How Pre-Employment Testing Weeds Out Unsuitable Applicants

Back to 2006?

The jobs market is always changing. However, the last six months have seen many more changes than we would expect during an average year. 2020 has been anything but average. Industries that have continued to provide services during the pandemic have found that recruitment has become more important than ever. Conversely, industries that have been negatively impacted are letting people go. This has flooded the jobs market with more people chasing fewer vacancies. This is only set to increase and we will quickly re-experience the candidate-to-job ratios of the early to mid 2000s. Often, those vacancies are in areas the applicants would never previously have thought about moving into. And for good reason too, as we’ll discover here.    

Many are applying for everything in sight

  It’s far from difficult to find stories of industries and businesses being flooded with applications, even for just one or two available roles. The old challenge of “100% employment” and “..it would be nice to get any applications …” are fast becoming a thing of the past. No one would dispute the difficulties facing candidates that find themselves looking for work but for those organisations needing to recruit, YES! they will see a far greater choice. Moreso, there will be some brilliant candidates, top talent and great people who would not normally be on the market and are very ready to be snapped up. By contrast, many employers are discovering that a large portion of applicants are simply not qualified or suitable for the jobs they are being offered. We have all heard of former pilots and people in the entertainment industry (still largely closed at the time of writing) now driving supermarket delivery vans. Sifting those unsuitable to select great people is the new challenge. Fortunately, this challenge is one we have significant experience in and tools to mitigate. This shows initiative and the determination to try something different, so the person can still work. Yet some industries require certain skills and abilities from the start. Learning on the job is a term we’re all familiar with, but it isn’t always possible to start from scratch. Even in cases where people switch to delivery driving, they still need to hold a licence and have some experience with the public.    

How can you be sure you are interviewing the best people?

  It is inevitable that most advertised roles are now going to receive far more applications than before COVID-19 arrived. Whilst the cause has changed the world around us, the effect on recruitment with volume sifting and job to candidate ratios is nothing new. We know how to handle this as we did it before on the 000,s. This makes it more important than ever to sift through the applications to unearth the best among them. Let’s suppose you have office-based roles available that require the use of a Microsoft package of software. Many people have a basic knowledge of at least one program in the Microsoft suite of tools. But can you be sure whether the applicants who seem promising enough really can deliver the expertise you need right from the start? Providing skills tests to the required level of difficulty prior to interview allows you to sort out who has the knowledge you need and who might struggle. All you need to do is to provide your applicants with access to the online tests. You can then receive the results and easily identify the best people to put through to the next stage or in fact have a clear understanding of their training needs and accept this in order to prioritise other qualities shown in their DNA personality report and background experience.    

Use the best staff on your team to create a benchmark for future workers

  Benchmarking can also help you find the best candidates among the applications you receive. This involves finding out which skills and abilities are held by the most successful people in your business. Be careful if you “think” you know this; In our experience we often find when benchmarking the perception of management and those hiring is often very different indeed from what they ‘think’ good looks like! Once you know the answer and have evidenced what great actually looks like, you can use this information to help find the best performing people during pre-employment testing. The two methods dovetail together to give you more information and the chance to pick the best future team members. There is far less room to make costly mistakes and ensure you have a far greater chance of employing right first time.    

How we can help you introduce pre-employment testing

If you’re advertising for new staff and struggling to cope with increased volumes of applications, consider how much time you could save by introducing pre-employment testing. Skillsarena is specialised in this area and can help you take the right approach. Contact our experienced team today by calling 0203 693 2201 to find out how much easier life can be with pre-employment testing. Alternatively, you can send an email to info@skillsarena.com for further information.