Resitting an assessment process: Does practice make perfect?

Transcription

1 Resitting an assessment process: Does practice make perfect? June 2015 Prepared by: The Occupational Psychology Centre Limited

2 Contents Introduction... 2 Practice tests do work... 2 Resitting an assessment process: The best type of practice... 2 Practicing by resitting an assessment process increases success rates... 2 How long should you leave it before re-testing?... 3 Advice for employers... 4 Advice for candidates... 5 Candidates: Watch this space... 5 More information?... 5 References... 5 Copyright 2015, The OPC Ltd. June

3 Introduction When we test an individual, whether that is for selection or development, our job is to help that individual do their very best so that we get as near as possible to their true ability or aptitude. If a candidate sits a verbal test but performs poorly because they failed to understand the instructions then we have picked up more about their misunderstanding of the instructions and less about their verbal ability! Practice testing has been one tool that we can use to help individuals to understand what is required, become familiar with a test and help reduce stress levels, and so do their very best. Practice tests do work My organisation, The Occupational Psychology Centre (OPC) has been designing and advocating the use of practice testing since For many of our off-the-shelf assessment tools we have designed mini tests for applicants to practice with. We have also designed bespoke practice tests for clients. Furthermore, some key OPC research published by Amanda Callen and Brendan Geary back in 1994, demonstrated that practice testing can really improve test performance. Other work by Stephen Fletcher with Robert Wood from Pearn & Kandola published in 1996 showed that access training in psychological testing had a significant impact on subsequent test performance for ethnic minority applicants. Resitting an assessment process: The best type of practice Many assessment processes give candidates the opportunity to resit an assessment process if they previously failed it. From a candidate s perspective this is the gold standard in practice i.e. they sit the actual test. The big question here is what impact does this first practice have on their retest? Does it increase their chances of success and if so by how much? Practicing by resitting an assessment process increases success rates The OPC worked with the UK rail industry for over 22 years to help run a key assessment centre for a safety critical role. The centre consisted of ability tests and a criterion based interview. Candidates who were unsuccessful at their first attempt were given the opportunity to resist the assessment, once six months had elapsed. The six months was set as a reasonable time to eliminate any risk that a candidate might pass the assessment because they could remember the content of the assessment. Candidates were only allowed to fail the assessment twice. Some candidates re-sat the assessment six months immediately after their first attempt; some waited years before they came back. Copyright 2015, The OPC Ltd. June

4 For those candidates that failed at their first attempt the big question for us was what impact did the practice of the first sitting have on their subsequent success rate? Our research suggested that candidates who re-sat had a much higher success rate when compared to the baseline success rate. This baseline was made up almost exclusively of candidates who sat the tests at their 1 st attempt. See table 1 below. Candidates % success rate at the assessment centre Impact of resitting an assessment centre on success rates 22% Baseline success rate Sample size = % improvement 38% Re-test succes rate Sample size = 234 Table 1: Candidate success rates at baseline and following a re-test at an assessment centre. Table 1 shows that performance improved by a massive 73%. These results would indicate that the practice of sitting the assessment process previously had a considerable impact on success rates. How long should you leave it before re-testing? As indicated above, our rail industry assessment centre candidates might come back to resit six months later, a year or longer. The question here is what impact does the time interval have on the success rates? Is it best to resit at the earliest opportunity and make the best of the practice effect? Alternatively, is it best to wait a longer period of time before resitting? We were able to break the data down into different retest times and the results are displayed in table 2. Copyright 2015, The OPC Ltd. June

5 Candidates % success rate at the assessment centre Time interval before resitting an assessment centre 22% Baseline assessment success rate Sample size = % Less than a year before resitting Sample size = 94 46% 1 year before resitting Sample Size = 85 29% 2+ years before resitting Sample size = 51 Table 2: Candidate success rates at baseline, less than a year before, 1 year before and 2 years before resitting an assessment centre. Whilst the data has some small sample sizes, it nevertheless shows some interesting results. We can see that retesting less than a year later provides some improvement. However the biggest gains are for 1 year. At 2 years the practice effects starts to wear off even though there is still some advantage. The findings very much supported the views and opinions of our assessors who felt that some individuals would often come back for reassessment too quickly without thinking through what they needed to develop and work on in preparation for their re-assessment. Delaying the retest can give individuals the opportunity to take the feedback from their first assessment, identify how they can work on their development needs, implement that development and then come back and resit. Advice for employers Retesting could bring you benefits. It can allow your candidates to learn from their first attempt and demonstrate to you at retesting that they have the competencies necessary to train and do the job they are applying for. In addition if you do allow retesting it could increase your success rates and help to reduce your recruitment costs as you need to assess less people to achieve your recruitment quota. However, careful thought needs to be given to how long you set the retest time interval. In addition help your candidates to do their best by providing practice tests wherever possible. Copyright 2015, The OPC Ltd. June

6 Advice for candidates If you are unsuccessful at your first attempt then don t give up, give it another go if you can. Learn from the experience; try developing the underlying skills the assessment centre is assessing you on. So for example, if you need to work on your verbal skills then test your understanding of written information in newspapers, magazines or technical manuals. Don t rush into a retest at the earliest opportunity. Wait until you are ready, have learnt from the first test and feel confident, then go for it! It could help you to succeed at your second attempt. Candidates: Watch this space OPC Assessment already has some free practice tests for you to try. However we are also working on a new practice test site for candidates. You will be able to purchase a range of mini practice tests that you can download, practice and score and see how you compare to others. There will also be some top tips on how to do develop still further and do your best. More information? If you would like to know more about practice testing then contact the OPC via our website References Amanda Callen and Brendan Geary Best Practice Putting Practice Testing to Work Selection and Development Review June 1994 Volume 10 (3) Stephen Fletcher and Robert Wood Enhancing Fair Selection Through Access Training Selection and Development Review February 1996 Volume 12 (1) Copyright 2015, The OPC Ltd. June