Are online pre-employment assessments worth the silicon they're digitized on?
Even in a secure, proctored environment, can we reasonably expect online assessments to be accurate when we know the answers are hovering just beyond a firewall?
Brian Wilkerson, who heads up the talent management practice at Washington-based HR consultancy Watson Wyatt Worldwide, says yes, these tests can generally be trusted--as long as employers don't rely to much on them. Psychologists, test designers and industry observers interviewed agree that online assessments can play a valuable role in the selection process, as long as certain precautions are taken.
All tests are not created equal.
Interestingly, psychologist Jeff Weekley found incumbents are less likely to embellish responses in behavioral assessments (where there are no right or wrong answers) than candidates. "Research suggests that we all give ourselves the benefit of the doubt," says Weekley, a senior research director for recruitment and retention specialists Kenexa, in Wayne, PA. "The majority don't go crazy with it, but we find differences between applicants and incumbents. Applicants are likely to pump the answers," he says, "because they want the job." Weekley recommends using online assessments as first screens and using other methods to confirm initial results. According to him, when a test that assesses cognitive skills is administered in an un-proctored environment, test takers "must be asked to re-demonstrate those cognitive skills" in front of an interviewer.
Watson Wyatt's Wilkerson believes in validating assessment results during behavioral interviews--and by completing more effective reference checking and background screening. He recommends using social and business networking sites. "Linkedin has a reference request tool. You can check references other than what the candidate gave you." As for online assessments, Wilkerson says, "don't rely on just the testing. It's a great part of the process, but not the process itself."
Source: Screening, HR Executive, June 16, 2008