Unlocking Success

A Comprehensive Guide on Choosing the Right Recruitment and Development Talent Assessment Provider

Choosing the right pre-hire skills test provider will help you reduce HR costs and decrease time-to-hire. Many HR teams and hiring managers have adopted pre-hire skills tests so they have a standardized, objective method for evaluating job candidates and employees. Your employees are your biggest asset because their knowledge and abilities fuel your organization’s success. According to the American Management Association (AMA), almost 90% of companies that assess job applicants will not hire candidates if pre-employment testing shows they lack basic skills.


Pre-hire skills tests enable HR teams to measure a candidate’s competency for specific jobs and evaluate whether they are a good fit for the role and company culture. Tests are commonly used to screen candidates during recruiting but can also be used to:

  • Decrease time-to-hire
  • Expedite new-hire onboarding
  • Benchmarking existing employees’ skills sets and document skill gaps
  • Objectively evaluate and measure applicants’ skills
  • Comply with industry regulations and state/federal hiring laws
  • Evaluate candidates’ ability to work remotely (if needed)
  • Reduce employee turnover


Pre-hire skills tests also lead to faster onboarding and training. When newly hired employees have the right skills, they get up to speed faster and become valued team contributors more quickly. HR leaders and hiring managers have also learned that pre-hire skills tests significantly decrease the time required to hire new employees and reduce overall hiring costs.

Selecting the Best Pre-Hire Skills Testing Provider

Choosing the right pre-hire skills testing provider will significantly impact hiring outcomes. These are some areas to examine as you evaluate assessment providers.

Pre-Hire Test Quality and Validation

Pre-hire skills testing can only provide an objective assessment of candidates if the questions are valid and asked correctly. Therefore, you should only work with a reputable company that provides validation services and has a perfect compliance and legal challenge record. eSkill provides validation services and has the best compliance and legal challenge record in the assessment industry.  

Comprehensive Assessment Library

The best skills testing providers offer clients access to a library of pre-hire skills tests designed and validated by industry experts and allow them to customize them for each job role. The Talevation library contains hundreds of off-the-shelf skills tests. Some of our solutions offer the ability to add or delete questions, create a pre-hire skills test using questions from multiple tests, and add your own questions. 

Ease of Use

A pre-hire skills testing platform should be so easy to use that you can set it up and start using it immediately. The platform should include a dashboard to track the test taker status, pull results and view analytics. You can also run various reports that give you a closer look at individual candidates and help you assess the effectiveness of assessments. 

Expert Guidance

Although your assessment solution should be intuitive, there may be times when you need help. Verify that the assessment provider offers prompt customer support and that you can get help when you need it. Talevation offers support via phone, email, and chat; and every subscription client is assigned a team member. 

Remote Working Skills

The number of remote workers increased in 2020 and 2021 and is predicted to continue growing. According to a McKinsey report, 58% of employees in the U.S. work from home one or more days per week. This means you need skills tests that help you determine whether a candidate can work independently without supervision. Talevation offers pre-hire skills tests that measure candidates’ software and Internet proficiency and the skills employees need to work in a less structured environment, such as time management, organization and planning, and collaborative skills. 

Video Response Questions

Including video response (or on-demand) questions in pre-hire skills tests helps you assess qualities you cannot evaluate using a written test, such as verbal communication and foreign language abilities. This is especially important now because employees who work remotely must collaborate with team members and co-workers online and conduct a lot of business using video conferencing. Video response questions also help you get a 360o view of candidates and standardize the interviewing process by ensuring all candidates answer the same questions in the same order. 

Integration Options

Integrating your assessment solution with your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or Learning Management System (LMS) will save you countless hours. Confirm that your pre-hire skills test provider integrates with popular ATS and LMS systems.

Questions to Ask Pre-Hire Skills Testing Providers

When evaluating pre-hire skills testing providers, these are some key questions you should ask:

Pre-Hire Skills Tests

  • How big is your assessment library?
  • Have off-the-shelf tests been validated by experts?
  • What is your compliance and legal challenge record?
  • Can I include simulations in pre-hire skills tests that replicate job scenarios?
  • Can I include video response questions in assessments?
  • Do you have tests that help me evaluate remote workers?
  • Can I customize pre-hire skills tests?
  • Are tests available in other languages?
  • Are tests available for different competency levels?


Test Management

  • Can I quickly sort results to identify top candidates?
  • Can I automate testing scoring?
  • Can I share results with team members and hiring managers?
  • Can I export results?
  • Can I see which questions candidates missed?
  • Can I do team or group scoring of open-ended questions and interviews?


Technical Features

  • Are pre-hire skills tests optimized for all mobile devices?
  • Can visually impaired applicants take your skills tests?
  • Can I brand my test center with my company logo and colors?
  • Which ATS and LMS systems do you integrate with?


Cost

  • Is training or support provided at no additional cost?
  • Do you offer flexible pricing options?


Support and Training

  • Do you provide self-help support and training?
  • Will I be assigned a dedicated assessment expert?
  • Do you provide chat, email, and phone support?

Contact Talevation on your quest for professional advancement, remember that we are not just a service, we are your partner in progress. Together, let's embrace the transformative power of continuous learning, skill development, and strategic insights – all made possible with the support of a reliable ally like Talevation.

Here's to your journey of excellence, and here's to having Talevation as your trusted partner every step of the way. Cheers to your success!