Skills Testing

Testing an applicant’s ability to do the specific job you're hiring for may be the best way to determine if he or she can really do the work. If you feel testing is required, test only those applicants you're still considering after you've conducted interviews.

Warning

Consult your attorney before you proceed with any type of testing; it’s a subject that has generated a lot of litigation. Testing opens up plenty of opportunities to get accused of discrimination and creates recordkeeping duties. If you have 15 or more employees, you're subject to specific federal antidiscrimination laws. An unhappy applicant can charge that you picked an unfair test, administered the test unfairly, interpreted the results incorrectly, or whatever else a clever attorney can think up.

If you're going to test an applicant’s skills, you need to choose the right test. Or you can hire someone else, perhaps a human resources consulting firm, to do it for you. A good test is one that measures the criteria, behavior, or skills needed for particular job, and whose results are an accurate predictor of employee performance:

Achievement tests. These tests help you identify applicants who already possess the skill, talent, or knowledge needed to perform a job. They are usually the most reliable and valid at predicting job performance, and they're the type of test that you probably ought to give. For example, ask applicants to type a letter or drive a forklift. Proficiency tests are widely used because they are demonstrably job-related.
Physical ability and agility tests. These tests assess an applicant's endurance, strength, or overall physical fitness needed to perform actual or simulated job-related tasks. Physical ability and agility tests aren't considered medical tests and can be performed before a job offer is made.

Warning

Be aware that any test that measures an applicant's physiological or biological responses to performance would constitute a medical examination according to the EEOC’s interpretation of the ADA and cannot be given until after a conditional job offer is made. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the agency charged with enforcing the rules barring discrimination against the disabled.

Therefore, employers with 15 or more employees must be mindful of what constitutes a test of health and what constitutes a test of ability to perform a task. The distinction isn't always clear.

Example

A messenger company could reasonably ask each applicant to walk one mile in 20 minutes or less before a conditional offer was made to an applicant.
However, the messenger company should not measure each applicant's heart rate and blood pressure after the test. It would be considered a medical procedure and shouldn't be performed, if at all, until a conditional offer is made.

Administer any test to all applicants in a fair and even-handed manner. Here are some tips for doing just that:

Give each applicant the test in as nearly identical a manner as possible.
Set aside a quiet place where applicants can be tested in private.
Give specific instructions and tell applicants the time limits.
Encourage them to ask questions if there’s something they don't understand.
Explain the purpose of test and indicate that the test is just one part of the hiring process.
Confirm that results will be kept strictly confidential.
Applicants with disabilities may require that a reasonable accommodation be made in order for them to take the test.
Schedule tests for a period that will not conflict with an applicant's religious beliefs.
Keep in mind, you should never ask an applicant to perform actual work as a test. Make sure the document they type up or the cake they decorate won't actually be used or sold by your business.
Keeping test results confidential is a professional responsibility that must be taken seriously. Individuals taking the tests should be permitted to see their own scores and have them fairly explained. However, never share other applicants’ scores.