Pre-employment testing for HR candidates: What, why, & how

Pre-employment testing is just as important for HR candidates as for any other candidate.

However, when testing HR candidates, there are a few things you need to take into consideration and keep in mind. 

The first point to note is that these candidates will be the ones who will select and hire your company’s future employees. So you need to find great people because they will be the ones who will either make or break your hiring and onboarding processes.

And no matter how great your candidates are, if the people in charge of the process aren’t skilled enough, those great candidates will simply fall through the cracks in the hiring process. 

To prevent this from happening, read on and learn why you need pre-employment tests for HR candidates, which tests are appropriate for them, and how to get started with pre-employment testing for HR candidates.

What is pre-employment testing?

Pre-employment testing allows a company to evaluate candidates objectively and consistently during the hiring process. 

Pre-employment tests are an efficient and reliable way of evaluating candidates since they use accurate scales for their results. It also allows you to compare the candidates’ test scores quickly. 

Pre-employment tests are not only an excellent way to assess candidates, but they also help to streamline and shorten the hiring process by quickly eliminating unqualified candidates.

When an HR manager receives hundreds of CVs for an available position, evaluating their skills based on their CV is challenging. However, after employing a pre-employment test, a hiring manager would quickly need to assess and extract meaningful and relevant information about their candidates and make a well-informed decision about them. 

Why use pre-employment testing for HR candidates?

According to research, tests have a stronger relationship with job success and performance than years of experience or education. Therefore, it pays off to provide pre-employment tests for your candidates.

Using pre-employment tests can provide you with a plethora of benefits: 

• Determine the best applicants as soon as possible

• Eliminate unqualified candidates from the hiring process

• Verify the claims candidates made in their CVs

• Reduce time-to-hire

• Improve the overall hiring process

When assessing HR candidates, you can offer them specific HR tests to evaluate their expertise and determine if they would be a good fit. 

Relevant HR pre-employment tests 

The following tests are useful for assessing your HR candidates’ skillset:

1. Situational judgment

Situational judgment tests assess your candidate’s ability to cope with and handle a present situation at hand and solve it effectively. 

Some of the skills that situational judgment tests may evaluate are: 

• Negotiation

• People management

• Business judgment 

When it comes to your HR candidates, they must understand how to: 

• Negotiate: so that they can agree on the benefits and salary of the employees they will recruit

• Lead people: to determine how they manage people, resolve conflicts, and provide an excellent example of how to behave

• Use business judgment: to make the best judgments for the entire team or company

There are three tests we recommend you use to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Negotiation test

• Leadership & People Management test

• Business Judgment test

2. Communication skills

Communication skills evaluate your HR candidates’ ability to communicate their ideas clearly, effectively, and concisely so that the other person can understand the message.

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Communication

• Verbal reasoning

• English language proficiency

When it comes to HR candidates, they must understand how to: 

• Communicate their ideas succinctly

• Use verbal reasoning: Can they eliminate any problems or noise in the communication channel regardless of whether they are sending the message or receiving it? 

• Proficiency in the English language: Can they communicate complex ideas (a must-have for international candidates)?

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Communication test

• Verbal Reasoning test

• English Language Proficiency test

3. Hard skills

Hard skills are essential for every function you hire for your company, and HR candidates are no exception. The evaluation of hard skills determines if your HR candidates have the necessary industry (HR) knowledge to function successfully once hired. 

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• HR fundamentals

• GDPR & privacy

• Reading comprehension

When it comes to HR candidates, they must know how to: 

• Work with HR fundamentals and create/improve the hiring and onboarding processes

• Include GDPR into the forms they ask candidates to fill out to protect their privacy and comply with the laws and regulations. 

• Integrate new information by reading reports and new findings in their respected field so they can keep up with industry development

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• HR Fundamentals test

• GDPR & Privacy test

• Reading Comprehension test

4. Soft skills

Soft skills are essential in any workplace today. Hard skills are required for individuals to do their job. On the other hand, soft skills enable everything else: from getting along and working well with others to offering assistance to subordinates or peers. 

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Critical thinking

• Problem-solving

• Attention to detail

When it comes to your HR candidates, they must know how to: 

• Think critically: to determine whether data is relevant to them and their present situation, evaluate the candidates and make an informed business decision. 

• Solve problems as they arise: solve issues calmly and effectively without “sounding an alarm”.

• Pay attention to the details: can they “read” the room better and understand what’s going on. 

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates:

• Critical Thinking test

• Problem-Solving test

• Attention To Detail (Visual) test

5. Culture add

All candidates you recruit in your company must have values aligned with its objectives. When a candidate’s values align with its vision and mission, it becomes a great culture add.

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Culture add

• DISC

• Business ethics & compliance

When it comes to your HR candidates, it’s crucial that: 

• Their values and principles align with corporate values: this allows them to collaborate on topics meaningful to both the organization and the candidate.

• Their DISC profile: this shows why the candidate would be a great fit in the company

• They uphold the ethical principles held by the company to the highest standards.

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Culture Add test

• DISC test

• Business Ethics & Compliance test

6. Conflict resolution

Conflict resolution should be a strong trait for HR candidates. They should understand why conflict occurs and how to deal with it effectively in the workplace without it escalating.

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Attention to detail

• Customer service

• Communication 

When it comes to your HR candidates, they must know how to: 

• Be attentive to their environment: can they spot conflict and deal with it effectively?

• Be supportive: are they capable of showing support to the opposing sides until the issue at hand is resolved?

• Communicate: can they make straightforward, concise, and practical suggestions and offer solutions to the opposing parties?

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Attention To Detail (Textual) test 

• Customer Service test

• Communication test

7. Cognitive ability

HR candidates should have strong cognitive reasoning abilities to assess and evaluate the candidates during the hiring process and select the best ones. 

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Basic double-digit math

• Verbal reasoning

• Following instructions

When it comes to your HR candidates, they must know how to: 

• Calculate in double-digits: so that hiring managers may use them with the results of pre-employment testing

• Reason verbally: so that they can effectively and clearly explain tasks, operations, and responsibilities and duties to the candidates during the hiring process

• Follow recruiting procedure guidelines provided by the HR director

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Basic Double-Digit Math test

• Verbal Reasoning test

• Understanding Instructions test

Recommended reading: Cognitive ability tests: The ultimate guide for recruiters

8. Personality 

Before employing your HR employees, you must understand their personalities. This will assist you in making the best hiring decision possible and selecting the applicant that best fits your company’s values, vision, and objectives.

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Enneagram

• 16 Types

• Big 5 (OCEAN)

When it comes to your HR candidates, you must understand: 

• Their enneagram profile: so that they know on which of the nine areas they need to focus on the most

• Which of the 16 types of profiles they are: so they know which specific HR functions are  best suited for them 

• How their personalities interact with others on the Big 5 scale. 

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Enneagram test

• 16 Types test

• Big 5 (OCEAN) test

Recommended reading: Your hiring team’s guide to personality tests

9. Integrity

If you want to hire top candidates for your organization, HR candidates need to have a high level of integrity. They must uphold and adhere to the highest ethical standards and strive to eliminate any biases from their hiring decisions.

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Business ethics & compliance

• Following instructions

• GDPR & privacy

When it comes to your HR candidates, it’s crucial that they: 

• Behave ethically with all ]candidates and eliminate any personal biases from business decisions. 

• Follow instructions established at the strategic level and implement it

• Respect the candidate’s privacy by not requesting any sensitive data and adhering to the GDPR regulations.

There are three tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Business Ethics & Compliance test

• Understanding Instructions test

• GDPR & Privacy test

10. Microsoft Office (Excel)

Last but not least, HR applicants should be well-versed in Microsoft Office applications. In addition, they should be able to organize daily work into charts, graphs, tables, and diagrams.

Some of the skills that you can assess here are: 

• Microsoft Excel (general)

• Microsoft Word

• Microsoft Outlook

When it comes to your HR candidates, they must know how to use Microsoft tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook to work efficiently- HR candidates must be able to use Word to develop standard operating procedures, convert them to graphs and diagrams in Excel, produce PowerPoint presentations, and send memos using Outlook services. 

There are five tests we suggest you take here to evaluate your HR candidates: 

• Microsoft Excel (general) skills test

• Microsoft Word test

• Email Skills (Microsoft Outlook) test

• Microsoft Excel (advanced)test

• Microsoft PowerPoint test

How to get started with pre-employment testing for HR candidates 

We’ve covered the need and relevance of using HR pre-employment tests, and now it’s time to put it into action. 

The first step is to select the right pre-employment assessment software.

There are a plethora of them out there, but we’ll explain why TestGorilla is the best option and why you should use it to assess your HR candidates. 

Why you should use TestGorilla to test HR candidates

TesGorilla is a pre-employment platform that allows you to evaluate your candidates objectively and without bias. TestGorilla is the best pre-employment assessment software for the following reasons: 

1. Subject-matter experts create our tests.

Our tests are developed by one subject-matter expert and then tested by another to ensure accuracy. The test is then subjected to many rounds of feedback before being added to our Test Library.

2. Our tests provide you with objective and bias-free results.

When you utilize our tests, you will receive numerical results that you can readily compare amongst applicants. Biases are a significant issue in the recruiting process, but you can avoid them and obtain objective results for your candidates when you use our pre-employment tests.

3. Our platform allows for customization.

We recognize that your company may have unique hiring requirements, which is why our platform is highly customizable and very flexible. You can even use a video response option to let your applicants respond to the question in video format.

Use pre-employment tests to find the best HR candidates 

Choosing the appropriate HR candidates is critical for your company since they will be the ones that will eventually be in charge of recruiting your remaining workforce. As a result, it is essential to locate the finest possible HR applicants, and to do so; recruiting managers must use pre-employment exams.

Not all pre-employment assessment software is developed the same way.

Therefore, recruiting managers may evaluate should exercise caution when selecting the provider.

With that in mind, you should make an effort to learn everything recruiters need to know about candidate skills assessment tests to make an informed decision when picking your pre-employment assessment software like TestGorilla.

Get started for free today and start making better hiring decisions, faster and bias-free.