Job Simulations: A Practical Approach to Candidate Evaluation

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<h2>Key Takeaways</h2>
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<li>Interviews aren’t infallible at telling you how well a candidate will perform on the job. Boost your hiring accuracy by using Job Simulations and Work Culture Assessments.</li>
<li>To really see whether they can do the job, set up a Job Simulation to directly test their skills. Design one incorporating the Key Competencies from your Great Performance Profile, keep it short and if possible, carry it out in your workplace after the first interview.</li>
<li>Work Culture Assessments help you see if a candidate will fit in with your team. Introduce candidates to your staff and see how they get on.</li>
<li>Alternatively, you could employ a candidate for a short temporary period, then make them permanent if they perform well and fit in.</li>
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Having had a great interview with a candidate you might be dying to offer them a job and be done with the whole recruitment rigmarole. If so, please hold on a minute! During interviews candidates show you the best version of themselves, but can they actually do the job? 

Job Simulations and Work Culture Assessments give you the hard facts. I’ve seen candidates do brilliantly at interview, then completely bomb when set a task, so putting together a Job Simulation is definitely worth the effort! (Job Simulations are different to the work assessment centres used by big organisations who hire large numbers of people, often as part of their graduate recruitment schemes. These assessment centres are not normally used by SMEs.)

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Job Simulations

Job Simulations provide a realistic preview of a candidate’s potential using a job relevant task, offering insights into technical and soft skills. They are designed for the candidate to demonstrate just two or three Key Competencies needed for the job.

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How to Arrange a Job Simulation

• Prepare in advance. It’s too important to be thrown together on interview day; it needs thought and preparation.
• Bring together line managers and your existing Great Performers in the role or department to design the simulation. They will know the best two or three Key Competencies from the Great Performance Profile to assess. 
• Job Simulations should be short enough that candidates can do them right after their interview – 30 minutes is sufficient.
• Avoid team exercises, which can add unnecessary complexity and variability. The candidate should be able to complete the task on their own.
• Schedule it after the first interview. The candidate should be forewarned that there may be a short “assessment” after an interview, and that they will not need to prepare for it. It is important to play this down, otherwise candidates may get apprehensive and not attend the interview.
• It’s good if the task can be carried out in your workplace as this allows the candidate to interact with your staff, which will allow you to judge how good a fit they’ll be. 
• Job Simulations inevitably feel artificial and highly pressured so don’t expect candidates to do brilliantly or even to perform to the best of their ability. What you’re doing is looking for evidence that the person can meet the Minimum Acceptable Standard and checking that they can do what they’ve claimed.

Examples include:

• For a customer service job, Key Competencies might be showing warmth towards customers and being able to carry out good written communications. To test these, you could give candidates half an hour to write responses to real customer emails. 
• For IT developers, you could arrange for them to meet a fellow developer and discuss coding patterns. The candidate could also review a section of code and do some pair programming.
• For a salesperson you could incorporate role plays such as getting candidates to conduct a mock sales call.

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Temporary-to-Permanent Assessments

Another way of observing how a candidate performs and assessing cultural fit is to take them on temporarily and later make them permanent if things go well. Keep the temporary period short, though, otherwise the candidate may find a post with another company. 

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Work Culture Assessments

Work Culture Assessments help you get a sense of the true person when they’re in a more relaxed setting. It’s a mutual way for candidates to assess their “cultural fit”, and the employer to keep selling the organisation and job vacancy. Give candidates a tour of your workplace and see how they get on with your employees. Or have a group of your staff take them out for lunch and see how they behave in an informal setting.

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How to Organise a Work Culture Assessment

• Candidates are given a tour of the work environment and introduced to staff in an authentic and non-scripted manner. Both the candidate and employer can check for cultural fit and ask questions. It’s practically impossible to sugar-coat things, and candidates love this approach. Ultimately, I’d rather allow a candidate to qualify-out now than turn into a mis-hire.
• The candidates want to see whether the culture of your firm will suit them, so keep selling the organisation and the job to them.
• Mention to employees that you may be introducing a candidate. This will give them time to prepare mentally, clear room in their diary, or at the very least look excited! The last thing you want is employees to respond as if it is an unnecessary interruption and they just want to get on with their jobs.
• Be strategic about who candidates meet. Meeting senior leadership can be inspiring, show they are approachable, and demonstrate they take recruitment seriously. Equally, introduce candidates to like-minded individuals, especially those from similar backgrounds (fellow graduates, for example).
• When meeting a potential new team, there should be an obvious point of excitement. If you don’t notice this, there may be an underlying issue.
• In addition to touring the work environment, a few team members (preferably not from the Interview Team) could take the candidate for a coffee or lunch. It’s helpful to see how candidates behave when they relax in an informal environment. I’m usually more interested in observing behaviour than what’s being discussed. I remember one candidate treating a server like a servant – it was unacceptable and not what I expected from his charming interview manner.
• I’ve seen employees take a candidate out for an informal chat without knowing what to cover. Brief your staff that this is an opportunity for the candidate to ask lots of questions and get frank answers. But if you need employees to gather additional insights, explain what they need to explore and pay attention to.
• Only bring in suitable candidates, as your team won’t want the bother of having to meet an endless string of people.
• When asking for your employee’s feedback, be careful of them not wanting to hire someone; for example, they may want the job! They’re not running the business and may be considering their interests rather than seeing the big picture.
• Trust your own or your employee’s gut instinct if they seem to be telling you something important about a candidate.

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Additional Resources

• Recruiting Book; The Secrets of Great Recruitment: How to Recruit Great Employees.
• Downloadable PDF guide; Boost Hiring Accuracy: Use Job Simulations & Work Culture Assessments.
• Article; Job Simulations: The Secret to Uncovering the REAL Candidate!.