Psychometric testing, assessment centre and pre-employment check providers

An interview shows how well someone talks about their skills. Assessments show how they actually use them, and give you consistent results to compare candidates fairly.

• Psychometric testing measures cognitive ability and personality, online or in person.
• Assessment centres put groups of candidates through role plays, group exercises and tests that reflect the real job.
• Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) testing measures how candidates manage emotions, stress and other people.
• Pre-employment checks confirm identity, right to work, history, qualifications and references.
• Skills tests check role-specific abilities such as typing, written communication or system navigation.

Need the whole hiring process handled? See contact centre recruitment or temporary and labour hire.

Psychometric tests are standardised assessments that give the same, comparable data for every candidate, however they come across on the day. Most used in contact centre and customer service hiring have two parts.

• Cognitive ability: timed verbal and numerical reasoning, relevant to accuracy, navigating systems and multi-tasking.
• Personality: how a candidate prefers to work, communicate and respond to pressure. There are no right or wrong answers.
• Optional extras: situational judgement, integrity and emotional intelligence assessments.

You don't need to outsource all your recruitment to use them. Many psychometric testing providers run the assessments and report the results, while you handle advertising, screening and interviews.

The profiles can also help team leaders coach new starters from day one.

An assessment centre evaluates a group of candidates at once, using exercises that mirror the role. It's especially useful when you need to hire many agents at the same time, such as for a new campaign or site.

• Role plays: simulated calls, complaints or chats, so assessors can see communication, empathy and problem-solving first-hand.
• Group exercises: show how candidates listen, contribute and work with others.
• Aptitude tests: verbal and numerical reasoning, attention to detail and speed.
• Situational judgement: how candidates would handle realistic workplace situations.

Candidates also get a realistic preview of the job, so those who accept know what they're signing up for. Structured scoring across several assessors gives you documented, defensible decisions.

Providers can manage the whole assessment centre for you or supply facilitators to run it inside your own process.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand and manage emotions, your own and other people's. In a contact centre, it's the difference between an agent who calms a frustrated customer and one who makes things worse.

• Ability-based tests present emotional scenarios and score the quality of the response.
• Trait-based tests use self-report to describe emotional and social tendencies.
• Competency and behaviour-based tests compare candidates with what the role needs, or with how often they show the behaviours.

Unlike cognitive ability, emotional intelligence can be developed, so results are useful for coaching as well as hiring decisions.

Contact centre staff often see personal, payment and account information, and sometimes speak with vulnerable customers. Pre-employment checks confirm a candidate is who they say they are and is suitable for that access.

• Identity verification
• Right to work
• Criminal history
• Reference checks
• Qualification verification
• Employment history
• Financial and bankruptcy checks, for roles handling money or accounts
• Industry-specific checks, such as for work with children

Complete checks before you make a formal offer. Some are a legal requirement, and which checks apply depends on the role, your industry and the country you hire in.