[Anonymous]

I’ve been trying to find or create some type of aptitude test for candidates, but haven’t found much that looked useful and thought I’d see if anyone here had used one (either as a candidate or as a hiring manager) and could give any recommendations.

I’m not concerned with a skills test. Anyone who has gotten an accounting degree has learned certain basic accounting concepts; the actual day-to-day varies from employer to employer and has to be taught anyway. I’m more concerned with a person’s ability to learn, efficiency in their work, ability to think outside the box to find solutions, ability to work independently, etc. Prior to employment, I’m somewhat at a loss how to gauge these things. If I could just have them come work for a month and see what I think, that’d be a lot easier! But not at all fair to the future employee.

So, if anyone has used or knows of some sort of aptitude test or similar item which would be useful in evaluating these non-accounting skills, I’d love to hear about it.

[Lion_of_the_Rock]

If you figure this out then you should keep it a secret and sell it yourself – you'd make enough money to retire.

BEC - 78
AUD - 75
REG - 74, 79
FAR - 75

You have to buy a ticket to win the raffle.

[Anonymous]

That's not encouraging. Haha. I know nothing is 100%, just wondering if there's anything that's useful at all. Everything I'm finding is either simplistic ethics (“You count the deposit and it's $100 over. Should you: a. Pocket the money b. Report the extra”) or silly IQ test type things. I don't want something that gives an 80% at the end – I want something that gives a more qualitative result, something like “Independent worker” vs “Team worker” etc. But, those tests are usually not very useful either, so not sure if even those would be of any assistance.

[KBinMN]

Could you just hire someone from a temp agency? And then see how things go?

[jesta81]

Most employers have a 90 day or 6 month probationary period. If things don't work out the employer can just let them go. This works very well in at-will states. If both the employee and employer are in agreement with the policy before hiring, I don't see how this would be unfair.

If you are concerned about quality employees I would initiate a similar policy. See the link below for some ideas.

https://labor-employment-law.lawyers.com/human-resources-law/what-is-a-probationary-period-and-how-does-it-work.html

AUD (11/26/14) 84
FAR (02/04/15) 87
REG (08/28/14) 84
BEC (07/07/14) 71, (10/01/14) 83

[Anonymous]

I recently took one for a job interview that I had (I turned the offer down) and it was an eskills test. I thought it was pretty easy but I don't know if they offer more advanced accounting tests.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. We are in an at-will state and do have a probationary period, but by the time you're 90 days or 6 months in with an employee, you've already invested a lot of time, energy, and money into them. In a small industry accounting department, having a single position not filled (while you look for another candidate…) or filled by someone in training can be enough to put a real strain on the whole department.

@WannaBeCPATX16 Do you feel like the test would give them much insight into how you would've done on the job?

[Anonymous]

I took an appitude kind of test prior to coming on board my previous job. It was somewhat basic accounting skills, but I really felt like it was gauging my ability to learn and be teachable. I was given a study guide per to testing and had to figure out the concepts and teach or reteach them to myself prior to testing.

[Anonymous]

Are you in Govt or industry.

[Anonymous]

@Lilla I don't think so. I think it shows that I'm competent in accounting and excel but I do not think the test would have shown if I know how to research problems, get along with the team (this is actually why I turned the job down) or anything else outside of my technical skills.

The manager did tell me that they used this test because they've found that what they could do on the job wasn't matching what they had on their resumes.

I think the best way to figure out if someone has all of the qualities you listed is to simply interview them well. One 30 minute interview wont cut it. It's time consuming but in the end, you'll find the best candidate, and you'll weed out the ones you don't want.

[Anonymous]

My previous employer had each candidate take the wonderlic which was different. Never told us the results though.

[Anonymous]

Agree that REAL interviews are the way to go. If you want thinking outside the box, ask questions that require thinking outside the box. Ask for examples of how a candidate has taken initiative in the past, implementing new policies, securing new customers, working with key third parties (auditors, regulators, major vendors/suppliers, etc.). Ask about how they've handled conflict in the workplace. Ask how they've dealt with ethical disagreements at work (i.e. being asked to do something they felt was unethical). If they've given references, ask them what they think their references said, or would say, about them (be specific here … greatest strengths/weaknesses? How often you were late to work? Are you easily distracted? Can you handle the pressure of deadlines, working on multiple projects simultaneously, etc.? Did your co-workers like you? Why/why not?)

I'm always wary of people who can't give examples of things they've produced, changes they've initiated or took charge of implementing, etc. People who are serious about and committed to their work are eager to talk about what they do. People who are tight-lipped either have a bad work history or they are totally unmotivated and are just looking for a regular paycheck.

And I like to get a sense of whether a person thinks he's giving me the “right” answer to a question like “Did your co-workers like you?” or whether he thinks there is no right or wrong answer … there's just the truth and an assessment of why. I talked to a candidate recently who I loved on paper and still loved after meeting him. I asked him if his lateral coworkers liked him, and he said “They hate me. They will throw a party when I leave.” He was one of the most employable people I've met in a very long time. I would kill to have that guy working for me, but he's not in my budget.

[Anonymous]

Hi Lilla – I'm not sure at what level of accountant you're hiring but in one of my interviews they had me actually do part of the job – I can't totally remember the details but it was something like trying to find invoices with discrepancies from a list and maybe something else – they gave me the list and invoices mixed in with packing slips and other stuff and not a long time to do this so I'm not even sure if they expected someone to finish it in that time or just see how one would react to the task – needless to say I didn't finish (I was pretty nervous) but I think it can give you a good idea of how someone would approach a task – I at least had organized the paperwork some and they also gave me a depreciation schedule/type test in an excel file. I know you think someone that passed school and maybe even the exam would know how to do these things, but with no multiple choice answers to “help” you can see how much someone knows, I also had a test where I had to plug in some stuff into a trial balance and maybe even create an income statement.

[Anonymous]

Again, thanks for all the feedback. I've got the 2nd interview scheduled later this week and am trying my best to figure out how to determine what this person would really be like doing the actual work. Some people interview well but don't work well; some people work well but don't interview well; some interview well and work well…but knowing which one you've got on your hands is more difficult. 😐 I had planned to ask some “Tell me a time you implemented an improved process” type questions. First interview was a group interview with most of it following a standard script; 2nd interview is going to be one-on-one for most of it, so I can dig deeper where I feel the need to, just trying to figure out all the best ways to do so.

@Corpette I work at a non-profit college, so technically “industry” but not standard for-profit industry.

@WannaBe Thanks for the feedback. That's what most of the options I've seen appear to be evaluating, too.

@dankspu Thanks for the name! I've Googled Wonderlic and will look around their options.

@Casey Thanks for the detailed discussion about more in-depth interviewing styles. I'm (obviously, I'm sure 🙂 ) relatively new to being the interviewer and appreciate all the tips to improve the quality of the information gathered in interviews.

@cpa565 I agree that a lot of people may not have learned much in their college education, but there's so few details that carry over from college to the “real world” that I feel like someone with the right ability to learn could be OK presuming they have the basics of accounting down. I had one interview where the interviewer asked a simple question – “Explain the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet” – which I thought was actually a very good question, since listening to the person's answer helps you know how comfortable they are with accounting, even though the answer is covered in ACCT101. Maybe a bit more simple than what you're talking about, but getting at the same goal.

[Skynet]

Lilla, how about this aptitude test?

Did you take the CPA exams?

No- STOP! Do not hire.

Yes-Go to next question.

Did you pass BEC?

No-STOP! Do not hire.

Yes-Go to next question.

Did you pass REG?

No-STOP! Do not hire.

Yes-Go to next question.

Did you pass AUD?

No-STOP! Do not hire.

Yes-Go to next question.

Did you pass FAR?

No-STOP! Do not hire.

Yes- Go to next question.

Are you a Serial Killer?

Yes-STOP! Do not hire

No-You're Hired.

[Anonymous]

You've let me down Skynet…I was expecting something that at least had to do with – uhh – “female assets”, and here it's all CPA related. 🙁 Must be stuck on Phase 1.

[Author]

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