Find out why smart companies are now using assessments as a key part of their hiring process.
Content Marketing Manager
More and more hiring teams are making expensive mistakes that cost their companies not only financially, but also in the areas of productivity, workforce morale, and overall growth or progression.
This mistake is simply making the wrong hire - bringing a person who is not suited for the job role or aligned with the company onboard.
At first consideration, it is easy to blame the hiring professionals. “They’re the experts! How could they make such a mistake? How could they hire the wrong person and kickstart such a massive chain reaction of disaster?”
But the truth is that they are not entirely to blame. In this era of generative AI where anything can be created out of thin air, it’s difficult to tell who is actually qualified and who isn’t. The resumes are well-polished, the cover letters are articulate, and on paper, everyone looks perfect.
In reality, however, a beautifully crafted resume doesn't always translate to a high-performing, well-adjusted team member.
So how do you find the right person, the one who not only has the skills to do the job but also the personality to thrive in your company culture?
This is the challenge facing recruiters, hiring managers, and HR professionals everywhere. In today's competitive and rapidly evolving job market, the traditional method of relying solely on resumes and interviews is no longer enough.
Forward-thinking companies are realizing that to build resilient, high-performing teams, they need to dig deeper.
They're turning to a more holistic approach that uses technical skill tests, behavioral scenarios, and personality assessments to truly understand a candidate's potential.
This isn't just a trend. In fact, it can be said to be the future of smart hiring. And at the forefront of this evolution is a new generation of tools designed to make this process seamless and effective, with platforms like MTestHub leading the way.
The idea of testing potential employees is not new. In fact, some of the earliest forms of standardized testing for civil service positions date back to ancient China.
However, the modern era of personality and skills testing in the workplace began to take shape during World War I, when assessments were developed to screen soldiers and identify those best suited for specific roles.
After the war, these concepts were adapted for the industrial sector, and the use of pre-employment testing has been evolving ever since.
So, why the recent surge in popularity? A few key factors are at play.
The sheer volume of applications for a single role can be overwhelming, especially during the economic downturns being experienced by countries like the United States.
The job market is very slow and there are few open roles, so it is not uncommon for a popular job posting to attract thousands of applicants. In cases like these, manually reviewing each resume is not only time-consuming but also prone to human error and bias.
Additionally, the rise of AI has changed the game for both job seekers and employers. Candidates can now use AI tools to help write their resumes and cover letters, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between a genuinely qualified candidate and a well-optimized application.
This has led to what some experts are calling an "authenticity crisis" in talent acquisition. As a result, companies are fighting fire with fire, adopting more sophisticated methods to verify skills and personality traits.
A recent report by Business Insider revealed a dramatic increase in the use of pre-employment tests.
According to surveys by TestGorilla, 76% of employers who hired in the past year used skills tests, a significant jump from 55% in 2022. The use of their Critical Thinking test rose by 61%, and their Big 5 personality assessment saw a 69% increase.
This data clearly shows that companies are actively seeking more reliable ways to identify top talent.
When companies shift their focus from where a candidate went to school or their previous job titles to what they can actually do, the benefits are really transformative and mind blowing.
Hiring people with the right skills for the job leads to better performance. More importantly, when an employee's skills and personality are a good match for their role and the company culture, they are more likely to be engaged, satisfied, and loyal, leading to higher retention rates.
One study found that employees hired based on their skills tend to stay in their jobs 34% longer than those hired based on their degrees alone. This drastically reduces the high costs associated with employee turnover.
A significant problem with traditional hiring methods is that they leave lots of room for unconscious bias to creep in. Recruiters may favor candidates from certain universities, with specific backgrounds, or who "feel" like a good fit.
However, incorporating skill-based and other forms of assessments levels the playing field and reduces chances for bias to creep in.
By focusing on objective, measurable abilities, companies can uncover hidden gems in the talent pool, like candidates who may not have a "traditional" background but possess the raw talent and potential to excel.
A successful team is more than just a collection of skilled individuals, but a cohesive unit where different personalities and work styles complement each other.
Behavioral and personality tests provide valuable insights into a candidate's communication style, problem-solving approach, and how they handle pressure. This information allows hiring managers to build well-rounded, resilient, and productive teams.
Instead of relying on gut feelings, assessments provide concrete data to support hiring decisions. This not only leads to better outcomes but also creates a fairer, more defensible, and consistent hiring process.
While the move toward skills-based hiring is a positive one, the tools that many companies are using have not quite caught up. They often come with a set of limitations that can hinder the very goals they are meant to achieve. Some of these limitations are outlined below:
Many assessment platforms offer generic, one-size-fits-all tests. A coding challenge designed for a Silicon Valley tech giant may not be the best way to assess a developer for a small e-commerce business. These tests often fail to capture the specific nuances of a role or the unique culture of a company.
A good assessment should be highly customizable, well aligned to the role, company, and industry, and only test for the core relevant skills needed for the job.
Despite their aim to be objective, some tests can have inherent biases. This can be due to language, cultural references, or a format that favors a particular demographic, inadvertently filtering out qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds.
Let's be honest: no one likes taking tests. Many pre-employment assessments are long, stressful, and not aligned to the role. Additionally, candidates are not provided with enough guidance, updates, or feedback during the process.
This can create a negative impression of the company and may even deter top talent from completing the application process.
Another significant flaw of many assessment tools is that they struggle to effectively measure crucial soft skills like creativity, collaboration, and adaptability. A simple multiple-choice test can tell you if a candidate knows a fact, but it can't tell you how they would apply that knowledge in a real-world scenario.
A well-designed assessment flow would test the candidates using diverse question formats and test styles to ensure that they have a well-rounded set of qualities and skills needed to perform on the job.
Based on an in-depth understanding of the challenges and limitations of the existing assessment tools, MTestHub was designed from the ground up to be the comprehensive, intelligent, and user-friendly solution that modern hiring teams need.
It’s not just another testing tool - it is a comprehensive, end-to-end, AI-powered talent assessment and hiring automation platform that empowers companies to find the perfect fit, every time.
Here’s how MTestHub solves the key challenges of skill-based hiring:
MTestHub is the ONLY platform that allows you to create fully customized assessments that mirror the actual challenges of the job. No generic or one-size-fits-all assessment libraries here.
For a sales role, you can create a scenario-based test where the candidate has to respond to a difficult client email. For a marketing position, you can ask them to outline a social media strategy for a new product launch.
These real-world simulations provide a much richer and more accurate picture of a candidate's abilities than a standard Q&A. If you need a multi-choice or short text, or long paragraph answer format, it’s very easy to set it up.
The best part is that you do not even have to be so knowledgeable about the role or industry you’re hiring for before you can create excellent assessments, because the AI copilot and assessment generator is there to help!
We believe that the assessment process should be a two-way street. MTestHub assessments are designed to be engaging and respectful of the candidate's time while providing the hiring team with unbiased insights to aid their decision making process.
More importantly, you have the option to provide personalized feedback to every candidate, regardless of the outcome. This not only improves the candidate experience but also strengthens your employer brand.
MTestHub is the only platform you need to assess the full spectrum of a candidate's potential. You can seamlessly combine technical skill tests, situational judgment tests, personality assessments, and even language proficiency tests into a single, cohesive assessment.
This gives you a 360-degree view of each candidate, allowing you to see how their technical skills, soft skills, and personality come together.
MTestHub is built with features designed to mitigate unconscious bias and help you focus on what truly matters: a candidate's ability to succeed in the role.
What’s the good of an assessment if the candidates can cheat their way through it?
MTestHub helps you preserve the integrity of your assessment and check all forms of cheating through its comprehensive suite of anti-cheating features, like candidate authentication, live proctoring, copy and paste blockers, full screen lock, webcam and microphone monitoring, behavioral or body language analysis etc.
MTestHub leverages the power of AI to analyze responses, identify patterns, and provide deep, actionable insights. However, we believe that the final decision should always be human.
Our platform presents the data in a clear, easy-to-understand dashboard that empowers recruiters and hiring managers to make informed decisions, without taking away their autonomy.
When you incorporate MTestHub into your hiring process, you are not just adding a tool but completely upgrading your entire talent acquisition strategy. Companies that use MTestHub enjoy:
1. Improved Quality of Hire: The ultimate goal of any hiring process is to find the best person for the job. By focusing on proven skills and data-driven insights, MTestHub eliminates the guesswork that plagues traditional hiring.
This shift from gut feeling to verifiable data increases your chance of making the perfect hire by up to 90%. Imagine confidently building teams with talent you know can perform from day one.
**2. Shorter Time-to-Hire: **Speed is very crucial in a competitive job market. With MTestHub, you can identify and engage with top talent in a matter of days, and reduce your average time-to-hire from an industry average of over 42 days to as few as 7, ensuring you never lose a star candidate to a faster competitor.
3. Significantly Reduced Hiring Costs: A faster, more accurate process is also a more cost-effective one. By reducing billable hours, improving team efficiency, and preventing the enormous expense of a bad hire, companies using MTestHub cut down their hiring costs by over 60%.
4. Enhanced Candidate Experience: Your hiring process is often the first real interaction a potential employee has with your brand. Candidates appreciate a process that feels fair, transparent, and gives them a genuine opportunity to demonstrate their skills beyond the limitations of a resume.
MTestHub provides exactly that. This positive experience is critical, as happy candidates are proven to be over 35% more likely to accept a job offer.
5. Fairness and Consistency, Every Time: With MTestHub, every single candidate is assessed against the exact same objective criteria. This methodical approach removes the unconscious bias and evaluation fatigue that can creep into traditional screening, ensuring your process is equitable from the very beginning.
Additionally, with the built-in anti-cheat and proctoring features, you can be certain that the results are a true reflection of a candidate's abilities.
6. Burn Out Eliminated with Smart Automation: Your hiring team’s time is valuable. MTestHub automates the hiring process end-to-end, freeing your team from exhausting manual tasks like screening resumes or creating and evaluating assessments.
This allows them to focus on what they do best: engaging with top performers and making strategic decisions. This smart automation improves hiring efficiency by up to** 74%** and helps prevent the burnout that can cripple a busy HR department.
7. Stronger, More Innovative Teams: Assessing candidates with MTestHub helps hiring professionals build diverse, skilled, and well-rounded teams with complementary skills and personalities that drive creativity and collaboration.
Hire Smarter with Advanced Candidate Assessment The world of work is changing, and the way we hire must change with it. Relying on outdated methods is a recipe for missed opportunities and costly hiring mistakes.
Skill-based hiring, with its focus on ability, potential, and cultural fit, is the clear path forward for smart, high-performing companies. As you join smart, forward-thinking companies to navigate this approach, having the right tool and workflow is an absolute necessity.
MTestHub provides your hiring team with the intelligence, flexibility, and user-friendly experience needed to build the workforce of your dreams, seamlessly and effectively.
Ready to get started? Book a demo below now to see how it works.
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