Recruitment and the possible selection aids

Psychometrics, verbal reasoning, numerical, internet tests, assessment centres and competency interviews; these are just some of the modern selection aids recruitment teams can use to select new employees. The internet is jam packed with information on just about everything, and there is plenty of info about recruitment methods on there too. This article is designed to give you the most important information about each of these methods, in a concise format.

Psychometric tests: These aim to give the recruitment team an insight into how the candidate behaves. I would advise that any result is to be taken in the context that it was taken in; what I mean by this is, if someone says they work best under pressure on a computer test, it doesn’t necessarily mean they do in practice. It can be useful to ask questions about the candidate’s answers in an actual interview.

Verbal Reasoning and Numerical Tests: These tests can provide you with a relatively simple comparison with a norm group, for which the levels are based on extensive use and testing over many years. The tests are relatively cheap and quick and can confirm whether the individual has the above average levels you may be looking for. Once again, these tests can be improved upon with exposure to them. In some cases you may get artificially high results from someone who has had practice at them.

Assessment Centres: These are an expensive method of recruitment, but you tend to get what you pay for. They are the most effective way of finding out how suited the candidate is to the vacancy, and how well each candidate compares with each other. By undergoing a series of varied tasks, the recruitment team can analyse each of the candidates’ attributes and characteristics.

Competency Interviews: They seem to be a standard in modern day recruitment. Slightly different from a traditional interview, candidates are asked to provide evidence of their experience against specific competencies. Typical competencies recruiters like candidates to show are teamwork, leadership, ability to work under pressure and delivering results. These are a useful tool to use, if you cannot afford the assessment centre.

Internet Tests: candidates are asked to complete tasks over the net. This is a fairly cheap way to test a lot of potential employees in a short space of time. The inevitable risk is that the person applying for the job is not the same person who takes the test.

To sum up, the assessment centre is perhaps the most effective, but most costly way of analysing the potential and ability of new employees. It would be beneficial for recruitment teams to use a mixture of methods, with the correct weighting placed on each tool, i.e. if you’re using a competency based interview and a psychometric test, the results from the competency based interview should take precedence.