Cognitive Ability Testing – Are they as bright as they seem?
When hiring a candidate for a position in your workplace, it is important to get somebody who is the right ‘fit’. This means many things… Will their personality fit into the work environment? Do they have the knowledge and skills required to thrive in the position? Do they have the cognitive ability to cope with the role you are offering to them? This short blog post will show the benefits of cognitive ability testing in the workplace and how this can benefit you and your company. Afterall, finding the perfect candidate is worth its weight in gold!
What is Cognitive Ability Testing?
Cognitive ability is simply the capability of an individual to perform various mental activities, including skills such as problem solving and learning. It is then easily understood why testing a candidate’s cognitive ability would help you to make a decision about whether they are the perfect person for the job.
A cognitive ability test will assess how the candidate will adapt to new changes, grasp new concepts and see new opportunities. It is an indicator of how the person can solve problems, learn new things and process information.
Why Should My Company Use Cognitive Ability Testing?
As previously stated, cognitive ability tests will allow you to gain greater insights into the abilities of your candidates. Not only this, but cognitive ability has been found to be a great indicator into future job performance. It might benefit you to know that the test, using Big 5 Assessments, only takes seven minutes and you will be given information on the candidate’s ability to problem solve and learn new skills, and their speed in these areas. The information given is broken down into different areas and gives you information in both numerical and word form. Even going as far as to tell you the candidate’s ‘job fit’.
This will help you to understand whether they’re right for the role, and also how you can support them to learn in the future should you choose to hire them. It is worth noting, that just because somebody scores low on these tests, does not mean they’re not right for the role. Every role is different, and you can take this into consideration when looking at the scores. The lower scorers are often really good at handling routine tasks once trained effectively.
Summary…
Hiring new personnel for your company is not something that should be taken lightly. New candidates, if chosen well, can have a great impact on company performance. Through the use of cognitive ability testing, you can learn even more about potential candidates, ensuring that you choose the perfect person for you and your company.
About the Author: nikkyvb
Nikky van Bommel is the Marketing Director for Big 5 Assessments and has worked in the Psychometric Testing industry for over 10 years. Nikky is responsible for all marketing and social media for the organisation.