Pre-Employment Checks to Find a Good Employee 

Last Updated on July 16, 2024 by Asfa Rasheed

To move a business forward, a lot of wisdom is required in the recruitment process. Are you a manager or recruiter? If so, it is your responsibility to identify promising candidates with the right skills and qualifications for different positions in your organization.

An effective way of doing this is by carrying out a pre-employment screening test, to ensure that you’ve identified the best match for the job. 

What Is the Purpose of Pre-employment Testing?

A pre-employment test is conducted by an eligible employer on a candidate before considering them for employment. It is an essential step to take before making a job opportunity to an applicant- one which often saves your money and time down the line!

Pre-employment Tests/Examinations

Pre-employment examinations are available in a variety of formats for your firm to pick from. The one you choose will be dependent on factors such as: your firm, the sort of individual you want, and the job role you’re attempting to fill.

There are different forms of pre-employment screening tests. These include Personality, Aptitude, Integrity, Skills (hard and soft skills), Emotional intelligence, Job knowledge, Cognitive Ability, Physical Ability, and Drug Tests. 

Some of them are discussed below: 

Job Knowledge Tests

Ways to carry out job knowledge tests include: 

• Requesting applicants to complete a brief questionnaire. 
• Making a list of work-specific questions that address the more routine details about their credentials for the position. 

This will free up your time during the interview to focus on getting to know the prospective candidate. Allow applicants to submit their responses in written, video, or audio forms. This is to ensure that they express themselves in the form that is most comfortable for them.

Emotional Intelligence Tests

To carry out emotional intelligence testing, make a list of scenarios that the applicant should be able to manage. Inquire whether they’ve ever been in a situation like this before, and how they handled it. Or, if they haven’t dealt with it before, how would they manage it? 

This form of pre-employment testing is an excellent approach to understand how your candidate will react in certain job settings.

Cognitive Ability Exams

Cognitive ability testing helps measure intelligence. IQ tests are very prevalent, but there are others that assess arithmetic abilities, logical reasoning, verbal ability, and spatial awareness. Prepterminal PI cognitive assessment test is one of the best cognitive ability tests on the market. It focuses on a candidate’s ability to approach diverse problems using verbal,  logical, and quantitative reasoning.

Both during and after the assessment tests, ensure you look out for these qualities in your candidates:

Competent:

This is still the most significant consideration when making a hiring decision. Does the possible employee have the essential skills, experiences, and education to complete the job’s tasks?

Capable:

Being capable means the employee has the capacity for advancement, the aptitude and willingness to take on extra responsibility. Consider this: Will this individual discover ways to deliver on jobs that need more effort and creativity?

Compatible:

It is also crucial to assess your new hire’s willingness and aptitude to work well with others. Can this individual get along with coworkers? Can he or she work well with current and prospective clients and partners?

Commitment:

Examine your candidate’s CV. A history of past occupations and the time spent at each offers you with distinct insights into the subject. Is the candidate committed to working on a long-term basis? Is he or she only passing through, on the lookout for something better?

Character:

Is the person’s values compatible with yours or those of your company? Are they truthful? Is their reputation unblemished? Is he or she unselfish and a team player?

Culture:

Every company has a culture, or the way its employees behave and interact with one another. A culture makes up values, expectations, regulations, and procedures that impact the behavior of your company’s executives and employees. Employees that do not represent a company’s culture are disruptive and unpleasant.

Compensation:

As the employer, you must ensure that the individual employed agrees to a market-based payment plan. And what is offered satisfies them. If not, an employee may feel undervalued and underperform as a result.

Finally,

Make sure that your pre-employment checks/tests/exams are fair and doable. Also, keep in mind that not all candidates will provide their best performance in a high-pressure interview. Therefore, make your hiring choice based on your intuition, in addition to results from pre-employment checks. 

These should ease your hiring concerns and get you closer to discovering raw talent(s) that’ll serve the best interest of your company. Good luck!