PILOTS ARE HIRED THROUGH SIMULATORS - WHY NOT YOUR APPLICANTS?

What better way to assess a candidate's job potential than to actually have them complete a part of the work they will be doing once on the job?

Hiring simulations are not like any other tests and they aim to recreate virtual workplaces that immerse applicants in key job roles where they perform critical job tasks and solve real life workplace issues. While other assessment tools provide an ability to get in insight into the personality of a candidate or thinking pattern, job simulations provide a direct measure of functional skills related to performance. As a result, they are proven to be the best predictor of job fitment accurately.

The use of simulation is becoming mainstream beyond the aviation, aerospace, and forward-looking companies from technology, manufacturing, sales, and others are catching the trend around the world. Highly realistic job simulations have shown consistent results in terms of reduced training times, lower employee attrition and improvement in new hire productivity. It's no surprise to see why more and more businesses are turning to job simulation to hire and develop top new talent.

Benefits of using job simulations

1. Accurate predictor of success at job. If a candidate performs well on a job simulation, they are more likely to perform better at the real job.
2. Fair for Candidates. As all the candidates go through the same evaluation process, they get measured and scored, in the same way without any human bias. So evaluation processes, involving job simulations appear fair for the candidates.
3. Simulations decrease attrition. Job simulations provide a realistic view of what is expected out of an employee in a job. Candidates who are not sure can opt out of the process early on resulting on lower new-hire attrition because of the expectation mismatch. Research have shown up to 72% of reduction in turnover after using job simulations.
4. Identify training needs. Job simulation can identify the specific areas where training interventions are required. This reduces the training time, cost and onboarding time for new employees. One study found out up to 66% reduction in training time for candidates selected through job simulations.
5. Improved Candidate Engagement. Job simulations provide real-world experiences to a potential candidate and are far more engaging and fun than a typical MCQ test. The anxiety and stress of the test is gone and candidates present their natural behaviours.
6. Employer Branding. Job simulations create an image of organization which is serious about applicant's success and is ready to find that out in a fun and engaging manner without any subjectivity. This helps organizations improve their employer brand amongst the hiring pool.

Must-have criteria for a good job simulation assessment

1. It must recreate the critical and most important aspects of the job requirement with the setting in which the person will operate in real life.

2. It must be customised to the specifics of the target market and the industry. Every industry has its own nuances, terminologies and approaches that work for them. One-size-fits-all doesn't work for job simulations.

3. It must provide organizations to discover the ability to perform job-related tasks by linking simulation performance to actual job performance by using benchmarked data.

4. Must follow the International Test Commission (ITC) guidelines to administer tests appropriately, professionally, and ethically.

5. It must provide actionable candidate reports with real-time group analytics.

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Conclusion

As beneficial as job simulations are, they are merely one dimension of multiple facets of a candidate. Gaining a more inclusive and holistic view of the candidate requires evaluating against more than one aspect of the job. This is where the importance of personality and cognitive assessments comes into play.

Personality assessments and job simulations used in conjunction with one another can ensure that you get the best talent possible and faster onboarding. This will help you weed out candidates who can do the job but are not a cultural fit as well as those candidates who are a cultural fit but lack the functional experience.