Employment Tests

Abstract

Properly constructed and applied tests can be effective tools for hospitality managers who must make hiring decisions. Although they should not be used as the only hiring determinant, tests are a good supplement to interviews, reference checks, and professional certification by providing objective information to managers on which applicants might be best for a job. The expense of testing may well be recovered by reduced turnover that results from effective selection and hiring. Jobs that are best suited to testing are those that involve special knowledge or abilities. Testing for dishroom employees would be prohibitive, for example, but a test might be useful to assess candidates for, say, banquet supervisor. Selecting the proper test involves making sure the test is valid and reliable, cost effective, and properly developed by its creators. Tests can measure simple ability, ability under time pressure, position knowledge, performance, and personality traits. They can be fact oriented or use real or hypothetical situations, and they can be given to individuals or to groups. Regardless of the type of test, it must be properly administered or even the best of tests will give useless or unfair results.