There’s an ongoing debate on whether employment test are more accurate than actually having a prospective employee seen in action. Can a phone interview, an online proctored test or even a face-to-face interview provide an accurate picture of the attitude, capacities and personality of a candidate? Is a company really concerned about how proactive or emotionally stable you are? Employment tests mostly illustrate your fitness in the organization’s culture, your potential for growth and how your aptitudes can be translated into profit.
Pre-employment test are becoming more popular while their complexity incessantly increases. As a result, many candidates often entertain the thought of cheating, especially when these pre-employment tests are carried out online.
Employee-Employer A Match Made in Heaven
Personality, integrity and other employment tests are considered pointless by many as they don’t seem to serve any actual purpose. These tests assess how well you will fit in the culture of the company and whether your aspirations and aptitudes can be fine-tuned with those of the company.
Even if personality tests can’t actually capture the essence of who the employee is, or at least more than a hands-on evaluation of the candidate would, they’re the norm and cheating on them has serious implications.
Cheat Once, Fail Forever
Cheating at one employment test might result in disqualification from future jobs. Many companies implement pre-employment personality tests they obtain from the same test vendor. If one cheats during an online personality screening and the prospective employer suspects cheating, a proctored redo might be requested to ensure the test’s validity and ultimately the employee’s integrity. In cases when the proctored test has substantially different or poorer results than the unproctored test, the candidate is disqualified for obvious reasons. Given that many companies use tests purchased from the same vendor, it is probable that you will be black listed, discouraging other companies from considering you as a candidate.
While the incentives for cheating on pre-employment tests vary, the implications are hard to ignore. Proctoring online and on-site employment screeenings will ensure both the newly recruited person’s suitability for the job and that the latter will still have a chance with other companies.