A growing number of preemployment tests simulate a job’s functions and are being conducted via computer or on the Web. You can liken them to video games but within a work setting. Toyota, Starbucks, the paint maker Sherwin Williams, and numerous financial firms such as SunTrust Banks, KeyBank, and National City Bank have successfully used virtual job simulations to assess applicants.
At Toyota, applicants participating in simulations read dials and gauges, spot safety problems, and use their ability to solve problems as well as their general ability to learn as assessed. The candidates can see and hear about the job they’re applying for from current Toyota employees. National City Bank has used virtual assessments to test call-center candidates and branch manager candidates. Call-center candidates are given customer-service problems to solve, and branch manager candidates go through a simulation that assesses their ability to foster relationships with clients and make personnel decisions.
These kinds of virtual assessment tools, which are produced by companies such as Shaker Consulting Group, Profiles International, and others, do not come cheap. But although they can cost tens of thousands of dollars, larger companies that can afford them are saying they are worth it. The benefits? Better-qualified candidates, faster recruiting, and lower turnover among employees hired. KeyBank says that by using virtual testing tools, it realized savings of more than $1.75 million per year due to lower turnover.
Candidates also seem to like the assessments because they provide a more realistic job preview and make them feel as if they are being chosen for jobs based on more than just their personalities or how they performed during an interview. “It was a very insightful experience that made you think about what exactly you like and dislike in the workplace and if you really enjoy helping customers and have patience to do so,” says one candidate tested for a customer service job.
And it is not just younger candidates who play a lot of video games who like the tests—older candidates do as well. “We haven’t seen any adverse impact,” says Ken Troyan, chief staffing officer for SunTrust Banks. “There’s some mythology—if you will—about older people not being computer-savvy, and that’s just not so.” One study found that the simulations also tend to result in less of a gap between people in underrepresented groups and White candidates than when paper-and-pencil tests are used.
A handful of software companies have developed games that don’t mirror work tasks but are actual video games you would play for fun. “Bomba Blitz” and “Meta Maze” are two mobile games developed by the preemployment-testing company Knack. According to Knack, the games utilize behavioral neuroscience and big data—in this case, the game scores and decision-making traits of thousands of different types of workers—to match people with jobs.
HR experts warn that companies need to be sure they aren’t simply buying glitzy simulations that don’t translate well to the jobs for which they are hiring. Games like those produced by Knack are just now starting to be used, and firms generally aren’t solely relying on them to make hiring decisions. Also, the tools could potentially eliminate candidates who have trouble with simulations, games, or computers but might make good employees. You should still use the U.S. Department of Labor’s “whole-person approach” to hiring, says one HR professional. The whole-person approach factors in the results of a variety of accepted tests along with prior actual performance and interview results to get the most complete picture of an employee or candidate.
Answer the Questions
What do you think are the prime advantages and disadvantages of “virtual tryouts”?
Do you think there would be any EEOC concerns regarding this system?
Do you think virtual job tryouts might be better suited for some jobs than others? If so, which ones?
