accurate for promotion purposes. You could also use a Math Skills Test to explore more of your candidates’ technical competencies for higher-level positions.
3. Computer Literacy
Knowing how to work with a computer is something all candidates should know. A transferable, highly employable skill, computer literacy should be on your shortlist of skills to look for in candidates. Luckily, we have the best Computer Literacy Test for you to make your job easier!
4. Call Center Skills
It might sound confusing at first, but you know that call center jobs and customer service positions are among the most demanding roles. Use our Call Center Skills Test to find candidates with the right mix of personality traits, cognitive skills, and emotional intelligence. For good measure, add some dedicated customer service questions to your pre-employment assessment plan.
5. Reading and Writing Tests
Reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, figurative language, word context logic in oral and written communication are employability skills. You can always get our Reading and Writing Tests to assess candidates across multiple jobs and positions.
So far, using these tools helped you figure out what your candidates could do best. But how about who they are? As you know, many personality tests work well as job performance predictors. They allow you to understand a candidate/employee’s growth potential. Therefore, next on our list of popular HR assessment tools to use from our portfolio are personality and behavioral tests!
Personality and Behavioral HR Assessment Tools by The Hire Talent
When you look for the best talent assessment tools, personality inventories are among the most popular instruments recruiters and organizations use in recruiting and personnel evaluations. As we have recommended before, you should use a combination of ability, cognitive, specific skills, and personality tests. In current talent testing, we use plenty of personality tools to assess candidates for high-level positions or sensitive roles. So let’s see some of the most popular ones you could get from our portfolio!
1. The Big 5 Personality Test
We have mentioned the Big 5 personality inventory multiple times before. It is one of the best talent assessment tools used in recruiting. It yielded positive correlations with integrity, leadership potential, teamwork, and other personal & cognitive skills.
2. The Short Personality Test
This Short Personality Test is of our own making. We recommend you to use it if you want to find candidates that will love their jobs. You can use it when you recruit for jobs demanding administrative, interpersonal, or analytical jobs. Using such human resource testing tools help recruiters and organizations find and nurture talent.
3. The Predictor Profile Test
Our Predictor Profile Tool helps you get a better idea regarding candidates’ attitudes, motivations, and personality fits. This in-depth inventory proposes situational, behavioral, and structured questions to achieve the candidate’s accurate overall analysis.
4. The Integrity Test
When you assess integrity in candidates for hiring or employees for leadership programs, you can use a couple of inventories. Just make sure you get valid and standardized results.
Our Integrity Test reveals whether a candidate is honest, trustworthy, accountable, responsible, etc. It would help if you were careful when you test for integrity, as it is a soft, elusive personal dimension. However, it is crucial for implementing leadership programs or suggesting employees for sensitive positions demanding outstanding work and people ethics.
A well-crafted mix of tests, tools, and inventories offers you a complex, in-depth view of candidates and employees, allowing you to make better choices. However, it would be best if you did not forget about the interviews. So let’s talk about them next!
Hire Talent Structured Interviews Tools & Guides
As we all know, structured interviews represent the best way of screening candidates and use the results to hire talent. If you are at the beginning of your recruiting career, let’s offer first the definition of the structured interview:
A structured interview is a conversation where an interviewer asks an interviewee set questions in a standardized order. The interviewee collects the responses of the candidate and grades them against a scoring system. Asking the same questions in the same order helps interviewers collect similar types of information delivered in a uniform context from interviewees.
Using a structured interview among other HR assessment tools comes with the following benefit:
- The entire interview experience is less vulnerable to errors and more consistent for both the recruiter and the candidate;
- Because you design the questions in advance, the interviewing experience becomes more efficient. You formulate specific questions to collect the most relevant information regarding a candidate’s behaviors, attitudes & attitude issues, problem-solving skills, communication skills, decision making, work ethics, etc.;
- Recruiters and executives using structured interviews follow a pre-made script. Such method eliminates personal bias from the recruiting process;
- Since you have the pre-made questions and script, you can compare the answers multiple candidates have given you; this way, your selection will find roots in quantifiable data;
- Recruiters and companies can use these tools to draft structured interviews to match the job descriptions and position’s demands.
One such instrument is our Candidate Scorecard, the last entry on our list of best HR assessment tools you could access from our platform right now!
1. The Candidate Scorecard
This Candidate Scorecard helps you recruit and retain talent in three easy steps:
- Identify the specific traits/skills of a candidate that match the job’s demands;
- Design interview questions whose answers you can score against the applicants’ selected traits;
- Score candidates individually and perform result comparison between candidates.
For example, you can use our Candidate Scorecard to draft a set of customer representative interview questions, mixing situational and behavioral interviewing techniques.
2. The Power Interview Guide
We consider this guide as blueprint recruiters and organizations can use to find top performers in a very short time. Here are some advantages you will enjoy if you choose to get the Power Interview Guide from us:
- Streamlined recruiting process;
- Candidate screening consistency on all levels;
- Objectivity regardless of who the interviewer is;
- Use of expert-drafted questions dedicated to gaining critical and specific information on each candidate;
- Use of essential details that help you make a decision faster;
- Focus and control over the conversation with each candidate.
You should use both these instruments to design reliable structured interviews to recruit and retain/promote the best people for great job roles!
HR Assessment Tools: Final Thoughts
As we said in the beginning, using the proper HR assessment tools is your responsibility as a recruiter. Of course, you can step up your game within the organization and mix in work simulations and 360° assessments. The latter works best when assessing seasoned employees for higher-level positions or leadership roles in the organization.
We hope you found these pre-employment talent tests useful. Surely they gave you a good idea of their power to screen candidates, and we would be happy to learn you also used a few of them in your practice.
But now it is your time to talk to us! What do you think about our HR assessment tools? Have you ever tried one or more of them? Would you recommend them to companies and recruiting agencies? We’d love to hear your thoughts on these tests, together with recommendations on other pre-employment assessments!
