We have seen a rise in companies enquiring about how Situational Judgement Tests can help hire the best applicants. With this in mind we have put together this handy guide.
CVs form an important part of any application for any job. Yet applicants have an almost unlimited amount of time to devote to putting together the best CV for that role. In short, the CV (or application form) may tick all the boxes, but you won’t know how that person will perform unless and until they are given that position.
This can be problematic. Most employers will have experience of hiring someone who seemed ideal on paper but didn’t perform to the required standards once they were employed.
This is where situational judgement tests can help you hire the best applicants – and there are several ways you can find the best person for the role if you use these tests during the recruitment process.
1: They help hire the best applicants by identifying which candidates can best perform in certain circumstances
Common sense counts for a lot in the workplace, but it isn’t something you can read about on a CV. Situational judgement tests tailored to your business and the kinds of situations an employee would face, are an excellent way to find out whether someone would be ideal for a role.
Knowing how someone would behave in a real-life scenario may even identify someone who doesn’t quite meet the academic requirements you have set out for the role yet exceeds your requirements in other ways.
2: You assess candidates in scenarios that are as close to real ones as possible
Let’s suppose you are interviewing people for two very different roles within your business. Each role would require people to act in different ways, perhaps in different store-based roles, for example. It would be prudent to create two different situational judgement tests to best reflect the typical situations people in those roles would come up against.
For example, creating a scenario where an employee would need to deal with an irate customer would be best developed for those interviewing for customer service roles. Conversely, an entirely different situational judgement test would be required for someone working behind the scenes, where they may be dealing with incorrect information in the stock control department.
These tests would enable you to identify those people who will make the right decisions under trying circumstances. A CV can only go so far in the amount of information it provides you with. Personalised tests will ensure you get far more useful information to make sure you hire the best applicants.
3: By identifying people who will best fit in with your business will help you hire the best applicants
hire the best applicants with sjts
It is entirely possible someone might fit in very well with another business in the same industry as yours, and yet they simply aren’t a good fit with yours. Even if you are interviewing people with experience in your industry, it doesn’t mean they will be your ideal employees.
The best part of a situational judgement test is that no two are identical. They are designed with the needs of the individual business and role in mind. Even if we were asked to create these tests for two very similar businesses, the resulting tests would reflect the requirements and outlook of those businesses.
This personalised approach makes it far easier for you to find the people who are ideal for the roles you wish to fill. It would be very difficult to choose this accurately without using situational judgement tests to help you complete the recruitment process.
CVs help, as do application forms. However, as we can see here, going one step further will ensure you pick the best people to add to your teams, no matter which industry you are in.
Further information can be found at: https://skillsarena.com/situational-judgement-tests/
Denise Allen has been working in the marketing industry for over 15 years and is Head of Marketing at Skillsarena who provide Talent Tools which enable companies to select, develop and retain valued staff.