Pre-employment personality tests: a must-have in the recruitment process

Employees are the main driving force of any company. They are the ones who perform the most important tasks and shape the entire business. However, in order to make full use of their potential, it is crucial to learn what skills they have, and based on this knowledge, to match them appropriately with particular positions. To this end, companies are making use of various aptitude, personality or skill tests during the recruitment process. What are the types of pre-employment personality tests? Read our article and learn more.

Pre-employment personality tests – table of contents:

1. Why use pre-employment personality tests?
2. Types of pre-employment personality tests
3. Belbin’s team roles test

Why use pre-employment personality tests?

Identifying employees’ skills correctly allows you to use their strengths to increase the productivity of the entire company. Today’s market requires personnel to be highly flexible and open to new knowledge. However, regardless of the eagerness to learn, employees have their individual characteristics and certain predispositions, which significantly affect their professional capabilities.

In order to maximize your employees’ productivity, it is important to give them tasks that match their skills. To this end, as early as during the recruitment process, you should try to get to know candidates and identify areas they feel most comfortable with.

Getting to know your staff positively affects the performance of the entire business. Employees are more efficient in achieving goals that match their abilities and feel more comfortable at work. Their overall satisfaction also increases. They can develop professionally in areas that are of real interest to them, which greatly motivates them to complete more tasks.

It is also worth remembering that getting to know your staff puts an employer in a good light. A good relationship with personnel, apart from building a positive image of the company, also improves the cooperation itself on many levels. If you take time to better understand your employees, you increase their commitment to work and foster team spirit.

Nowadays, there are many tools that allow recruiters to get to know their candidates. At the very job interview, by observing gestures and the way a potential employee speaks, you have a chance to check their interpersonal skills. At the same time, various types of knowledge tests let you verify if a given candidate fits the required list of skills.

Types of pre-employment personality tests

Nowadays, employers are increasingly moving away from a traditional form of a job interview, changing it into a multi-stage process that lets them get to know candidates better. Especially in demanding industries, such as the IT sector, thorough screening of candidates improves the recruitment process significantly.

CVs and various kinds of questionnaires are just a reference point. A real assessment of candidates’ skills and predispositions is far more important. To this end, companies use a variety of pre-employment personality tests.

Knowledge tests allow employers to verify candidates’ knowledge of key topics and given industry. They also let them check if a candidate possesses hard skills such as the knowledge of languages or computer programs required at a given position. Competency tests that are usually based on recruitment tasks connected to a particular area of work, make it possible to correctly identify a potential employee’s soft skills. As a result, not only the work results are evaluated, but also a candidate’s approach and attitude.

Psychological tests are also an important source of information about candidates. Using this method allows employers to learn not only about a candidate’s individual personality traits, but also to measure their intelligence or cognitive skills. As a result, the employer gains a valuable tool showing how a potential employee will find their way in a new job. What is more, thanks to such tests, it even becomes possible to assess how a candidate will cope with strong emotions, crisis situations or work under pressure.

Belbin’s team roles test

Verifying the skills of individual employees lets employers build a smoothly functioning team. Regardless of the nature of a given business, every company needs diverse employees who complement each other’s skills.

For this purpose, it is advisable to carry out the Belbin test during the recruitment process. The Belbin test makes it possible to analyze team talents and better match new employees with the existing team. This method is based on nine team roles that describe human behavior:

The Monitor Evaluator. Monitor evaluators think rationally and make decisions based on facts. They have strategic thinking skills and are objective.

The Specialist. Specialists are experts in a specific field. They usually have in-depth knowledge in a narrow subject.

The Plant. Plants are creative people, responsible for out-of-the-box ideas and innovative solutions. Most often they prefer to work independently, but with their groundbreaking concepts, they contribute significantly to the development and progress of the company.

The Shaper. Shapers are extroverts who motivate others. Such people are results-oriented, and they seem to thrive under pressure. They are ideal leaders who are able to deal with stressful situations.

The Implementer. Implementers strive to maintain order and structure. They turn abstract ideas into concrete action plans. They are disciplined, organized and focused on the needs of the team.

The Completer/Finisher. Finishers are introverts and perfectionists who can notice fine details. Their analytical approach often helps to detect errors and guarantee high quality work.

The Coordinator. Coordinators have great interpersonal and communication skills. They usually take managerial positions. Coordinators like to help team members achieve their goals and are usually good at identifying talents.

The Team Worker. The Team Workers are mild and friendly extroverts which makes them interact effectively with other people. They are good listeners who help create a harmonious team.

The Resource Investigator. Resource Investigators are enthusiastic, outgoing and curious. They have good negotiation skills and are able to explore available options.

You’ve just learned more about pre-employment personality tests. Read also: The 9 Belbin team roles.

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