Selection Tests a Guide for Recruiters
Selections tests can help companies to assess the skills, experience and potential of their candidates. They cover a wide variety of assessments across a range of work-based skills.
Psychometric Tools for HR
Supporting both recruitment & selection of talent.
Some of the most popular types of online tests are:
- Numerical Reasoning Tests
- Personality Questionnaires
- Situational Judgement Tests
- Critical Thinking Assessments
- Copy Typing & Data Entry Skills Tests
Looking at these in more detail:
1. Numerical Reasoning Tests
These are usually fairly short online tests that measure an individual’s ability to understand and interpret numerical information. This can be in the form of charts, graphs or basic data.
The results can give employers a good indication of the candidate’s current level of ability. They are also a good predictor of the individual’s capacity to perform in any role that uses such information.
Other selection tests such as Verbal reasoning tests are also available.
However, care should be taken when recruiting internationally. We should try to ensure that there is no disadvantage to those for whom English is not their first language.
In such cases, international comparison groups should be used. If these are not available, other types of test should be considered. For instance, inductive reasoning tests do not rely on language.
Examples of reasoning tests include the SHL Verify range of tests. This includes Verify G+ , a combination of numerical, deductive and inductive reasoning questions.
2. Personality Questionnaires
These are increasingly popular selection tools that help recruiting managers to understand how the individual is likely to behave.
The results compare the candidate with similar groups of people in a work situation. Personality tests give measures for areas such as motivation, attention to detail, team working, decisiveness, influence etc.
Such information will help recruiters to determine whether a candidate is likely to fit in and work well with their team.
Examples of popular personality questionnaires include Identity (which has the added bonus of providing you with a feedback report to give unsuccessful candidates once the selection process is completed) and the OPQ32 report.
3. Situational Judgement Tests
These are often used for higher-level roles. They allow selection panels to see how an individual might act in a series of supervisory or managerial situations. It gives a good indication of a person’s leadership style and their approach to handling people and business issues.
The leading range of situational judgement tests is called Scenarios.
These selection tests are available at graduate, management and executive levels.
4. Critical Thinking Assessments
These often combine different types of selection questions to give a broader picture of the candidate’s thinking style.
For example, they may combine deductive reasoning with the ability to evaluate arguments and draw conclusions.
One of the most popular of these tests is the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking test.
5. Copy Typing and Data Entry
These tests are just 2 examples of selection tests that give a clear score for the candidate’s current level of ability in certain skills.
This type of ability test is often used for benchmarking or short-listing candidates. These short, online tests that can be administered before candidates progress to later stages of the recruitment process.
Other types of popular online skills tests include MicroSoft Word and Excel, Attention to Detail and SQL coding.
If you would like examples of any of these tests, visit the online shop at https://questpartnership.co.uk/shop/ to find example tests and reports.
If you would like any further advice or information on any of the selection tests discussed, please call us 01452 700897.