Employment Testing: 7.5 Ways to Insure Applicants Score Poorly
Posted by EmployTest - on Wed, May 06, 2009 @ 01:34 PM
That's the goal, right? To make sure most applicants don't do well so you can easily spot the cream of the crop, right? Well, not exactly. But surprisingly, Test Administrators can often make it hard on job applicants, particularly during the pre-employment testing process. So here's our list of ways to help your applicants score poorly on pre-employment tests....
1. Surprise them with the test. Don't tell them beforehand that you will be giving a pre-employment test. Don't let them mentally prepare. Enjoy the look of horror when they realize that what they thought was a one hour interview is actually a 4 hour testing marathon.
2. Allow them to test in your noisy and crowded reception area. The phones ringing and constant visitors will show if they truly have the focus and determination to succeed in the job.
3. "Coach" the applicants you like with additional instructions and employment test answers. Ignore questions from the applicants that you don't like.
4. Advise the applicants to skip the test's warm up questions and tutorial. After all, they are here to show what they know. There's no warm up in the real world, right?
5. Have your most inexperienced employee (the one that started last week and is lowest on the totem pole) administer the tests, particularly if testing for a managerial position.
6. Give little thought to which tests are being administered. Pay no attention to the test questions as they relate to the job description. An applicant for a warehouse position should certainly take a Microsoft Excel skills test, even if the position doesn't require such skills, right?
7. Increase the applicants' test anxiety by sitting right beside them while they test.
7.5 Tell them you don't really use the scores anyway (even though you do)!
Far-fetched? Maybe. But we've heard some of the above methods before, although they weren't used expressly with the goal of lowering scores. Have you observed such practices (or different, yet equally effective ones)? Email us your thoughts.