•Pre-Employment Testing & Assessments

Tests and assessments can add validity to a company’s selection process if they accurately measure skills, knowledge, or other factors that are essential to job performance. For example, many organizations include skills testing in the pre-employment (job application) phase for administrative support candidates in the form of Word, Excel, and typing tests. Similarly, drivers take road tests and chefs undergo cooking demonstrations. Aptitude assessments are designed to measure honesty and personality testing, which measures truthfulness and integrity. However, applicants who respond the way they believe the testing instrument “wants an answer” may distort the test’s results and inadvertently disqualify themselves. So always answer based on what you believe, not on what you assume the testing graders “want to hear.”

Dependability assessments attempt to measure a variety of indicators, including a candidate’s attitudes, practices, and values that are job-related. Note that aptitude and dependability assessments are rarely used as a sole basis for a hiring decision because assessments are more effective at identifying the nature of a problem rather than in calibrating the severity of a problem. Determining the severity of a potential problem is typically left to the reference checking process, where employers speak with prior supervisors to gain insights into a candidate’s strengths, abilities, and areas for professional development.

Forget Johnny Paycheck’s infamous song, “Take This Job and Shove It”—the real world doesn’t work that way. Maintain key relationships with your current and prior supervisors, as they will likely serve as your references over the next ten years. When a prospective employer wants to check your references, call your prior managers and give them a heads-up that you’d like them to “sponsor” you in providing a reference to a promising company where you’re currently interviewing. Likewise, always keep hardcopies of your performance reviews in a file cabinet or hard drive so that you can provide them to prospective employers as proof of your employment along with an assessment of your strengths, achievements, and areas for professional development. Prior performance reviews work especially well when a former manager isn’t available to speak with a prospective employer on your behalf.

You can connect with Paul on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/paulfalcone1 www.HarperCollinsLeadership.com

Paul Falcone (www.PaulFalconeHR.com) is a management trainer, executive coach, and bestselling author on hiring, performance management, and leadership development.