Pre-Employment Competency Test (employee, applying, interview, employer)

[LoveBoating]

Do you think that more employers should give clerical/office/warehouse type job applicants a Competency Test before hiring......I do. You know, a test about math (adding, subtracting, dividing), filing alpha/numeric, punctuation, etc., etc. There are even a lot of Temp and Temp-Perm Agencies that will even give a typing and computer test before they send a prospective employee to a client. See, people can put any kind of job experience on a resume', and unless checked...........????? Not only that, in giving a Competency Test, an employer will know if the person abilities much better. Don't pass the Test, your not hired for that clerical/office/warehouse type job.........period!
I've taken a few Competency Tests and have never had a problem. But, I've actually seen applicants get up and walk out of an office because they were told there was a Competency Test to take.
Where I work at right now, our Department Manager hired a guy that couldn't even spell Army right (spelled it Amry). This manager is a nice guy, but has a "soft heart" for people with problems. The guy that was hired worked in our warehouse and transposed a lot of numbers and made my job (Inventory Management) very, very hard. He was fired last year for an unrelated problem.
So, what do you think???

[gardener34]

That is why companies now do a lot of "temp to hire" to do a test run with their employees to make sure they fit the position.
It is "win-win" with these agencies because you can see if you like the potential employer too.

[Racelady88]

I spent almost an hour doing test like that today. For an agency, before they will even interview me.

I don't mind doing them, but much of the material that I was tested on has nothing whatsoever to do with the type of position that I was applying for.

[square peg]

I guess generic overlap has to be inevitable on these tests, Evey - and I'm all for them! In fact, I'd go one step further and look for some kind of personality test to see if a prospective employee is suitable to deal with others - like customers and employees. It would save many tears all around.

[JavaPhil]

I have received competency tests in electronics, basic word processing, programming and computer literacy. I have never considered it to be a slur on my skills, just a matter of the employer verifying the limit of my resume. I have been burned by the inflated resume by folks I expected to be skilled in what they claimed. It was a waste of my time and the company's money. And the obverse, is the guy who turns out to be so multi-talented, you wonder why he fell into your clutches.