Research reveals hiring process is failing candidates and companies due to complex, unresponsive and ineffective pre-hire assessments
As the battle for talent wages on, two-fifths of job-seekers are being hired into new roles only to discover they have the wrong soft skills for the job, and over half (53 per cent) are leaving companies because their personality or work style didn’t fit. So say the results of new research commissioned by HireVue, provider of the most comprehensive AI-driven talent assessment suite and video interviewing solutions, which sought to examine the current state of pre-hire assessments and the impact they are having on talent acquisition.
With 53 per cent of those who had left for this reason saying the format of the hiring process had prevented them from discovering the mismatch earlier, the research – which questioned over 2,500 job-seekers across Europe and the US – revealed that companies’ current approach to pre-hire assessments leaves much to be desired. This offers recruitment professionals a golden opportunity to deliver a more positive experience and better match candidates’ innate skills and abilities to the roles they are trying to fill.
Further key findings from the research include:
- Question of confidence: While four-fifths (82 per cent) of candidates are confident in their ability to articulate their soft skills and personality traits in an interview, many doubt that pre-hire assessments can showcase these important attributes. Of those who have taken a pre-hire assessment, or have some understanding of what such tests entail, over a third question their ability to measure personality traits (37 per cent) or soft skills (35 per cent). A worrying 41 per cent are also less than certain that pre-hire assessments can gauge potential.
- Fulfilling their potential: Over four in ten (43 per cent) candidates see potential as extremely important or critical to employers when hiring – more so than prior experience, academic achievements, or soft skills. Three quarters (76 per cent) of respondents also stated that they would prefer to be judged on their potential versus their previous experience.
The research also highlighted clear room for improvement in the experience of taking pre-hire assessments:
- Less complexity: Only two fifths found their assessment to be straightforward (42 per cent) and/or professional (39 per cent)
- Quicker process: Nearly a third (30 per cent) of respondents were concerned about the length of time pre-hire assessments take to complete – with length given as the number one reason over a quarter (26 per cent) had dropped out of an assessment before it had finished
- More responsiveness: On average, candidates received feedback on their pre-hire assessments less than half the time (48 per cent), if at all, and it took two days to arrive
“This study demonstrates a real urgency for organizations to reimagine their approach to identifying and retaining the best talent for the job,” said Clemens Aichholzer, Senior Vice President of Game-Based Assessments, HireVue. “This becomes even more critical when you consider that candidates are often customers, and their interaction in the hiring process will impact how they engage with the brand in the future. Indeed, according to our research, over a quarter will engage more with the company on a personal level after a positive assessment experience.
“At the moment, organizations clearly aren’t assessing for the right attributes, and that is setting candidates up for failure later on. Companies should consider more modern assessment methods such as scientifically-designed games and video interviews, which contribute to a faster, more candidate-centric application process but are also extremely effective at predicting an applicant’s potential and matching him or her to the right job. This benefits everybody: recruitment leaders can cast a wider net and then choose from a better qualified and more diverse pool of applicants; candidates feel valued and engaged throughout the hiring process; and organizations boost their bottom line by finding talent that will thrive, while minimizing churn.”
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
