If a job requires a particular set of critical skills, it makes sense to consider skills testing.
A skills assessment test can determine if your potential candidate has the required skill set needed to execute his or her duties. The cost of replacing an employee is significant, so hiring an employee with a strong knowledge of the skills they need to know is generally cost justified, particularly given the affordable cost of skills testing.
Skills tests are delivered on paper and online. Online tests have the advantage of being easier to customize, administer and grade. Upon completion the results are instantly processed and ready for review. Generally candidates are sent an invitation via email to complete a skills test as part of the hiring process. The candidate can then login and begin testing.
The downside of online tests is the potential for someone other than the candidate to complete the test. This can be mitigated by conducting the online test at your facility.
Skills Test Subjects
The tests can cover multiple subjects and multiple question formats. For instance you may want to determine your candidate’s knowledge of Powerpoint, Word, Excel, and Quickbooks. The test can ask questions not only on these multiple topics but may also ask questions in True/False or multiple choice formats. In addition, you may choose the difficulty level of the questions to be asked such as beginner, moderate or difficult. Often you may select the total number of questions you wish the candidate to answer. The questions will then be evenly distributed across your subjects.
Skills Tests Results
Skills tests results are easy to interpret as they are scored very much like a test you took in school. Normally the candidate receives an overall score in addition to scores for individual subjects so the evaluator can easily determine for what skills the candidate has the most knowledge.
