There have been many articles lately about tests for hiring that sort candidates according to personality traits, sales ability, attention to detail, leadership style and much more.
So, what can’t we test for? According to Robert Stephens, founder of The Geek Squad, now owned by Best Buy:
“you can’t test for curiosity, ethics, or drive.”*
At least, that was his experience at The Geek Squad. Mr. Stephens is a pretty smart guy and he founded and later sold a nationally known brand. That takes intelligence, drive, willingness to risk, vision and many, many other skills. I wondered if the data backs up his claim that you cannot test for those 3 things.
According to the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, that is not true.
Their website lists 9 Types of Employment tests including Assessment Centers, Biographical Data Instruments, Cognitive Ability Tests, Integrity Tests, Interviews, Job Knowledge Tests, Personality tests, Physical Abilities tests, and Work Samples and Simulations.
The integrity tests should test for ethics at some rudimentary level. You can test for curiosity through work simulations, and interview questions. Drive might be determined through interview questions about past job performance and future goals. Clearly, they aren’t perfect and may not have fit The Geek Squads particular needs. However, if you stick with the way you have always done it, you miss the opportunity to sort for fit before you spend a lot of time with candidates.
If you have not looked into the range of tests available today, check it out. You’d be surprised how many of your peers are hiring “better fit” candidates, more quickly and ultimately at less cost than you are. Finding the right person the first time is a lot less costly than repeating the process and cleaning up mistakes.
*From Q & A at the Vistage Executive Summit, LA, Oct 6, 2015.
illustration courtesy of jobsaol.com/articles/2012/08/02