Competencies

Gauging the competencies of potential applicants requires both direct feedback and intuition. Of course, some job candidates may be competent only for certain tasks. That's why it's so critical to prescreen your personnel. To avoid hiring an incompetent employee, you might want to slow down and expand the recruitment process or call upon your associates to assist you.

That being said, you can also employ standardized assessment tests, akin to the SATs, to gauge competencies for particular tasks. For instance, let's say that you run a manufacturing and processing plant. You could test job applicants via simulation to determine whether or not they have the chops to work under demanding physical conditions.

Testing Potential Workers for Competency

Another way to ascertain competency is to consult the applicant's references. Although most job recommendations are glowing, a seasoned recruiter can read the code. Indeed, letters of reference have gotten so inflated that the only way to discriminate between positive and negative feedback from references is to skew your reading of reference letters significantly. In other words, you should read only the "extremely effusive" letters of recommendation as positive.

If you're hiring for a blue-collar job, you might also need to test for physical competency. For instance, you may require that applicants submit to blood tests or tests of general physical conditioning. Remember that any time you hire a candidate, you need to comply with federal fair standards and practices.