More than half of employers, 56%, use pre-employment assessments to gauge job applicants’ knowledge, skills, and abilities, according to research by the Society for Human Resource Management. And 28% said a job candidate who scores high on an assessment but doesn’t meet the minimum education requirement would be very likely to make it onto the list of final candidates for consideration.
Its survey of HR professionals found that 79% say scores on skills assessments are just as or more important than traditional criteria in hiring decisions. In addition, 36% say a job candidate who scores high on an assessment but doesn’t meet the minimum years of experience is very likely to make it onto a list of final candidates.
Other findings:
- 78% of HR professionals say the quality of their organization’s hires has improved due to their use of assessments.
- 23% of HR professionals said the diversity of their hires has improved using these assessments.
- Of organizations that utilize pre-employment assessments, one in four plan to expand their use of these assessments in the next five years.
- Of organizations that don’t utilize pre-employment assessments, one in 10 plan to start using them in the next five years.
The survey included 1,688 HT professionals.