Hiring managers of late are stressing on the importance of cognitive aptitude of a candidate. Now what is it and why companies are really interested in it? Basically it refers to the ability of an individual in order to process information quickly, pick up things quickly and application of this information in order to solve problems. It is a consortium of various intellectual abilities combined together. The list of mental abilities include perception , spatial and visual processing with a host of brain related functions like problem solving, mental flexibility or decision making to name a few.
In the midst of all this brain power is a focal point that goes on to provide all directions be it small or big. From leading to a situation where you are forced to compare between two cereals, in terms of ingredients taste, information cost etc. to outlining the job that we want mainly the potential salary. The concept of career mobility and stability does exist as this depends upon our cognitive ability.
These skills are brought to the fore when you go on to accomplish repetitive or new tasks. They help us to formulate various solutions together on the move where we can go on to take well informed decisions. You can consider cognitive ability pretty much on the lines of a muscle that we flex, grow and improve by training over a period of time. To play with your friends, have a good night’s slept and even when you are going to play a musical instrument all would improve your cognitive ability.
Surprisingly physical activity could also work out to be a great option in order to pump your cognitive powers. Exercise is known to increase the hormone levels or formation of proteins that can lead to the development of proteins. This goes on to improve your memory levels and even your information processing speed. The cognitive level that we possess goes on to have an impact on what we do, how we do it and the ability in adapting to the various changes.
By now you might be having an idea on what is cognitive aptitude and on how you can go on to improve it. Now the question is why do companies pay a lot of attention to it in the first place.
One of the main reasons that has been showcased by research that cognitive ability works out to be best predicator for job performance, in a way what you are doing on the job. In fact this is twice as good at predicting job performance as compared to interviews, when you compare it to job experience three times the better and on comparison to education level 4 times the better. Hiring managers are looking to improve quality of hires, so it makes sense that they should move towards the factors that might provide them success.
The research also drives home the point that hiring managers are aware that resumes along with interviews are a poor indicator of job performance. Just think on the lines of a company who is hiring a new employee. The companies are going to have a hire horror story; the candidate might have an extraordinary resume and might have gone on to rock the interview. But once they have gone on to work things have fallen apart considerably. The hiring manager is merely left with what is termed as his remorse.
Once you are burned it does make sense for the employees to be driven to data driven factors in order to help them opt for an informed decision. This also explains the reason why more and more employees look upon these tests to review the performance of the job seekers. The tests go on to measure the key components that make up cognitive ability and examples are critical thinking or learning ability to name a few. When you score well in these exams a signal is sent across to your employee that you are a fast learner who will keep pace in no fast time.
Though these tests can be intimating but as a job seeker you can make them work to your benefit. The onus is on you to horn your skills and make it sharp. In the days to come you might come a dream candidate that every employee would love to work with?
The accuracy of a cognitive aptitude test
A cognitive aptitude test provides an important for an organization to take a well informed decision. When more than one single applicant applies for a job, and the question of comparison comes into the picture the tests become really important. The test goes on to assess a lot of factors when it comes to choosing the right candidate. They can interpret an ability of a candidate on how to solve problems and how they are going to work in a group.
When undertaken with an interview it gives a concise idea on whether a candidate would be successful in the job they are applying for. There are various types of aptitude tests that measure varied capabilities. In the end it goes on to provide information to an interviewer about numerous facts that is not merely possible with an interview alone. But the nature of such tests is that they need to be designed with the actual vacancy in mind. It makes sense to find out that the skills along with knowledge are relevant to the position you are applying for because otherwise the results would be solely out of track.
Normally the nature of such tests evolves on a time bond environment. This is done either at the premises of the employer or somewhere at a third party premises that goes on to design and administer the test. They could be via a paper or pencil mode or even it can be on the PC. But of late most organizations are resorting to the use of the internet in order to provide aptitude tests via an online platform.
