Movie Case Study
The scene that you just saw shows Vishwas Rao (played by Shahid Kapoor) wanting to be a part of the police force. He qualified for the written exam and has now appeared for a physical examination, which is a very important part of the recruitment process. His physical exam seems like a disaster to the instructor, who is conducting the test. In this blog, Learning Perspectives will explore the meaning of pre-employment tests.
What are Pre-employment tests?
Pre-employment tests are conducted by organizations to screen candidates for selection of the job. These tests are specifically designed for the job for which the organization plans to hire. Following are some types of tests that are conducted by the organizations.
Aptitude and ability tests:
These tests gauge the aptitude ability and skill level of the candidate. It can be an offline or an online test. As you saw in the scene above, Jay is giving an aptitude test which is on paper. Minimum scores are created as a cut-off to weed off candidates who don’t meet the criteria of the company.
Different types of aptitude tests may include numerical reasoning tests, verbal ability questions, or in-tray exercises, where one is required to answer about an imagined scenario. Tests of intellectual ability, spatial and mechanical ability, perceptual accuracy, and motor ability have shown to be moderately valid predictors for many semi-skilled and unskilled operative jobs in industrial organizations.
Physical & Medical tests:
For many jobs, physical & medical jobs are a necessity. Similar to the scene that you saw, It is wise not to apply to a police or an army job if one doesn’t meet the set specific criteria. For example, if a candidate wishes to be part of the Indian army, the minimum requirement for height set by them is 157.5 cm for males and 152 cm for females.
Other organizations also conduct medical examinations to ensure whether the candidate is healthy enough to perform job activities. These medical examinations are generally outsourced to third-party vendors.
Behavioral Interviews:
These interviews are more to evaluate your behavior in a given situation. This is done to know how you react in difficult situations. They want to understand this from your experience. So questions such as ‘How did you approach the situation when your project failed to meet the deadline?’ or ‘How did you respond to negative feedback given by your manager?’
Personality Tests:
An organization wants to test this as they want to understand your personality type. They also want to know whether your personality would be suitable for their culture or not. For example, if the company is hiring for a sales role and the candidate is an introvert and doesn’t like to speak much, then the personality is not suitable for the role they are hiring for.
Simulation Tests:
These tests undertake to clone of the tasks that will be part of the job. These tests place the candidate in real-life situations to understand the reaction and responses of the candidate. They also judge the critical reasoning ability of the candidate. This helps the employer understand candidates’ problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities.
