An aptitude test is a battery of tests, which are administered to students who have to select a field of study and to new recruits in reputed companies. Human resources professionals rely on these tests to make hiring decisions. Therefore, the question whether aptitude testing of new recruits is legal is baseless. Aptitude assessment needs to be done for new recruits to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Employment testing is legal so long as the test is administered according to the test developer’s use. Take the example of accounting recruits. They are administered a maths test before employment because their job role requires a certain level of maths proficiency. However, if the company screens custodians with the same maths test then it will be illegal. This is because maths proficiency is very different for an accountant and a custodian.
Precautions to be taken before administering an aptitude test
A global aptitude assessment test is a type of employment test that is used to test an applicant’s knowledge about a particular subject related to his job role. Such tests are legal and if they are properly applied they can be good allies for human resources managers to take hiring decisions. However, before administering an aptitude test, the following precautions need to be taken:
- Make sure the aptitude test is professionally developed
When an aptitude test is employed, it is necessary for the authority using it to find out whether the test has been developed professionally and that too for the purpose for which it is being used. Normally, people who have a doctorate in education should develop aptitude tests. Therefore, always ask the credentials of the person who has developed a particular test you are using
- Make sure all the questions in the test are applicable to the job
Not all questions in an aptitude test may be applicable to the job role for which the test is being used. In such cases, it is always advisable to weed out such questions and test applicants on the remaining relevant questions.
- Test all applicants or employees
Restricting your aptitude testing to only a handful of candidates you have shortlisted for interview will make you biased. It is always better to give the test to everyone who has given an application for a particular job. Then the people who pass the test can be interviewed on a personal basis for further due diligence.
- Beware of I.Q. tests
Before you employ any I.Q. tests for taking employment decisions, it is necessary to ascertain whether experts have professionally developed the test. Certain jobs require an I.Q. above a certain level. This should be specified in the job advertisement to make things clear to applicants. However, your main problem is defending the threshold set for hiring/not hiring certain employees. Your main job is to defend this threshold so that you can make things clear to your hiring managers.
Thus, the global aptitude assessment test is a potent tool in the hands of human resource managers, which help them make hiring decisions.
