Dear New to Recruit,

Employee assessments are some of the best tools on your belt when it comes to evaluating job candidates. The right assessment can help you gauge skill, social dynamics, and cognitive ability. But what type of assessments are the best for choosing the right candidate?

Here are three of my favorite assessment tools to help you do just that.

Work samples

A work sample is a piece of work related to the role a candidate applied for. For example, a web developer might be asked to build a simple design using front-end code. An accountant might be asked to use accounting tools to resolve a numbers problem.

This style of recruitment assessment is incredibly effective and it’s easy to see why; work samples gauge the ability of a candidate to do specific work first-hand. They’re a transparent way for you to gauge the skill level of your candidate.

Just be smart when designing your work sample. You don’t want the candidate to feel like they’re working for free. Be sure to communicate to them that the sample is an assessment tool only and will not be used for business purposes. If worse comes to worst, you might even choose to compensate the candidate for their time and effort.

Job trials

One of the best ways to assess a candidate’s ability to do a job is to… have them do the job. This is where a job trial comes in. A candidate works a set amount of time in the role and you then assess their performance.

Job trials are a great way to test a candidate’s aptitude for the role, but they’re also helpful in assessing how they’ll get along in your work team. Talking to your other employees following a trial can give you valuable insight into your prospective candidate.

Just remember to properly compensate the candidate for their time. Free job trials will only hurt their perception of your company and can even affect your reputation in your industry.

Job simulations

Job simulations are similar to work samples but involve more on-the-spot thinking. For this reason, they’re usually presented in the interview portion of the hiring process.

A good example of a job simulation is the tried and true, “can you sell me this pen?” test. Usually presented to salespeople, it evaluates the candidate’s ability to persuade and think on their feet.

Job simulations are a great way to evaluate a candidate quickly and effectively. Just make sure the role is suited to this type of recruitment assessment. Asking a coder to sell you a pen likely isn’t going to reap the right results.

Utilize recruitment assessment tools

When it comes to choosing a new candidate for a role, any tool that helps you do so effectively is well worth the time and effort. Recruitment assessments are just that – effective tools to help you hire the right people for the job.

Now you have three great recruitment assessment tools in your arsenal.

Sincerely,
Jenny