Noted organizational psychologist Suzanne C. Thompson has argued that a sense of personal control is critical in helping us maintain a sense of stability and navigate our way through life.
The talent selection process is no different, and multimedia job simulations offer companies a unique opportunity to glean valuable information about the skills, knowledge, and abilities of their applicants while giving candidates an increased sense of autonomy in the job application process.
Candidates perform better and experience the hiring process more favorably when they feel in control. The Society of Industrial Organizational Psychologists points out that it benefits employers to think about the selection process from a candidate’s perspective, since candidates have the power to communicate a negative or positive perception of your organization to their professional and social networks.
This, the researchers write, means giving the candidate an opportunity to perform and show what they know.
Call center simulations offer the best of both worlds by giving candidates the chance to perform the job while providing employers with valuable information about the candidates’ skills, knowledge and abilities. By mimicking the tasks of a call center job - from training classes to learning a new software program to interacting with different customer personalities - these types of multimedia job simulations allow candidates to feel a sense of control and autonomy.
Additionally, they allow candidates to learn job-relevant patterns, apply them, modify them, and use them to navigate the test.
With the scales in the employment market tipping in favor of the candidate, today’s applicants expect and demand an engaging, relevant candidate experience.
We’ve talked before about the many things today’s applicants are looking for in a candidate experience. One major component missing from many high-volume hiring processes, though, is the opportunity for candidates to showcase their job-relevant skills, knowledge and abilities in a meaningful way.
A recent Talent Board survey demonstrated the gap in what candidates need, and the proportion of employers who are giving it to them. The survey pointed out that while over 80% of candidates answer general screening questions during the application process, only 50% are asked for job-specific skills, and less than a third are asked to take assessments.
Call center simulations, on the other hand, make it easy for hiring managers to give candidates the experience they want while gleaning the information they need to determine not just whether a candidate has the right skillset, but whether or not he or she will be a good fit for the organization’s culture. By observing how candidates perform in an environment that emulates that of the organization – down to the types of customers candidates will be dealing with – hiring managers can select candidates who demonstrate the highest likelihood of success.
Discover how simulations can help you enhance your candidate experience by downloading your free copy of “How Can Simulations Enhance the Contact Center Hiring Experience?” or schedule a free consultation with one of our talent selection specialists today.