Today’s technology can aid in the recruitment process through skills, psychometric, and behavioural assessments.
By Simon Kent
There can be few things as bittersweet as receiving a huge response to a job advert. On the one hand, it is reassuring that so many people want to work for the company. On the other hand, there is the foreboding grind of working through so many applications, with the nagging doubt that exceptional talent will be overlooked.
If it’s a challenge created by technology—considering one need only to stab a smartphone screen a few times to submit an application—technology is also here to help. Assessment technology, sometimes AI-backed, can give HR the power to sift through numerous and diverse candidates in a fair, equitable, and efficient way. It can open doors to potential employees who don’t just tick the right boxes but exhibit the right behaviours and aptitudes as well. And all without the worry of direct or indirect bias.
“The recruitment sector and hiring companies have not unlocked the full potential of online assessment yet,” advises Sam Price, talent solutions director at RPO1. “It has the potential to be a disruptive influence on the hiring process for roles up to mid-level skills requirements, enabling the CV to be removed completely and replaced with skills, aptitudes, and behaviours assessments that can identify people who are a great fit for the role, in a way that conventional selection processes simply can’t.”
Price highlights her company’s use of a tool called Thrive, which she says combines skills testing, such as numerical thinking and logic, with personality assessment using a Likert scale. “This system enables job-specific assessment and comparison of test scores against people in similar roles and the requirements of the job,” she says. “This means that decision-making is more objective, reducing the potential for unconscious bias and anonymising candidates so that outcomes are genuinely competency and attribute based.”
Price says best practice is to use psychometric assessment to map the strengths already in the team. This provides a framework for what the organisation needs in terms of competencies and attributes that deliver proven high performance in comparable roles, along with complementary attributes that will plug gaps in the team.
Emily van Eyssen, founder of Remote Recruitment, has seen the use of technology deliver huge advantages. “By combining AI-driven gamified assessments with automated video interviews, one client managed to cut time-to-hire by 40%,” she says. “Candidate satisfaction scores rose by 30%, and hiring manager confidence improved too, as the assessment results gave clear validation for their final interview decisions.”
Assessment technology today isn’t just about speed, but quality too. However, the key here is to ensure the technology matches the challenge and is implemented and managed correctly.
“One development that has really impressed me is the way some platforms now adjust assessments dynamically in real-time based on a candidate’s responses,” notes Peter Wood, CTO of Spectrum Search. As Wood explains, rather than relying on a fixed bank of questions, these systems can change their inquisition depending on the strengths someone shows during the process. This offers a much fuller picture of each candidate’s capabilities. “In high-volume hiring, this is especially useful, where human bias and fatigue can easily creep into decision-making,” he says.
Wood says simulation-based assessments now offer a great tool for recruiting candidates into more detailed roles. “Rather than answering hypothetical questions, candidates are now solving real-world problems in virtual environments, making it much easier for hiring teams to see their practical skills in action,” he says.
While the capability of technology may be increasing, it is still important that HR understands what it does and how best to leverage these tools. “For hiring the best candidate, HR teams should work backwards and be clear on the specific skillset for the role they’re hiring for,” advises Olive Turon, head of people at TestGorilla. “Then, identify current processes that fall short, and the pitfalls that contributed to previous mis-hires.”
Turon says recruiters should focus on whether the tool they’re considering goes beyond traditional hiring methods and adds real value. If the solution simply automates CV screening for example, it’s not enough as CVs alone don’t provide the full picture of a candidate. While the process may seem quick and pain free, it will still miss success criteria.
Teams should look for the tools that assess broader human traits, such as cognitive abilities, behaviours, and personality to give a more holistic view of candidates. A better alternative is multi-measure assessment tools, covering cognitive skills, behaviours, and personality traits, giving a fuller, more truthful picture of a candidate.
