The recruiting game is constantly changing, and knowing how to best use new and emerging technologies is the key these days to winning the game. Web and mobile technologies are great resources that can transform the recruiting process, especially when it comes to pre-employment assessments and interview screening. Replacing outdated assessment methods with web-based technologies can help you take your recruiting game to the next level.
Here are a few examples of how recruiters can apply web technologies to pre-employment testing, to improve their recruiting process:
- Mobile testing. Mobile websites and apps are among the most game-changing technologies in the HR and recruiting world. By tapping into mobile resources, recruiters and candidates have access to information on the go, anywhere and anytime. This also applies to pre-employment testing. Mobile-based assessment applications offer candidates the convenience of completing tests on their smartphones whenever they want, while allowing recruiters to get the results faster.
- Simulation testing. Through simulation testing, recruiters can test candidates in real work environments that simulate anything from the MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PPT, Outlook) to web browsers and email providers. These tests can help recruiters assess how candidates work in real life: how they respond to problems and the extent of their knowledge of certain software. These tests are especially helpful when you’re hiring for positions that require specific skills that can be tested in a simulation, such as a customer service call center representative or a web designer.
- Multitasking testing. Multitasking has increasingly become a necessity in the workplace. Most employees now wear many different hats and have to constantly switch gears to accomplish tasks as they arise. However, multitasking effectively takes skill. Testing a candidate’s ability to multitask without losing focus or sacrificing quality is crucial to finding the right person for your position. Recruiters can supply a multitasking scenario through a web-based assessment platform and evaluate how candidates manage it.
- Video interviewing. Web technologies have made it easier than ever to conduct remote interviews with candidates. Skype, Google Plus Hangout, and FaceTime are just a few of the platforms recruiters can use to conduct effective interviews with candidates that live in a different city. It can also save time for all candidates if you have a video interview before asking them to come in person. In a preliminary video interview, recruiters can quickly assess candidates without spending too much time or having to set up a meeting space.
These web-based assessments provide a lot of benefits for recruiters, which make investing in the technology very worthwhile, such as:
- Saving time and money. Assessing candidates remotely via web-based testing and interviews saves a significant amount of time and money. Pre-employment assessments help recruiters find the best candidates so there’s less time spent training them, since you know they come with all the necessary skills for the job. This saves money in terms of man-hours both before and after hiring.
- Reduced turnover rates. When you find the right candidate for your position, you know it, and most of the time he or she knows it too. This means that once hired, candidates are more likely to stay at the job since they know what it really entails after having gone through simulation testing, for instance. HR managers also benefit of course, because a reduced turnover rate means fewer open positions and less time having to recruit for them.
- Identify top talent. Every recruiter knows that their goal is not just to find candidates to fill jobs, but rather to find the best candidate to fill the right job. Identifying top talent is tricky, but pre-employment assessments can help recruiters find the candidates who truly excel in the skills that are needed for the job. Going beyond just reviewing a resume and conducting an interview, these web-based tests give recruiters almost instant access to the candidate’s actual skills and how they would apply them to the position.
- Discover both hard and soft skills. A resume and a cover letter can only tell recruiters so much about a candidate. Through assessment testing and video interview screening, recruiters can learn more about a candidate, especially when it comes to soft skills like overall attitude, communication skills, leadership, work ethic, and multitasking abilities. These soft skills are vital for success in the workplace, and pre-employment assessments can help recruiters find them.
Have you implemented—or have you thought about implementing—any web-based assessment testing and interviewing in your recruiting process? Which pre-employment assessment practices have worked best for you?
About Eric Friedman, Author
Eric Friedman is the founder and CEO of eSkill Corporation, a leading provider of online skills testing for pre-employment assessment and benchmarking. Eric has degrees in Psychology and Business, and a fascination with matching people with roles they’re best at, and that they enjoy.
A company built on exceptional talent from Internet technology, test development, and iterative product development, eSkill leads as an independent assessment company helping HR departments with relevant and accurate job-based tests.
To learn more about Eric and eSkill, visit the company website at www.eSkill.com, or contact him on LinkedIn.
About the Author: John Pick
