Testing Your Business's Job Applicants

8 of 11 in Series:
The Essentials of Hiring Employees

Tests measure work-relevant aspects of a job applicant for your business. Choose the appropriate tests to figure out a job applicant's fit with your business and the job you have available. Employment tests come in all sizes and shapes:

• Proficiency tests: Measure how skillful an applicant is at a particular task (word processing, for example) or how knowledgeable he is in a particular field. This sort of testing has a good track record of validity in the business and industrial world.

  
  



• Aptitude and ability tests: Measure an applicant’s capability to perform a particular job and his capability to acquire job-related skills or tasks.

  
  



• Personality and psychological tests: Measure certain personality characteristics, such as assertiveness, resiliency, temperament, or stability. A main problem with these kinds of tests is that the results aren’t always crystal-clear and sometimes need professional interpretation.

  
  



• Physical tests: Measure an individual’s health and physical condition or the ability to perform a certain task.

  
  

  You can’t ask about an applicant’s height or weight because you may use this information to discriminate unless height (or weight) is a bona fide occupational requirement. You can test for physical agility or ability if it’s a legitimate job requirement, but you must administer exactly the same test to every applicant for the same position.

  
  



• Drug tests: Drug tests to check candidates for current substance abuse are legal and can help eliminate applicants with these problems from the running.

  
  



• Integrity tests: Measure an individual’s personal honesty and sense of integrity. These tests generally include questions on situations of ethical choice or that can reveal personal standards of behavior.

  
  

Find out about the more than 2,000 different hiring-related tests by checking out the Buros Institute, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Other sources are regional government or nonprofit employment agencies. The business centers of your local colleges also may provide test materials or at least point you in the right direction (or connect you with an expert who can lead you by the hand through the testing thicket).

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/testing-your-businesss-job-applicants.html