As a modern-day recruiter, you likely find the best talent in multiple countries. However, it can be frustrating to put a candidate through the application process, only to find that they don’t meet the language proficiency criteria. With language assessment tests, you can avoid this and test their skills prior to putting them forward for a role. If you’re hiring multiple candidates for the same company, a language assessment can help you provide a standardized way to test everyone at once.
Let’s look at how you can implement and improve your language assessment to get a firm idea of the skills of your potential candidates.
What is a Language Assessment in Recruiting?
To put it simply, a language assessment tests a candidate’s ability to communicate in a certain language that they’ll need to succeed in the role. Whether talking to colleagues or customers, the candidate must prove they can communicate clearly and get their point across with no language barrier.
This is particularly important when working in a customer service role. You may have all the tech you need. You may be selling the best products. However, a language barrier can frustrate the customer, especially if they feel like they aren’t being listened to.
Language assessments are typically conducted online. This allows international candidates to take the test easily and from home. Some recruitment companies assess language competency during the initial screening stage. However, this can lack accuracy compared to a fully-fledged assessment.
What Are the Main Aspects of a Language Assessment?
A comprehensive language assessment will test candidates on all skills related to using a language. They will go through their ability to read and understand grammar and write in the language. Their speaking and listening skills will be tested by engaging in conversations, and, finally, there will be a translation test.
It’s true that cultural differences are beneficial in business. However, it’s imperative that your candidates can speak the language proficiently. Consequently, it’s important that you use a robust language assessment.
Let’s take a look at the four main aspects of a typical language assessment.
Reading and Grammar Tests
Recruiters will typically take advantage of a certified language test that will judge the candidate’s ability to understand the grammar and vocabulary of a chosen language. It will also review their reading comprehension skills to ensure they thrive in their new job. Offering the same language test to all candidates can help recruiters rank a large number of applicants, which is particularly handy during a volume recruitment process.
Reading and grammar tests usually work by asking multiple-choice questions. Candidates use their judgment to pick the correct grammatical structure, spelling choices, and the right definitions of words.
Speaking & Listening Assessment
All candidates need to showcase their ability to speak and listen in a professional setting. This is commonly done by presenting the applicant with a scenario relevant to the role they’re applying for. For instance, if the candidate is applying to be a customer service rep, the recruiter may test their ability to converse with a disgruntled customer over the phone.
Written Testing
While speaking in a foreign language is a must, the candidate must also be able to write in high quality to communicate with colleagues and customers clearly. Because of this, many recruiters will choose to give candidates a written test, assessing their grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure.
Translation Test
A translation test is key if you’re hiring for a role that requires the candidate to speak both in their mother tongue and second language. Within this assessment, recruiters may ask an interviewee to translate words from one language to another to ensure they fully grasp both dialects.
5 Ways to Optimize Your Language Assessment Test For Better Results
If you’re an international recruiter or you’re often looking for bilingual candidates, you may already have a language assessment test. But is it perfect? To optimize your language assessment, you need to personalize the test to suit the role your candidate is seeking to fill. You may also want to consider using technology in recruitment to streamline how candidates take your assessments.
Let’s take a look at five ways to optimize your language test to get optimal results.
Assess Candidate Language Skills Relating to the Job Role
As part of your assessment, you want to tailor your test depending on the role you’re trying to fill. You might want to give candidates specific scenarios they may face during work hours. Or you may wish to assess their language competency based on industry-recognized phrases.
A competent candidate will ace a vocabulary test. As part of your language assessment, develop a multiple-choice section that asks your candidates to provide synonyms and antonyms for words specific to their industry or niche.
Crafting clear and informative invitation emails is crucial to ensure that candidates are prepared for the language assessment. A concise email can set the right tone and expectations, making candidates more comfortable and motivated.
Hire and Train Assessors
To ensure that all candidates face a standardized test, you should consider hiring trained assessors. Alternatively, you can train existing recruiters to become such. They should of course be proficient in the given language. They should also be trained to give all candidates fair and standardized language assessments. Assessors can automatically track candidate scores after tests with Oleeo ATS software.
Define a Passing Score
Like all assessments, you must have a passing score in mind before giving your language test to candidates. That way, you can properly assess and compare the test results of all those taking the examination to put the best candidate forward for the role.
Consider Using Language Assessment Technology
Ensuring your language assessment is standardized is essential to ensure the test is fair for all candidates. Consider using language assessment technology to give every candidate a fair chance of success.
Language assessment tech will typically offer automated grading, feedback in real-time, and analytics on how your candidates did. To use language assessment technology effectively, consider using unlimited hosting options available at OnlyDomains to quickly access and run the software.
Additionally, utilizing subtitling services for video-based assessments can improve accessibility for candidates, for example, those who may have hearing impairments. Also If the primary goal of the assessment is to evaluate a candidate’s language proficiency and not their ability to understand spoken language without support, then subtitles may also be acceptable.
Final Thoughts
Language assessment is essential when recruiting international or bilingual candidates. In all industries, from customer service to healthcare, natural and effective communication is a must. Ensure you put the right candidates forward by optimizing your language assessments and giving them a standardized online test.