Hiring the perfect candidate is not an easy task. There are hundreds of eager applicants every time a company puts out a vacancy announcement. How do you decide who will be the best fit for the role and what role will employability skills assessments play in this?

 

After confirming that candidates have the specific job knowledge and skills, you can further assess them based on their employability skills. Employability skills are life skills that individuals have as part of their core personality or skills acquired over the years. A principal one is interpersonal skills. Skills such as positive attitude, efficient planning and organisation, and being congenial, etc., are valuable to any company.  All of these skills can be tested.

 

 

If you’re a recruiter, assessing the key employability skills of job-seekers will help validate your choice of the final candidate. This will help you evaluate which candidate is more impressive outside of their resume.

 

Most job-seekers will overlook their employability skills in order to highlight their career triumphs, specific professional skills or their college degrees. It falls to the recruiter/interviewer to question and bring out the multifaceted talents of shortlisted applicants. You need to draw out and measure the diverse skills and abilities of the jobseeker.

 

What to look out for?

 

Recruiters should look out for these key employability skills while screening potential employees.  Workplace skills assessments typically cover:

 

• Open to learning

One’s willingness to learn new things is an indicator of an evolving mind. It shows they are dedicated to being lifelong learners and try to keep an active mind. Keep an eye out for this trait regardless of whether you’re recruiting for a management role or looking to hire a fresh graduate. This skill is paramount in deciding how a career progresses.

 

• Communication

You’re already assessing the candidate’s communication skills during the main interview. Note that it is vital you do so at every stage of the application. Are they articulate enough? Is their communication clear and concise? Do you believe they are an active listener, following up with pertinent questions and good comments?

 

• Teamwork

Good employees will prioritise teamwork as it encourages harmony and success in the workplace. The general feeling of positivity will motivate the team to work harder sharing their different strengths to fill the gaps where required. The sense of unity will make work easier and the office will run as if well oiled.

 

• Problem solving

Everyone wants employees who can diffuse tension and help create solutions. These employees are using their team building and critical thinking skills to foster progress instead of chaos.

 

• Critical thinking

The ability to think critically is a mark of a well-rounded person. This individual is curious, can look at all sides of a situation or problem, and are logical. They don’t argue for the sake of it. They are able to accept different opinions without offense and think analytically about those.

 

• Leadership skills

A contender vying for an executive level job must illustrate their leadership skills. It is possible to measure this skill even if they haven’t actually managed a team before. Recruiters must look out for the ability to be fair, to act responsibly, delegate work, take initiative, and think of the big picture.

 

How the staff’s employability skills affect a business

 

Apart from certain technical knowledge, people will learn different aspects of their job easily. Yet, there is more to a successful career than just doing a job well. The transferable nature of employability skills means these skills will continue to be relevant at every stage of the career. Provided these skills are encouraged to evolve and thrive, both the company and the employee will be rewarded.

 

Generally, employers want the best or most suitable employee for their company. Analysing the worth of a potential recruit just based on their work experience and education can lead to shortchanging the company. It is important to look beyond the resumes and delve into their employability skills – this is known as an employability skills assessment.

 

These soft skills add value to a candidate’s profile. Clear signs of emotional intelligence can easily shift the application in favor of a particular candidate. Quick communication style can be very helpful if the job requires them to be constantly in touch with customers. Those who prove their time management skills with smart examples should also be considered seriously. Someone who demonstrates interest in learning new things, can be trusted to work on their own initiative as well as be a team player means their manager will not have to waste time following up the employee’s work. These well-rounded employees will not just increase the morale of the company but also add to productivity and profit.

 

Assessing employability skills

 

Nowadays, an increasing number of companies are screening job-seekers through online aptitude tests designed to narrow down the best candidates. These employability skills assessment tests scrutinize the level of certain skills relevant to the job role. Literacy and numeracy skills tests are quite common and popular among large companies who want to quickly reduce the initial applicant pool to a smaller number of suitable candidates. These test candidates on basic literacy and numeracy skills involving grammar, spelling, comprehension, and mental math.

 

And because the results are quick, recruiters are able to move to the next stage promptly. These are followed up by interviews with a shortlisted group.

 

Face-to-face interviews help put a name to the face of both the applicant and the company, helping them connect better. Candidates will have the opportunity to present a comprehensive account of their credentials and career history. Meanwhile, recruiters can examine in detail the suitability of each candidate for the job in question.

 

Look beyond the job title and probe for cognitive skills, work ethic, and people skills. Consider the candidate’s suitability to the company’s culture, vision and goals.

 

To learn more about how ISV skills assessment tests can help you evaluate the employability of a potential hire contact us and request a demonstration.