Why Use Pre-Employment Skills Assessment Testing?

As a business owner, I don't have to 'preach to the choir' regarding the cost of a bad hire and how terrible they are for business!  One bad apple can literally ruin a business so hiring the perfect candidate can be detrimental to a small business' success.  The ability to hire skilled professionals is the key to success for business owners around the world.  One affordable and efficient way for job candidates to prove their expertise is to perform pre-employment skills assessment tests.    

Skills testing focuses on skills that relate directly to job performance.  The greatest thing about skills testing is that you can cater them to the job you are hiring for. Let’s say you’re hiring a call center CSR. Instead of spending 45 minutes asking a candidate about his or her past performance; give the candidate the Call Center Assessment to measure customer service skills and sales ability using realistic simulations of call center scenarios. The test is more objective than an interview.

There is more to pre-employment testing than just skills, it is also finding out about your job candidate’s personality.  Hireology states in a recent blog post that “personality tests are a great tool for understanding people and improving management,” and they “can be extremely valuable when trying to understand the motivations and work styles of your new employees.”  So instead of taking two months to “get to know your employee,” and learn how they react to management, give them a 15 minute behavioral skills test and you will have your answer immediately.   

Pre-Employment Drug Testing is Important

Drug testing is an extremely popular process in the business world. Many businesses practice drug screening techniques in order to prevent drug abuse from occurring in the workplace. This can help to avoid possible accident, injuries, and errors while on the job. If you own a business, you can benefit from this screening process.

It’s important to have a plan and policies in place before beginning testing. It’s possible to require a drug screening process in order to offer employment to a potential employee. This practice has been ruled legal and constitutional continuously over the years. In order to practice these techniques, you will need to have a policy written out regarding your testing procedures.


How does pre-employment drug screening work? 
First, contact an authorized vendor to order and schedule the test.  You will be given a form for the applicant to bring to the nearest testing center and they must bring a photo ID.  Applicants will show up at a testing site and give a urine sample. In many cases, negative results can be determined within 24 hours.

These tests take into consideration many different drugs depending on the test you order. Most five-panel drug screenings test for Marijuana, Cocaine, PCP, Opiates, and Amphetamines usage. Employers also have the opportunity to use a ten-panel test in order to test certain prescription drug use. These tests are able to detect drugs that are present in an individual’s system for certain periods of times. Many drugs are able to be detected if use has occurred within 2-4 days. Other drugs are able to be detected if drug use has occurred within 30 days, such as marijuana.

It’s a good idea to make applicants test within a given time period. This will not allow applicants to stop their drug use in order to illegally pass the urine test. Most drug testing laboratory centers can detect if a test has been altered to force favorable results.