We know how fierce the competition is in the job market at the moment, and I recently blogged about the difficulties faced by graduates when searching for a career. But, at a&dc, we also recognise the huge pressures on HR professionals to cope with the influx of CVs, while also making the business case for investment in new talent processes to drive bottom-line figures.

It’s no longer feasible to conduct large volumes of interviews, and a more efficient process is needed to identify those most relevant for subsequent stages of the recruitment process.

There are a variety of different methods available to sift applications, but one of the most effective ways is to use situational judgement tests (SJTs). These are designed to assess the suitability of a candidate by presenting them with a range of scenarios that they might face in the job, along with a selection of possible responses. The jobseeker then rates the effectiveness of each response to the situation, and the results are compared with the judgements of a group of experts.  

a&dc’s online SJTs in The Dilemmas Series™ are based around a realistic and job-relevant context, and we have developed SJTs covering administrative, graduate, management, customer service and call centre roles. This makes the assessment much more relevant, providing the candidate with a realistic job preview, and the hiring manager with an initial idea about the quality of the candidate’s decision making.

Other advantages of SJTs are that they tend to be fairer than reasoning tests, which are also commonly used for screening candidates, and the multiple choice format means that these online tests can be automatically scored. In some tools, feedback reports can be automatically generated, providing candidates with tips to help them develop for the future.

A further attraction is the rich source of data that is provided around candidate performance, which can be used as a metric to identify the behaviours critical to driving performance on the job itself.  This can help talent managers refine competency frameworks and behaviours to ensure they are optimally driving performance, providing powerful evidence of ROI at senior level. 

Whatever value a business sees in these assessments, it’s clear that HR teams need to be able to sift through applications effectively and efficiently in order to keep up with the huge number of candidates. By using SJTs, you can ensure that you select candidates for interview and/or assessment centre fairly and reliably by assessing an individual’s judgement and decision making, in scenarios they could really face in the job. And ultimately, you will find the right talent for your organisation.