To conclude our series on pre-employment testing, listed below are four other popular assessments on the market.
Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT)
The CCAT is a general pre-employment aptitude test that measures problem-solving abilities, learning skills, and critical thinking. The CCAT practice test consists of 50 questions in logic, math, verbal ability, and spatial reasoning, and has a 15-minute time limit.
CCAT scores are determined by a raw score, which is simply the number of questions answered correctly. This score can be translated into a percentile to indicate the job applicant’s result compared to others. Each position has a suggested range of raw scores, and once your score is within that suggested range, it means that you are competent for the position.
Kenexa Prove It! Skills Testing
Used frequently by staffing agencies and companies doing large scale hiring — such as staffing a call center — the aim of this test is to “prove” that you have the skills and abilities to use specific programs, such as Word and Excel.
The length of each assessment varies — from 15-30 minutes for nontechnical assessments, to 45-60 minutes for more technical ones. The assessments are not timed, but this is the average amount of time needed to take them. You can’t skip any questions or return to previous screens to change your answers. But you can take the assessment again — as many times as you wish. Employers will not have access to your results, though a staffing agency might ask you to take one of these tests to determine what you’re best at — to assess which skills on your résumé are provable, and where you might match best.
Profile XT
Primarily used for pre-hire screening, employee selection, onboarding, managing, coaching, and strategic workforce planning, the Profile XT is described as a “Total Person” assessment. Administered online, it measures the job-related qualities that make a person productive — thinking and reasoning style, behavioral traits, and occupational interests — and predicts job success. Using “Job Match Patterns,” the assessment can be customized by company, department, manager, position, geography, or any combination of these factors.
The EQ-i 2.0
Created by Multi-Health Systems, Inc., the EQ-i 2.0 may be the best way to assess a candidate’s emotional intelligence. The assessment breaks down a person’s overall EQ score into five composite scores and 15 “subscales,” which include things like “emotional expression” and “problem solving.” This allows for the assessment to produce truly granular pictures of potential hires.
These are just a few of the many assessment tools being used by HR, recruiters, and hiring managers as part of the screening and hiring process. If you are “invited” to take a test that is not included in this list, don’t panic. Simply doing a Google search of the assessment by name will most likely reveal all kinds of information about the test — and possibly even let you try it out.
Although pre-employment testing may appear to be only beneficial to the employer, in reality, the jobseeker also wins. It is far better to be screened out of a position and/or company that does not fit one’s skills, values, and personality than to be hired for the position, and eventually dread going to work every dayP
Good luck!!
