Selecting a pre-hire assessment often comes down to choosing the right partner that has the experience and expertise that meets your company’s needs. Here are three questions to ask a potential assessment vendor.
1. How established and experienced is the vendor?
The assessment industry is booming, bringing new players to the game. This is great news for buyers of talent acquisition products and services. But, take time to review each vendor and understand the depth of experience they bring to you. Start-up companies may be flush with cash, but many are pushed to release products before the tools have gone through rigorous psychometric analysis. Companies with longevity and a proven reputation may be best equipped to offer products with actual, documented results you can see over time.
Bottom line: Reputation and age matters. Look for companies with a broad assessment portfolio and track record of success.
2. What are the qualifications of the assessment development team?
Companies new to the assessment industry are eager to make a name for themselves. There’s no faster way to do that than to employ a savvy sales force charged with promoting and selling products. But the brains behind a test and its construction is a skilled research team. Staff with the proper educational background, qualifications and experience needed to rigorously design and evaluate assessments help ensure the company’s products and services are psychometrically sound and highly predictive of critical on-the-job outcomes that truly matter to your business.
Bottom line: Avoid being swayed by a sales pitch. Take time to understand how the assessment content was created, who created it, and their experience and background.
3. Where does their expertise lie?
Not all assessments are created equal and many won’t suit your organization’s needs. Different instruments, both in terms of structure and construct type, will place restrictions on what can confidently be created for your company. For example, if your business is looking to assess entry-level workers but an assessment vendor specializes in executive assessments, it’s highly unlikely their tools are going to get you the right employees for the job.
Bottom line: Particular jobs may be more amenable to one type of assessment. Understand the experience level your potential partner(s) have with your job types. Test providers should be able to develop and implement such assessments validly and effectively and prove this capability to you.
Topics: Talent Selection Ideas