Online Assessments vs Traditional Assessments
Campus recruitment involves assessment of candidates’ skills, abilities and performance. To achieve this objective, campus assessments are typically inclusive of, but not limited to-
- Behavioral Assessment
- Functional Assessment
- Cognitive Ability Test
- Role-based Test
- Language Proficiency Test
- Remote Work Assessment
The concept of an assessment center took off during World War II, to help with recruitment in the army, in large numbers. In the 1950s, assessment centers evolved to be an effective system after their adoption by large organizations such as Sears, GE and AT&T. Over the next few decades, many firms embraced technology to develop virtual assessment centers (VACs).
Planning and implementing a traditional campus assessment programme is a grueling task with increasingly complex logistical challenges and rapidly mounting costs. The inherent inefficiencies in traditional methods often make them time-consuming. Moreover, they fail to offer intelligent insights about the candidate pool. The need for an efficient assessment model has spawned online assessments which are conducted with the help of various assessment tools.
Assessment tools aid the talent acquisition teams by filtering the candidate pool to fewer yet highly qualified candidates thereby saving time/costs in the recruitment process.
The tests are generally administered through sophisticated software tools that automate the entire process. These tests can be deployed in varied segments such as psychometric, aptitude and coding. The test results are often delivered instantly, thereby reducing the time and resources consumed.
Coding assessments are amongst the most popular tests when a candidate’s proficiency in programming paradigms needs to be assessed. Coding interviews essentially require candidates to develop algorithms for a desired output.
Traditional methods require candidates to appear for the test and perform under a proctor’s observation. However, with the arrival of dedicated online platforms, candidates can submit their answers online with detailed test scores generated rapidly. The technology in such a platform can even monitor browsing behaviors and alert examiners of fraudulent activity.
The popularity of online assessment tools has touched dizzying heights because they:
- Alleviate the burden on time and other resources
- Help analyze results by providing detailed reports on various parameters
- Provide accurate insights through superior computing power
- Offer the capability of assessing a larger pool of candidates
- Improve hiring quality
- Deliver fair results with standardized assessments
- Make the experience convenient for both the employers and candidates
While there are a few drawbacks with online assessments for campus hiring, the benefits outweigh those. There is a significant amount of planning that goes into developing an online assessment. It is essential to pick the right questions for an accurate evaluation. It goes without saying that candidates must have access to, and the necessary skills to use computers and related applications. Any technical issue can cause interruptions and result in the need for a re-test.
Online assessments provide flexibility, and shorten the entire hiring process considerably. In this digital era, technology-oriented solutions are gaining traction. Computerized tests, automated scoring and analytics have corroborated the success of hiring strategies. Online assessments will continue to become reliable tools and several SaaS companies will focus on providing such software solutions.
At HirePro, we offer a good mix of assessment tests so you can meet your talent requirements with minimal resources. Our assessment platform houses a host of questions and can be custom-built to suit your campus hiring needs and deliver the finest experience. They are designed to help you with your university recruitment, without having to compromise on the quality of fresh talent. Reach out to us at 080 6656 6000 or write to us at sales@hirepro.in for a demo.
