We at Management Performance Associates (MPA) believe that what’s true of the CPG industry is true of the CPG recruiting world: you have to modernize, or find yourself left in the dust. With that in mind, we have decided to add free candidate testing to the multitude of client services we already offer. But modernizing doesn’t mean throwing out what works, it means refining your process. Candidate testing will never replace our finely tuned talent for assessing candidates the old fashioned way…by talking to them! It merely adds a sophisticated tool to our array of methods for advocating for you as the perfect candidate for the plum job of your choice.
The testing service with whom we have partnered is HireSelect. HireSelect offers a unique battery of tests that cannot be found anywhere else. Their proprietary testing regime is designed by leading experts from Harvard University in statistics, psychology, and psychometrics. We are able to assess each candidate’s aptitude, personality, employee profile and psychological profile; as well as measure their particular job skills such as sales in general or even their ability to close sales!
As far as we know, no other CPG recruiting firm offers this service at no cost to their clients!
Simple: It’s a data-driven process that provides our clients with objective measurements of our candidates qualifications and suitability for a particular position. It enables them to discern between similarly situated candidates so that they can better guarantee an increased Return on Investment (ROI). They no longer have to take your word and ours on faith, or those of your references, because they have quantifiable evidence right in front of their face.
Employers can find, and have found, great utility in this testing process. And that makes sense given the following:
- Employment testing has a multitude of benefits: increased productivity, a reduction in turnover, and lower hiring and training costs. But the testing service MPA employs distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack because its affordable, quick, convenient, and comprehensive, and can be specifically tailored to individual openings. That’s the appeal of CriteriaCorp’s HireSelect.
- Hireselect’s brand is trusted by other CPG companies because the results are PREDICTIVE of future job performance and thus future success: High-scoring test takers average dramatically higher productivity; in one case, a company experienced a 28% increase in sales after using this testing process to select the perfect candidates. Studies show that pre-employment tests are the most accurate predictor of future job performance.
- Breaking virtual ties: The aptitude, psychological profile, and personality traits of a candidate can be crucial in assessing who possesses the edge between two otherwise perfectly qualified prospective employees.
- Testing makes you a better interviewee: A couple of the personality types that HireSelect identifies include candidates who are “extroverted, competitive, goal-oriented” and “critical thinker, quick learner.” Now, you might consider these all admirable qualities. But rarely do you find them all in one person. As you’ve probably discovered by now, it’s better to emphasize two or three outstanding qualities that really speak to your ability to achieve the stated objective of your future employer. It comes across as more genuine, and its more concise.
- Remember, testing will only serve to PROMOTE your candidacy, never to diminish it.A good score will speak volumes about your suitability for your desired position, but it is not the be-all-end-all of packaging yourself as an attractive candidate. A mediocre score isn’t the end of the world, especially since we share the results of your tests to companies at your discretion. But a high aptitude score, for instance, could be the difference between working your way up the corporate ladder or career stagnation.
- Testing is not a replacement for ol’ fashioned recruiting, it merely compliments it: MPA’s clients trust our word, but implementing a modern testing regime lends further credence/weight to our stamp of approval. Plus, it gives us a better sense of what positions you would excel at, and how to sell you to that company from an even stronger position. They know you’ll save them thousands of dollars in training costs, rehiring costs, and thousands in lost productivity.
- Testing will bolster your appeal: A company can look at your employment history, ask your references to vouch for your work ethic and work product, and ask whether MPA thinks you’re right (and ready) for the position, but now we can add sophisticated testing and analysis of those results to the mix. Adding further depth to your application provides indispensable details to someone sitting in front of a impossibly large stack of resumes. Choosing MPA to go to bat for you puts your name at the top of that pile, but you become a cut above the rest with a testing profile. Perhaps Supervisor X sees that you have an excellent track record of increasing profits over the course of three quarters, but sees a hole in your resume in terms of a piece of software that you have little experience utilizing. A testing profile that testifies to your ability to learn quickly will put jobs with a high early learning curve within your reach.
- The testing service bolsters your resume: You can demonstrate abilities that aren’t on your resume/cv, either because you had space limitations, or because you didn’t receive formal instruction (that one is unlikely).