Problem Solving - Advanced test

Do you want to hire excellent problem solvers? Do you look for someone who calmly finds solutions while under pressure? If you answered yes to either of these questions, Maki could help by offering a problem solving test for hiring. 

When you hire new employees, the pressure builds. You want to be sure your new staff fits in well with your team and their new job. But how do you assess someone's problem solving skills in a single interview? 

The short answer to the above question remains simple. You can't. But Maki can. Maki provides a smile and an easy way to assess a candidate's problem solving skills through an online problem solving test. In this article, we'll discuss how to use these tests, evaluate results, and what these tests can do for recruiters.

How To Use Problem Solving Tests in the Hiring Process?

A problem solving test can save recruiters time by differentiating between good candidates and great candidates. This section will delve into how exactly you use these tests when hiring. 

Why Are Problem Solving Tests Important When Hiring?

No matter what job needs filling, the best candidate to hire has sharp problem solving skills. Every job wants someone who finds solutions, even while under pressure. 

But how do you determine which candidates have good, solid problem solving skills? While hiring, most recruiters only have an interview and resume, and that's not enough interaction to separate the excellent problem solvers from the rest.

Thankfully, Maki has a solution to this problem. Maki curates a specialized test to find the best-fit candidates for your job. Candidates can easily take this test online, making it the perfect forum to test those problem solving skills. 

Using a problem solving test like the one Maki provides allows recruiters to see problem solving skills in action in a way they could never replicate in an interview or find on a resume. 

What’s in a Problem Solving Test?

With Maki, you get to choose what gets tested! Most problem-solving tests assess drawing logical conclusions, links between data, and processing information. 

Maki allows you to custom build your tests, meaning you get to choose the questions and format. Of course, templates stand by, ready to help if you get stuck. 

This format of customizing your tests allows you to assess the specific types of problem solving skills related to your industry. If you're looking for a data entry clerk, you'll want to include data analysis and data links. Hiring for customer service? Use questions that require logic and excellent, clear thinking even while under pressure. 

With a specialized problem-solving test designed specifically for you, you'll catch all the suitable candidates who make a perfect fit for your job. Maki guides you with templates and ready-made questions you can use while allowing you to customize the test format and questions.

When To Administer a Problem Solving Test for Hiring?

Maki provides their problem solving tests online, making them accessible for candidates during any part of the hiring process. However, the recruiter should pause administering the tests right away and wait until they have narrowed the hiring pool down to a few. 

The action would be to wait until the recruiter has found candidates suitable for the job on paper. Their resumes and work experience align with company standards, and they should express great interest in working for your company. 

Whether you administer your test before or after an interview remains at the discretion of the hiring consultant. Giving it to the candidates beforehand proves who has the problem solving skills necessary for your job description and thus who should move on to the interview stage. After the interview, giving the test to the candidates could be an excellent way to narrow your hiring pool even further.

How To Assess and Use Problem Solving Tests While Hiring?

Maki provides a problem-solving test complete with results. You can analyze these results to find the perfect candidate with the skills you need. 

How Can Recruiters See Test Results?

Recruiters can view results in one of two ways. You can see results via an entire overview or simply by each candidate. 

The overview feature allows you to see your entire hiring pool and assess how they all performed on your test. If a couple of candidates stick out, you can view each candidate individually to understand their strengths and weaknesses better. 

Maki also provides integrations, meaning you can administer and analyze this test within your platform. A chat feature means you can easily communicate with other team members or even the candidates themselves about results. 

How To Use Results? 

With Maki, you can easily decide about hiring within your platform. Based on assessment performance, you can move on to the next stage, hire, silent reject, or reject candidates. 

Maki also makes it easy to send feedback to all candidates. Create an email response with results for each candidate. You can even add some advice you might have concerning their future progress. Sending feedback shows a commitment to communication for your company which means a lot to employees and clients alike.

Choosing the Best Candidate for You

Deciding who moves forward and who does not can be pretty tricky. Just avoid making your decision based on test results alone. You're hiring a whole person, so be sure the interview and other steps in your hiring process show a person you want on your team.

Test results alone do not qualify a candidate. If one candidate scores lower on a problem solving test than another but exemplify the team spirit and personality you want on your team, then don't let a simple test score get in their way.

One good thing about skill sets: they can be practiced and honed. So if you feel one particular candidate lacks the degree of excellence you desire but has a perfect personality and resume for the job, you might be able to help them hone their skills until they're at the level you need. 

The bottom line remains: a test score can help you sort between the weak and strong candidates, but a test score also won't determine the strongest candidate and best fit for you. Only the recruiter can know the combination of personality and skill needed for the job, and that may not be based on a straightforward test score. 

Recruiting for Problem Solving

When hiring candidates with good problem-solving skills, it may prove beneficial to the recruiter to advertise for problem-solving skills instead of hoping a good problem solver applies. 

Jobs Requiring Problem Solving 

Most jobs available on the market today require some degree of problem-solving. Excellent problem solving skills aid every industry. However, in some cases, problem-solving makes up most of the job description. These jobs include, but aren't limited to: 

• Air traffic controller
• Computer programmer
• Automotive technician
• Police officer
• Accountant
• Social worker
• Customer service representative
• Data analyst/data entry clerk 
• And more

If you're hiring for one of the above positions, advertise for problem solving skills. Do this by creating a problem-solving test for candidates and adding the link to your problem-solving test in the job description. Be on the lookout for candidates who have prior work experience involving problem solving or those who list it on their resume as a skill. 

Even if the position you're looking to fill doesn't include one of the above occupations, problem-solving skills prove helpful for any job description and will help in any industry. In addition, Maki provides many other kinds of assessments, including attention to detail and others, that help you find your perfect candidate. 

Problem Solving Skills on Resumes 

In addition to listing their work experience, some people will list their types of skills. Whether excellent problem solving skills or sharp attention to detail, potential candidates will do anything to sell themselves. 

Take these claims of skill with a grain of salt. Just because someone claims to have the set of problem solving skills doesn't mean they do. Look for work experience that supports their claim. 

In short, problem solving tests help recruiters in many ways. They weed out great candidates from the mediocre and help prove whether or not the skills these candidates claim to have are factual. 

How To Advertise for Problem Solving Skills

Some jobs require good problem solving skills. If you're looking for a private investigator or customer service representative, the job title manages to convey the desire for a good problem solver. Other jobs may be a bit more subtle. 

As the recruiter, advertising for good problem solving skills right off the bat helps begin weeding out the hiring pool for the problem-solving skills you desire. Listing these skills on the job description or showing how much these skills mean to your company by adding a problem solving test shows you're looking for a specific type of person, not just anyone. 

Adding a problem solving test for hiring happens to be a good way of advertising for those with good problem solving skills. You can even go the untraditional route and use the test as the first step in your hiring process. You only use precious resources like time on candidates who have the skills you desire. 

Advertising for candidates with problem solving skills works to weed out weak candidates, making your hiring process more manageable. Such advertisements will also attract those confident in their strong problem solving skills. 

Problem Solving Test: Considerations for Recruiters

As with any test, recruiters using a problem-solving test have some things to consider during and after the assessment. 

Pros and Cons of Using a Problem Solving Test When Hiring

There are plenty of pros and cons when using a problem-solving test to find those with excellent skills.

Pros 

• Allows a candidate to showcase their skills
• It helps eliminates candidates who don't possess the skills you need 
• It gives the recruiter a way to test skills without an actual interview 

Cons

• It doesn't always accurately reflect skill sets
• It has the potential to stress out candidates 

Overall, more pros exist than cons when using tests as assessments of a candidate's skill set. As the recruiter, remember to take each of the results with a dose of reality. While these tests accurately measure strengths and weaknesses, the assessments don't always correctly show the candidate's true potential. 

Margin of Error

Unfortunately for recruiters, no test created can truly test someone's intelligence or problem solving capabilities. When assessing someone's problem solving skills, try to keep an open mind. 

Some people have poor test-taking skills. They may have excellent problem-solving skills, but the time crunch or pressure of answering questions gets into some people's heads. 

In short, test results don't always accurately reflect people's skills. These tests indicate people's strengths and weaknesses but can't always give a definite answer on who has the perfect set of problem-solving skills for your job description. 

Conclusion

No matter what job you're hiring for, using a problem solving test to assess potential candidates' skills allows recruiters to see these strengths and weaknesses in a way they never could during a simple interview. Simple and easy to use, Maki provides an in-depth assessment designed to showcase each candidate's skill set. 

When assessing your exam results, remember that no test designed has been able to reflect someone's intelligence or capabilities accurately. Problem solving tests, like the one Maki provides, give you insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate: something you can't accomplish in an interview. 

If you're looking to hire a problem solver but aren't sure how to assess each candidate's skill set, use the problem-solving test by Maki today! Convenient and easy to navigate, Maki does all the hard work assessing and compiling results for you. Download today!

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