Some candidates just light you up. They’re socially graceful. They’re engaging on the phone or Zoom. And their references are stellar. But can that sales candidate you find so charming actually sell? And can the nursing candidate you love make all the right decisions in an emergency?
One way to find out is to give candidates a skills assessment. These can include tests, simulations, practical tasks, and writing or design assignments.
They may also be the one thing companies are missing as they try to master skills-based hiring. Yes, companies are increasingly removing degree requirements. Unfortunately, that hasn’t yet translated into non-degreed workers getting hired in any significant numbers. According to the Harvard Business School and The Burning Glass Institute, that’s partly because hiring managers still prefer workers with degrees. But it could also be because companies are still trying to figure out how to measure skills.
Skills assessments are part of the answer. They’re a way to measure whether someone has what it takes to succeed in a role. They can also reduce bias and give candidates who have talent and skills — but not the pedigree — a fair chance.
Fortunately, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to skills assessments. A number of professions already test candidates for skills. Let’s look at some of those assessments — and what you can learn from them.
Test critical skills with computer-based simulations, like nurses have to complete
By 2030, there will be a global shortage of roughly 4.5 million nurses, which means that recruiters are scrambling to hire nurses and those nurses have to be as competent as possible.
Thankfully, hospitals and doctor’s offices have been testing nurses’ skills for years, through clinical skills assessments (in which nurses demonstrate, for example, their ability to insert an IV or care for a wound), written examinations, and case studies. But one of the most effective ways to test for nursing skills is computer-based simulations.
These assessments present real-life scenarios in which nurses have to make decisions quickly and prioritize care options for patients. The reasoning behind this? One of the skills nurses most need is critical thinking. They’re often the first to notice subtle changes in a patient and sometimes have to make life-or-death choices before physicians can arrive.
A nurse, for example, might have to make triage decisions in an emergency department that’s overflowing with patients but short on staff. A computer simulation may ask: Who should be treated first, the person with a head wound or the one who’s suffered a minor stroke? Although there can be multiple correct answers to many of the questions, computer simulations help hospitals assess nurses’ critical thinking and give an idea of how a nurse would proceed.
The takeaway: If you want to make sure someone can do the job, identify the skills you need most. Then create simulations to test those skills. (And keep in mind that AI can help.)
Simulate live, on-the-job experiences, like the demonstrations salespeople have to give
While many roles require defined hard skills — coding, for example — others depend more on personality traits to be successful. Sales is one of those. While your best coder doesn’t need to be the life of the party, you want your sales staff to be able to connect with people quickly.
Recruiters often start assessing sales candidates from the moment they make contact with them, paying attention to how well candidates communicate orally and via email (which accounts for the bulk of sales reps’ communication with clients). If a candidate doesn’t communicate clearly, takes a long time to reply, or has grammatical mistakes in their writing, they’re probably not a good fit for the job.
One way that companies assess sales candidates is through personality tests such as DiSC or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator — but even these may be only moderately helpful. An introvert with excellent social skills, for example, might be a great salesperson.
Perhaps the best way to see if someone has the personality and skills is to ask them to give a demo and sell you something. This could be one of your company’s products, though they may not have the in-depth knowledge yet to do this well. So you might ask them instead to sell you a product they’ve sold in a previous role — or for fun, to sell you on a hobby or product they love. This gives you an opportunity to see how persuasive they are and how well they read a room (even virtually).
After they’ve finished, follow up with objections that a customer might make, such as that the product costs too much or doesn’t meet their needs. Then watch closely. Do they listen well? Do they try to address the customers’ needs and try to find workarounds?
The takeaway: One of the best ways to assess whether someone will succeed in a role is by seeing them in action, doing the work they’ll do for you every day.
Create objective measures and standardized tests, like those U.S. firefighters have to take
Firefighters do a whole lot more than fight fires. They also make rescues and respond to medical emergencies and hazardous materials spills. The job requires them to be physically fit, emotionally resilient, adaptable, and — like nurses — able to make decisions quickly in high-pressure environments.
Because the profession is so demanding, the skills assessments to become a firefighter are tough too. In most areas of the U.S., for example, firefighters are required to go through written exams, physical agility and strength testing, oral interview panels, medical testing, and psychological testing.
The Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) alone requires candidates to navigate eight separate events on a closed course in a span of 10 minutes and 20 seconds. These include a stair climb, hose drag, equipment carry, ladder raise and extension, forcible entry, search, rescue drag, and ceiling breach and pull.
