What is a Job Knowledge Test?
A job knowledge test, a mastery and achievement test, evaluates an individual's understanding of numerous areas of a specific career. A job knowledge exam will measure the individual's fundamental understanding of the role and procedural knowledge.
Unlike aptitude tests, which examine a person's inherent skills and abilities, work knowledge exams validate a person's technical knowledge or professional competence. The exam measures the individual's current level of knowledge about the test's subject area. The exam, however, is not intended to predict the individual's ability to apply that information or their personality qualities.
The benefits of knowledge testing in employee selection
- Lower Turnover
According to the Rainmaker Group, "turning over one person can cost roughly 1/2 of a low skilled hourly employee's yearly earnings plus benefits, whereas losing a member of C-Level top management can cost 3 to 5 times his or her annual wages and perks." The inability to fulfil work tasks is a common factor for turnover.
You may decrease this high price by properly testing all possible workers' aptitude and expertise before hiring them and discovering they are not suitable for the role.
- Improved Skill Evaluation
When a candidate realises from the start of the hiring process that they will be evaluated based on their knowledge of the industry, they will be less likely to try to talk their way into a position. A multiple-choice and true-false section of a knowledge assessment exam is usually a tangible means of determining a potential employee's ability level.
While some employees do not perform well on tests, asking a candidate to take one provides insight into his capacity to manage hardship and pressure while demonstrating some of his knowledge. These characteristics are tough to identify through an interview alone.
- Team Assignment
Knowledge assessment will assist you in determining which job or team the applicant would fit best into. Simply inquiring about the ability in the interview may not provide you with an accurate picture of the applicant's abilities. When a team lacks a skill, measuring a group of candidates to see who has a better understanding of the weak area allows for a better pick.
Based on years of research, here are some takeaways that explain more about job knowledge tests:
Job knowledge assessments are excellent indicators of training success and job performance. Their use may result in improved performance among recruits.
Job-specific job knowledge assessments outperform broad job knowledge tests, especially for complicated jobs.
Job knowledge assessments are not meant to promote turnover, and no meta-analyses have been conducted to examine this relationship.
Job knowledge assessments may minimise involuntary turnover caused by low performance since they are related to better performance, but more research is needed to validate that hypothesis.
A job knowledge exam should be created using job analysis and should have standardised administration and scoring procedures.
Job knowledge assessments should not include questions on material addressed in training or learnt on the job.
Job knowledge exams are best suited for assessing essential prerequisites—basic information or abilities that will not be trained—for positions that need extensive training. This might include customer service expertise, grammar, writing, or typing abilities for child welfare workers.
Like other recruiting tactics, job knowledge exams must adhere to particular professional and regulatory criteria. Because of the technical requirements involved in establishing and verifying a job knowledge exam, it is advised that agencies seek assistance from an expert.
