Candidate Testing: Auditioning
Instead of going through interviews with a long list of people, many businesses are starting to put their new employees through an auditioning process. Using past projects that have been completed is a good way of testing to see how potential employees are capable of coming with solutions to real world problems. It reveals how well new staff work under pressure, interpret the information given to them, and put their knowledge and skills to good use in coming up with solutions and dealing with any added problems that may crop up along the way of reaching their solution.
The candidate testing process can be something as simple as presenting a written assignment for a solution or making them take some live or simulated calls to see how well they deal with customer interaction and taking care of their concerns. There's almost no realm of the workplace that a candidate can't be placed into see how well they would do under pressure. After all, it's easy to give a good interview when many people have been through it a few times, but that can only do so much. If a candidate doesn't have the right skills to complete the task effectively and to full satisfaction, then even the best interview won't get them the job.
Candidate Testing: Temporary Employment
Instead of putting them through a simulated experience, try hiring a candidate for a day or even a full work week. This gives them the real world experience of being in a full-time position while you allow them to test the waters and see what they're truly capable of. Candidates get to see for themselves; how a business is run and will get to experience it for them in dealing with the different tasks that are assigned to them. What makes or breaks a candidate is their capability to adapt to the situation and do their best in the job assigned to them.
Candidate testing is a much more efficient way of determining from the get-go, which individuals are more suited to the task than others. The process may even surprise some potential employees in seeing where their strengths and weaknesses lie, so that they know what they need to improve upon in the future in order to get the job they want.