Another important decision in the selection process involves applicant testing and the kinds of tests to use. A test is a standardised, objective measure of a person’s behaviour, performance or attitude. It is standardised because the way the test is carried out, the environment in which the test is administered and the way the individual scores are calculated – are uniformly applied. It is objective in that it tries to measure individual differences in a scientific way, giving very little room for individual bias and interpretation.
Over the years, employment tests have not only gained importance but also a certain amount of inevitability in employment decisions. Since they try to objectively determine how well an applicant meets job requirements, most companies do not hesitate to invest their time and money in selection testing in a big way. Some of the commonly used employment tests may be stated thus: