Author: Airlie Hilliard
Identifying top talent can be difficult, especially if you have ineffective or inefficient selection assessments. Luckily, there is over a century of research into the best predictors of future job performance, with work samples consistently indicated to be one of the strongest predictors of performance (see the table below).
Work sample tests, also known as work simulations, work previews or virtual job tryouts, are used to evaluate how applicants perform with a job-relevant task that is aligned with what their responsibilities would be if they were to get the role. Work samples predict job performance well, across roles. In practice, they are particularly useful when:
- Hiring for specific skills that are not well reflected in resumes, cognitive or personality tests. For example, specific thinking patterns needed for consultants or leaders, or the ability to work well with difficult patients for frontline health workers.
- Hiring for frontline roles where applicants expect job relevant assessments and have a low tolerance for completing abstract tests.
- Hiring for roles where new joiners are expected to have specific skills for the role without the need for extensive training.
The exact task can vary based on the role, take a sales position, for example. Applicants might be given a role-play task to convince a client that is thinking of backing out of a deal to move ahead. On the other hand, a content marketer might be given a task to create a blog post on a topic relevant to the company’s product or mission.
| Measure | Barrick & Mount (p̂) | Schmidt et al. (r) | He et al. (ρ) | Sackett et al. (General/ Contextualised; ρ) | Schmidt & Hunter (r) |
| Conscientiousness | .22 | .22 | .24 | .19/.25 | .31 |
| Cognitive ability | – | .65 | – | .31 | .51 |
| Work sample test | – | .33 | – | .33 | .54 |
| SJT | – | .26 | – | .26 | – |
| Integrity | – | .46 | – | .31 | .41 |
Work sample tests can be expensive and time-consuming
Work sample tests are underutilised due to how time-consuming they are. The time required from employers to conduct, score and evaluate work samples is high and costly, often involving hours of senior staff time per candidate. This can considerably increase the cost to hire. The time it takes to arrange work samples also increases time-to-hire which negatively impacts candidate experience and could see top talent accept roles elsewhere if competitors are quicker to move candidates forward
SeeTalent’s AI-powered work sample tests can reduce costs and time to hire
SeeTalent’s AI-powered work sample tests use generative AI to create realistic work sample scenarios. Staff time is no longer needed to administer work samples or case studies. Performance is instantly scored using sophisticated algorithms that are derived from psychological science. This reduces the amount of resources needed from the hiring team, creates greater flexibility for candidates who can complete the task at a time of their choosing, and provides candidates with instant feedback to learn and grow. Consequently, we can reduce the cost of implementing work sample tests by up to 90%, thereby allowing a wider range of companies to benefit from the predictive power of work samples for their hiring.
Assess skills, personality, and values all in one step with SeeTalent
Traditional work sample tests and Situataional Judgement Tests measure only the specific skills the task is designed to measure. With SeeTalent’s AI-powered work sample tests, you can measure skills, personality and values all in one step – without the need for additional assessments.
Language is a powerful source of information, and accurately reflects a persons’ personality and values. This means you don’t need to have a separate personality assessment, but if you want to check out our image-based personality assessments with AI-augmented reporting, then we won’t stop you.
Go beyond the CV with AI-powered work sample
Work samples offer a different kind of data not contained in CVs. They form the basis for high quality matching decisions that do not just rely on past experience and job title matches and instead look at what candidates can do, not just what they did do. Not only will this lead to higher quality talent, but this talent will also likely be more diverse – job title matching fails to account for talented individuals that are navigating a career change or that have had a non-traditional pathway.
Our AI-powered work sample tests are also great for internal progression and reskilling – your team can take the test and discover skills that they might not even have known that they had. You can then match the skills that already exist in your company to open roles, making filling them even quicker and demonstrating your commitment to helping individuals reach their full potential.
How do they work?
Our AI-powered work sample tests are powered by generative AI that poses as a client, customer, supplier, partner, or another persona that makes sense for that role. Performance during the interaction is then evaluated using science-backed algorithms to determine a candidate’s fit, resulting in a fair, accurate, and standardised assessment. It’s as easy as 1,2,3:
- We use conversational AI to create a realistic, dynamic scenario for candidates to show off their skills through a work-relevant task.
- Combining our expertise in measuring talent and psychological science with machine learning, our sophisticated algorithms evaluate applicants’ performance.
- Candidates receive personalised feedback on their performance.
Schedule a demo to find out more about how SeeTalent can help you find top quality candidates through our AI-powered but generative AI resistant tests.
