Companies use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to create financial statements, forecasts, budgets and to manage and report financial data. In fact, they sometimes recruit employees solely for their MS Excel expertise because their job will be focused on creating and maintaining spreadsheets. This means the company’s recruiting process needs to include a test to assess candidates’ Excel abilities.

A business can either develop its own test or hire a firm that has extensive experience developing and administering skill assessments. Most choose to hire a company for all assessment testing needs so employees can focus on core competencies and meeting business goals.

If you are evaluating employment testing options and have decided to hire a company instead of creating your own tests, here are some criteria you should consider to choose an assessment testing partner.

Tests That Match Job Requirements - The company should offer assessment tests on a variety of subjects ranging from Excel skill testing, data entry and customer service skills to computer programming, IT management and engineering knowledge.

Personalization & Customization– You should have the option to use questions from various tests as well as add your own questions so you can create assessment tests that meet your unique needs. For example, you could create an Excel skills test that includes simulations of specific tasks that the candidate will be expected to perform on the job.

Easy Integration With Your HR System – It should be possible to integrate the platform into your HR system so you can use a single system for recruiting and hiring and automate your pre-employment assessment testing process.

Top-Level Service & Support – The company should provide help with question selection and test development and customization as well as offer 24/7 support in case you have a question or experience technical problems.

Compliance & Risk Management - According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an assessment test must be relevant to the job requirements to be valid. Therefore, the company should have a proven “track record” and compliance history based on assessing a large number of candidates.

Behavioral Testing - Along with the pre-hiring skills testing, the company should offer behavioral tests that you can use to ensure candidates will work well with others on your team, are adaptable to organizational change, and are a good fit for your corporate culture.