Recruitment: the word that can strike dread into the heart of any decent employer. It means endless hours of job advertising, vetting applications, interviewing applicants, before choosing one and being forced to follow up by rejecting the remaining candidates. But what if you could help take some of the worry out of it? Psychometric testing by companies like Revelian has been proven to help you find the best candidates based on expected future performance (check out this website and read on for more information on psychometric testing).
Why an interview alone just won’t cut it
Speaking face to face with candidates is certainly very important – it helps you get a feel for their personality, how they interact with others, and how they work under pressure (as far as stressful situations go, job interviews are certainly up there). But what job interviews can’t always determine is a person’s day-to-day working behaviour and their organisational skills.
You also need to be cautious with the candidate’s response. Each candidate will likely be doing everything they can to promote their good aspects and hide their less productive aspects. The age-old question: ‘what is your greatest weakness’ won’t actually safeguard against a questionable candidate, as it’s rare to receive an entirely honest answer to that question. This is where psychometric testing, in combination with an interview, will help you select the best person for the position.
What is Psychometric Testing?
Psychometric testing is a series of activities or tests that you can have candidates complete that will highlight a range of their tendencies and behaviours in relation to work ethic and performance, as well as their cognitive abilities for work-related tasks. These tests have been proven to significantly increase the chance of hiring the best candidate, and can help you sort through the initial influx of applications in the early phases of recruitment.
How Can You Incorporate Psychometric Testing?
To make your job easier, psychometric testing can be included at any number of points in the recruitment process. You may wish to begin with a psychometric test prior to reading applications, meaning you would include it as part of the initial application requirements. Alternatively, you may have a smaller sample of applicants, or another easy way of culling applications.
In this case, it can be very effective to introduce a psychometric test prior to the first or second round of interviews. In doing so, you will have an understanding of the applicants’ work styles, and you can formulate and direct the interview to delve deeper into the candidates’ identified strengths and weaknesses.
While there is no foolproof method for recruiting the best employee out of a group of applicants, psychometric testing has been shown, in conjunction with interviews, to really help those with the best cognitive abilities or aptitude stand out from the pack. So if you don’t want to spend hours interviewing people who just aren’t right, devote a little more time to psychometrics and a little less time to awkward interviews.
