How Talent Assessments Help You Deliver a Strong Candidate Experience
The candidate experience is more critical now than ever. Companies simply can’t afford to ignore the needs and desires of job applicants as candidate expectations continue to rise. And those applicants are looking for adjustments to the hiring experience too, like fewer repetitive interviews (some companies require up to 16), better communication, and an end to ghosting.
But hiring high-quality candidates who are a great fit for your team is also critical, so how can hiring teams balance the needs of candidates and the organization effectively?
The answer is by using talent assessments. They can help your company determine who is a great fit while also significantly improving the candidate experience — if they’re used thoughtfully and efficiently. Here’s what you need to know about using talent assessments to improve your candidate experience.
How Talent Assessments Work
Talent assessments, also known as pre-hire assessments or skills assessment tests, measure if a candidate has the skills, personality traits, and other qualities needed to succeed in an open role. Ideally, these tests measure both hard and soft skills to gather a holistic view of a candidate’s capabilities. They can be used at several different points in the hiring process and can help companies avoid making expensive hiring mistakes and build more hiring equity.
The benefits to employers with talent assessments are fairly obvious, but they also significantly benefit the candidate experience.
Using Talent Assessments to Strengthen the Candidate Experience
Kaylie Markis, Customer Success Administrator at Cangrade, partners with customers across industries to effectively implement their hiring assessments. She shared these best practices for successfully using talent assessments to improve the candidate experience.
“At Cangrade, we believe using pre-hire assessments effectively can significantly enhance the candidate experience and offer several benefits to both candidates and companies throughout the job search process,” states Kaylie. Here are Kaylie’s four best practices for utilizing hiring assessments to deliver a top-notch candidate experience.
1. Personalized Evaluation
“Pre-hire assessments allow candidates to showcase their skills and competencies beyond what’s visible on their resume or during interviews,” Kaylie advises. This gives candidates who might not meet all the job criteria, or who are neurodiverse and may struggle in interviews, a chance to shine and show their skills fully.
2. Fair Evaluation Process
When they’re developed and implemented correctly, talent assessments are bias-free and help companies evaluate candidates according to their merits and skills. And candidates prefer a fair experience in hiring, even if it means they don’t get the job. “By ensuring a fair and unbiased evaluation of candidates, you mitigate unconscious biases and leave candidates feeling confident in your organization,” Kaylie says.
3. Efficiency and Time Savings
Hiring assessments streamline the candidate screening process, allowing recruiters to identify top talent more efficiently, move candidates through the hiring funnel quickly, and give candidates clarity about their place in the hiring funnel faster. Waiting for weeks for a response or interview at any point in the hiring process is a poor candidate experience, and skills assessments can speed this up significantly.
4. Candidate Fit
By selecting candidates who are well-suited to the role and aligned with the company culture, pre-hire assessments help candidates find the roles and companies where they’re likely to thrive long-term and find a great fit for their skills and talents. “This ultimately benefits both the individual and the organization by fostering a productive and engaged workforce,” Kaylie notes.
Talent assessments can drive hiring efficiency, fairness, and opportunities for candidates in the hiring process — all of which candidates ask of today’s hiring process.
Kaylie shares, “By incorporating assessments into the hiring process, companies demonstrate their commitment to fairness, transparency, and identifying the best talent for the job that drives results.”
If you’re looking for a hiring platform that offers bias-free, customizable talent assessments with an exceptional candidate experience (currently at 98% satisfaction), Cangrade is here to help.