As long as there are pre-employment tests there will be people who do not like taking them. That is fair—most people would like to get the job of their choosing without jumping through hoops or by going through some process which perfectly recognizes their unique (and superior) skills compared to other applicants. But, that is not the reality that we live in (or one that is fair to all applicants). But, we must be mindful of how those who take tests and go through interviews see them. We want their experience to be one that would encourage them to recommend others to apply at a particular company or use them when they are in a position to hire/promote others.
This article is not atypical of what industrial psychologists hear about tests.
“The test was stupid.”
“It did not measure skills or abilities that I would actually use on the job.”
“I did not have an opportunity to show my true skills during the process.”
But, the author does more than complain. He offers suggestions that he (and the singular is important, because the all of the comments on the article do not support his positions) thinks would improve the hiring process. Listening to test takers who want to improve the process, and not just get a free pass, can lead to valuable improvements in your systems.
In my experience, the top 3 things that candidates want from a testing experience are:
- Convenience. The industry has gone a long way towards this by adapting to mobile technology and shortening personality and aptitude tests.
- Something that looks like the job or their expectations of it. Sometimes this means interacting with others rather than just solving a problem individually. Or, answering questions where the process is as important as the answer (since many real life work problems have more than one solution). When a portion of the assessment does not feel like the job, candidates are more likely to exit the process.
- Not feeling as if they are being “tricked.” This can range from being asked (seemingly) the same question more than once on a personality test to impossible brain teasers. While the former can have some statistical value, Google and others have found that the latter does not.
Pre-employment and promotional testing is a zero-sum game. Many people, due to the fundamental attribution error, are more than willing to fault the process than themselves. That is fine and as assessment and interview developers and users, we should listen to them.