By Nathalie Marquez Courtney
The well-documented skills shortage, especially in tech, has created not just a workload problem, but a recruitment one too.
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Many roles to fill mean many candidates to interview — so more and more companies are turning to practical skills assessments to help them narrow down the pool of applicants.
According to Eurostat, more than 75 per cent of EU companies are struggling to find professionals with the necessary skills to fill jobs, so these types of tests are becoming more valuable than ever, with 82 per cent of businesses using some form of pre-hire assessment.
Many organisations have even opted for a test-first approach, especially when it comes to hard skills, allowing technical skills assessments to double as screeners before moving on to the more personalised (and labour-intensive) parts of the interview process.
What does this mean if you’re on the job hunt? While your CV may have convinced a prospective employer that you can do the job on paper, you can use these tests as another way to help you stand out.
These are the seven strategies that will help you ace assessments.
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1. Find the focus
One of the most important things to do is suss out what skills are being tested. If it’s a technical or programming skills assessment, don’t be afraid to ask what the focus of the test will be and what technologies are being tested.
2. Figure out the format
Get as much information as possible about the structure and format of the assessment, as they can vary wildly. Will the questions be multiple-choice? Timed? Will you be penalised for guessing or answering wrong? Knowledge-based assessments are the most straightforward and specific (for example, testing your grasp of a particular programming language or version control system).
3. Practise, practise – and practise again
If you know the skills test will focus on a specific area, practice as much as possible. Doing coding challenges and sample tests in the run-up can be a great primer to familiarise yourself with the types of questions that will be asked and how to explain the thought process behind your answers, which is often as important as the answers themselves.
4. Think about time
Knowing how time is managed can tell you a lot about what is being tested. Knowledge or theory tests tend to be more flexible, time-wise and designed to examine your hard skills. Other tests, however, are looking beyond this; time-boxed, project-based tests often examine your ability to understand a brief, identify any complexities, and estimate and manage your time.
5. Go back to the job ad
Regardless of the type of skills assessment test you’re sitting, always go back to the original job description before you start and before you submit it. This will tell you what your prospective employer values and what they are looking for from your answers.
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6. Showcase your soft skills
Even the most technically focused assessments have opportunities to showcase your soft skills. Anything that demonstrates good effort and strong communication, especially in technical tests, can give you an edge.
7. Find ways to bring the wow factor
Many see skills assessments as a tick-the-box exercise, but there are opportunities to stand out and go the extra mile. For example, if the test was hands-on or open-ended, you could include a screen recording where you share your thinking behind what you submitted, again showcasing your soft skills alongside your hard ones.
Are you looking for a role that puts all your skills to good use? The Euronews Jobs board contains hundreds of openings from exciting and innovative companies, like the three below.
Manager, Product Launch and Data EU eCom, Adidas, Amsterdam
Extensive problem-solving and analytical skills and the ability to think outside the box are key skills needed for a role on the Adidas product launch and data team. As a manager here, you’ll need experience with processes revolving around product go-live readiness, excellent interpersonal and communication skills and, of course, a strong affinity for Adidas products. Find out more and apply here.
Head of Sales Enablement, SumUp, Berlin
The role of head of sales enablement at fintech company SumUp calls for a mix of hard and soft skills. Strong analytical and data skills are needed to analyse sales data and enablement metrics and make data-driven decisions, while communication and interpersonal skills will help you build relationships with sales and cross-functional teams. Sound interesting? Get all the details here.
Business Development Analyst, EBA Clearing, Paris
If you have experience with the European payment industry and banking systems and with IT project management, you might be a good fit for the business development analyst role at payment infrastructure solutions company EBA Clearing. Soft skills like intercultural communication and a customer-first attitude will also be key to success. Explore the role here.
For more exciting openings across Europe, visit the Euronews Jobs board today.
