AI Testing Job Skills Testing vs the Job Interview

Repost

Communication skills are, without a doubt, vital for any job and any career. Effective written or spoken communication is necessary for sending and receiving messages in person, by phone, email, or communication platforms. Communication must also be adjusted for your audience, whether you speak with a co-worker, customer, or supervisor.

Traditionally, employers evaluate a future employee’s communication skills based on the content of their resume, their writing skills in their application, and how they communicate during their interview.

From this assessment, employers determine how suitable the candidate’s communication skills are for their future job. If their assessment is correct, they will have a suitable candidate. If their assessment is wrong, they will have wasted valuable time and resources.

The communication skills required to ace the interview process are not necessarily the same as those needed for the future employee’s job. How we communicate with potential employers is not the same as with customers or supervisors.

One solution is to test a candidate’s communication skills by recreating communication scenarios that are similar to what the future employee will encounter on the job. These scenarios can be duplicated through computerized assessments.

How effective are assessments at determining a candidate’s communication skills? It depends on the skills you are testing and how closely the tests mimic actual work situations.

Testing a Candidate’s Strengths and Weaknesses

Communication skills are one of many soft skills that are transferrable across occupations and industries. Soft skills include leadership, creativity, problem solving, and time management.

Communication skills are more than listening and speaking. They include observation, empathy, and non-verbal communication.

How well can a candidate convey an urgent message to their team? How well can they use technology to understand a customer’s issue and communicate an appropriate solution?

In addition to the job interview, we can ask a candidate to complete a standardized communication test online or complete a language assessment. However, these tests might not evaluate how well the candidate pays attention to detail, shows empathy, or demonstrates active listening.

A skills assessment created for the types of scenarios that a candidate will face on the job will more accurately test their strengths and weaknesses.

Will the candidate be managing teams and multiple projects? An AI test scenario could be a recording of a team member calling in to say he cannot meet the deadline because of a family emergency. In the recording, he summarizes what he has completed and what still needs to be done.

As part of the test, the candidate records their response on the phone call. Do they show empathy in their response? Do they show active listening skills when they repeat the details of what needs to be assigned to another team member? How clearly do they articulate their message if the test requires a timed response?

This is just one example of using AI assessments to determine how a candidate will communicate in a workplace situation.

Test for Specific Types of Communication

To decide what types of communication to include in an assessment, an employer first needs a clear and detailed description of the future employee’s job. What will be their responsibilities on a day-to-day basis? Who will they interact with? What problems will they need to solve?

When the employer has created this description, the next step is to determine what communication skills are needed to perform those tasks.

Some skills that employers often test for include:

  • Active listening: Showing the speaker that the listener is involved by nodding, paraphrasing what was said, or asking questions that show the listener heard what was said.
  • Comprehension skills: Understanding and responding to straightforward or complex workplace problems.
  • Language proficiency: Articulating clearly and efficiently the speaker’s message to the audience.
  • Problem solving: Providing a solution in a clear, concise manner with minimal or no errors.
  • Social skills: Dealing with customers or co-workers, particularly if there has been a misunderstanding or the other person is emotionally distressed over an issue.
  • Adaptability: Handling new situations that were not taught in training or haven’t previously occurred at the workplace.

After deciding what types of communication skills to test for, the next step is to create a test that can accurately assess a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses for these skills.

Why Use an AI Communication Skills Test?

AI software has greatly improved over time. Assessments provide a more accurate evaluation of the candidate’s communication skills, allowing recruiters and employers to assess a candidate’s suitability for a specific role.

These tests can be completed as part of the interview process at the employer’s office or at the candidate’s home after logging into the testing system.

As technology continues to advance, companies have changed how they operate. More people can work from home, meaning companies have become more global. One company can hire employees from multiple cities and even other countries.

The benefit is without the limitation of location, companies can hire the candidate with the best skill set for the role, regardless of where the candidate lives. However, communication skills become even more crucial with remote teams if employees no longer meet in person.

With these changes to companies, communication skills become even more vital. How will the candidate handle problem solving when working at home? How will they use the technology to communicate by email, phone, or communication apps to solve a customer’s issue or work with team members they have never met?

With AI communication testing, the employer can re-create scenarios that occur with their customers. The candidate will complete a typical scenario they will encounter by phone or email on the job.

Their answer is then recorded and evaluated. Unlike standard testing, with AI assessments, more than one answer is possible. The candidate might not know the correct answer to a question because they are unfamiliar with the company policy or procedure. However, the employer can review how the candidate responded and evaluate only the clarity of the answer.  

These communication assessments can evaluate many types of verbal and written communication scenarios between employees and the customers, co-workers, and supervisors.

These customer/employee interactions and employee/co-worker interactions cannot be evaluated in an interview. However, they can be recreated in an AI communications assessment.

Key Takeaways

Communication skills are one of many soft skills vital to one’s ability to perform well on the job. Communication is in many forms: on the phone, by email, through messaging apps, and is more than listening to words and responding. It includes our use of language, empathizing with the speaker, how well we problem solve, and our active listening skills.

When searching for the right candidate for the job, employers need to evaluate the candidate for communication skills, but an accurate assessment isn’t necessarily possible during an interview. An AI assessment recreates typical scenarios that the candidate will encounter when working with customers and their team while on the job.

These more accurate assessments of a candidate’s skill set will result in better hires and a more efficient hiring process.

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How to Negotiate and Secure a Retainer Fee with a Client

Repost from 2022

Are you a freelancer or contractor constantly looking for new projects or clients? Do you have a roller-coaster income that changes from month to month?

If your answer is yes, then consider negotiating for a monthly retainer. A retainer contract is an agreement between a freelancer and their client for ongoing, monthly services for a set fee. The client pays monthly for your services in advance.

The benefit to the freelancer is consistent, guaranteed income. The benefit to the client is secured services with someone they can depend on.

The client prefers to work with a freelancer or contractor with the needed skills, but finding a freelancer-client relationship that is the right fit takes time.

Freelancers with a high-demand skillset and sharp negotiation skills know how to negotiate and secure retainer agreements with their ideal clients.

Benefits of Retainers for Freelancers

A tremendous benefit of a retainer fee is a guaranteed, steady income. Freelancers who work project after project face a lot of unpredictability with cash flow and budgeting.

They need to negotiate a 25 percent or 50 percent downpayment at the start of a project and remember to request a final payment when a project is incomplete. When working with new clients on projects, they also deal with unpredictability. Bad clients might not pay on time or at all, citing bad freelancer work as an excuse to withhold their pay.

With a retainer, the freelancer’s monthly income is stable. Instead of constantly searching for new clients and projects, you have more time and energy to dedicate to your retainer contracts. You aren’t frequently checking your bank account to ensure you have enough funds for unexpected expenses.

Retainer contracts are similar to the steady income of having a job.

Just how steady is a retainer fee income? If you have just three retainer clients, one paying you $3000 a month for services, another paying $2500, and a third paying $1500, you would have an income of $7000 at the start of each month.

When you can focus your energy on providing quality services to ongoing clients, you can also build your reputation and take on more retainer work… if you have the time.

Benefits for Clients Who Are on a Retainer

Just like how freelancers enjoy the stability of a steady income, clients prefer the stability of reliable, high-quality services. It takes time for freelancers and clients to build rapport and find the perfect fit. A client likes to do things a certain way and prefers to find someone who understands their brand and their approach to projects.

To close a client on signing a retainer agreement with you, you need to be clear about what benefits you are providing them. These benefits should match what they are looking for.

They may need marketing services, website maintenance, content writing, or graphic design, to name just a few examples. They will expect their services to be delivered on time and at their desired quality.

They anticipate you to be available for a specific number of hours per week or per month and dedicate your time to their projects and meeting their business goals.

Unlike a per-project client, a retainer client won’t need to wait weeks or months until a highly skilled freelancer can work on a project with them.

Another benefit you can offer a retainer client is extra value services, such as a few bonus hours of meetings, a report, free consultations, or a discount on a smaller, one-time project.

When Should You Negotiate a Retainer with a Client?

A client with an ongoing need for your services is a great candidate for a retainer agreement. For example, retainer clients may require services such as cold calling, daily social media engagement, or regular administrative assistance.

You may have started with one project with the client and decided you both work well together. They value your work and see a need for you to continue providing services at a fixed budget on a monthly basis.

You may have liked working with the client on the project:  they pay on time, are clear with expectations, and don’t micromanage your every decision. The logical next step is to propose a retainer fee for steady, ongoing work with this ideal client.

On the other hand, proposing a retainer agreement with a new client can intimidate freelancers. You haven’t built any rapport with a new client. They haven’t seen your skills at work, and you don’t know if they would be a dream or hell to work with. Should you even suggest starting with a long-term partnership?

One way to begin working with a new client is a short term project. For example, you build their website. Upon completing the project, you propose a retainer fee to assist with website maintenance and future IT issues.

Another way is to find retainer clients through referrals. A new client recommended by one of your clients would be more likely to trust you before working with you. Similarly, you would be more likely to trust a new client if a client referred them to you.

That referral will help you close a retainer agreement with a new client from day one.

Why Should Clients Pre-Pay Before Seeing Results?

From the freelancer’s point of view, clients who pre-pay are serious clients. You know they aren’t going to ask you to provide your services,  then disappear without paying. Also, if they pre-pay, you know they are invested in the results.

However, before you pocket that pre-payment, you must convince them of your value. To do that, you first need to establish rapport with the new client and make them confident that you have the skills they are looking for.

Have a portfolio of past work and a list of testimonials or references to show the client. Your portfolio should have examples of the skills they need.

Be clear about what services and value you will provide, from monthly deliverables to monthly results. Show that you understand their pain points and how you will solve those challenges for them.

Explain that a pre-payment is needed to reserve your time for them because you’re currently taking on new clients and have limited availability in your schedule.

Common Objections to Monthly Retainers

A new client may object to starting with a retainer agreement for many reasons. Find out what is holding them back.

Are they unable to pay the price you are asking for? Are they concerned about your skills because they haven’t worked with you before? Or are they worried that you won’t deliver the results they want?

If the concern is price, work with their budget and decide what you can offer them for that price. Some freelancers offer services at various pricing tiers. You can add more value to your services at the price point you agree on. For example, adding some hours of free consultation or additional services.

If the concern is your skills and the results, suggest a paid trial period. At this point in the discussion, you’ve already shared with them samples of your past work and testimonials from clients. They’ve seen your skills, and you can negotiate your value for your price.

Emphasize that with a retainer, a set number of hours each month of your time is dedicated to providing services to that specific client. They will have peace of mind if they need work completed on time.

Steps to Follow to Close Your Client on a Retainer Agreement

Closing a current or new client on a monthly payment model can be done in person or online. It may be easier to close a client in person because you can build rapport and trust first. However, with the global economy and remote work, it’s also possible to close a client in another city.

First, introduce the idea of a retainer agreement at your in-person or virtual meeting. This can also be done over the phone but with fewer visual cues. (Some people find it easier to judge a client’s reactions based on facial expression and body language, not just verbal cues.)

Then, clarify the details by email and written contract. Some points to cover:

  • Meet with the person who will make the final decision on the retainer agreement details.
  • Discuss what they think your expected deliverables, volume of work, and expected results will be. What are the client’s goals? Be prepared to discuss the value of having a retainer agreement.
  • Confirm what monthly services you will offer and suggest additional services that you may provide.
  • Discuss your flat monthly fee for these services. If you have a package of services that you offer at tiers, share these offers. For example, Tier 1 is $1000 for x, y, z services, and Tier 2 is $2000 a month for x, y, z, and a.
  • Explain how a retainer agreement works and include the benefits of having a retainer agreement.
  • Follow up with an email proposal with your rates and retainer options. Include any add-on services. Set a date for the follow up on your proposal. Then formalize a retainer contract for yourself and your client to sign.

How to Keep Your Retained Clients Happy

Managing expectations keeps both clients and freelancers happy. When you’re working on the details for your retainer agreement, clarify what you expect from each other.

For yourself: What day of the month do you expect to receive your monthly retainer? What is the specific amount you’ll be paid? How will you be paid? For example, through an app, etransfer, or third party service?

For your client: What deliverables will they receive? What results will they see? If they aren’t detail-oriented and don’t track results, you can keep track of that data for them. Report on your progress and results. Have you met the monthly goals set out in your contract?

Keeping a record of what you’ve accomplished for your client demonstrates your accountability. It’s also effective when you need to raise your rates because you can show that you are worth the value you deliver.

Also, your happy client is more likely to provide testimonials and refer other clients to you. Negotiating retainers with a referral is much easier than a cold lead who knows little about your skills and value.

Key Takeaways

Negotiating a monthly retainer agreement is the best payment model for a steady income for freelancers and contractors.

You benefit from regular cash flow, so you can focus on providing value to your clients instead of constantly looking for new projects and clients.

Clients prefer to work long-term with someone they trust who provides the value and skills they need to meet their business objectives.

You can negotiate a retainer agreement with an existing client after the end of a project. Or you can negotiate a retainer agreement with a new client on a trial basis.

Continue to provide value and reliable service to your retained clients. Keep them updated on your progress and results. In the long term, you will have a reliable income and your clients will have the value and skills they can trust.

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Inspirational Quotes

Time to reflect! We’re now one month and a bit into 2024. It’s also the end of another week. What are you grateful for? What inspires you?

There are so many wonderful things: family, friends, the weekend, another fulfilling week… the list goes on. 

As we think about the things we’re grateful for, we’ll share some inspirational thoughts from writers and storytellers.

“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” — A. A. Milne

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”  — Neil Gaiman

“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” — Isaac Asimov

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page” — Jodi Picoult

“Saying nothing… sometimes says the most.” — Emily Dickinson

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What is your dream job? (how to switch jobs for a day)

Daily writing prompt
What’s your dream job?
View all responses

My dream job is a job that I’ve had before, which is to interview people and learn about what they do for work. I think it’s an eye-opener to learn what people do. A person’s job is never as simple as you think. Spending a short time in their shoes gives you a better appreciation of other people’s work when you see it through their eyes. It’s like that behind-the-scenes moment of a movie.

First, I interviewed people about what they do. What is a typical day? What do they read? Who do they talk with? Surprisingly, most people think the interviewer will be bored from listening to them talk about a typical workday. But when you ask questions like, “What is this machine used for? Why do you enter information in this way? What do you do to protect yourself from injury?” They are excited about explaining how calculations are done, and how equipment works, etc. You open their eyes to a new perspective on what they thought was an ordinary task. Now they see their own job through the eyes of an outsider.

Second, I get to spend time at their job, whether it is an office or an atypical job site. It may seem boring, but not everyone gets to go to a construction site, the staff areas of a hotel, or a manufacturing plant, just to name a few places. You feel like you’re an actor trying to fit into a scene where you feel out of place. If you usually work in an office, like I do, you become hyper-aware of the hazards around you when you’re working out of an office. The worker you’re interviewing isn’t afraid of heights (falling), fearful of the dark (in a mine) or wary of moving machinery (in a warehouse). 

These places and situations are a chance to put on a different hat and be another person for a day. But when you watch a movie that features workers for the jobs that you interviewed, you find yourself saying, hey, that’s not how they actually do it! So fake! You’re not at the job site observing anymore. Now you want to walk into the movie set and change the incorrect ways of doing things, the unrealistic portrayals of jobs.

These interviews are certainly interesting experiences. Definitely one of the best jobs in the world is discovering what other people do. You are constantly learning, never bored, and increase your appreciation of what other people accomplish.

What’s your dream job?

3 Ways to Connect with People and Communicate Online

Daily writing prompt
In what ways do you communicate online?
View all responses

Why communicate online? You may think it’s less personal than interacting with people face to face. True, you don’t get the same sense of what a person is like when you aren’t in the same room as them. But it has become one of the best ways to connect with people around the world. 

As someone who works remotely, I’ve made friends in other cities, and found work opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible without the communication technology that we have. Technology has also allowed us to instantaneously send and receive information, and make human connections that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

To celebrate how online communication has improved my life, I’d like to share some ways I communicate online.

Interactions with coworkers with apps and video

Remote work has made it possible to run a business online. Meetings are run on Zoom, WebEx, and Google Meet. This is the next best way to connect, other than with in-person meetings. It’s possible to run an entire team that lives in different cities and time zones.

You can also share work tasks and collaborate using various apps such as ClickUp, Slack, Telegram, and Asana. Yes, some of those apps are difficult to use and sometimes confusing, but it also makes tracking project milestones and deadlines for several people in one place easier.

Online chat groups in online communities

Meeting in person is one of the best ways to connect, but it isn’t practical to coordinate a meeting of like-minded people whenever you need the advice of people with experiences and backgrounds similar to yours.

Groups on Facebook, Discord, and Slack, for example, allow people in the same profession or with similar interests to discuss topics. In these groups, people from different cities and time zones can post their advice or opinions about topics such as how to handle a difficult work situation, how to write a resume, how to deal with relatives, or where to buy a product for your pet. It’s like reaching out to a human encyclopedia of knowledge.

Voice, video, image, and chat messages with friends and family

Long-distance calls are expensive. Sending postcards and letters take days, if not weeks. The best way to communicate with friends and family in other cities and countries in a cost-effective and quick way is online. 

You can make group video calls or audio calls using apps. As long as you have internet, you don’t need to worry about long-distance costs. You can send text, photos, and voice messages instantly. While having dinner, you can send a photo of your meal to share your moment with your family, even if they are in another state or province. 

It’s like your friends, family, and coworkers all live in your neighborhood. The world is more interconnected and a much smaller place because of online communication.

Key Takeaways

Online communication has greatly improved, to the point that we can create and maintain connections with people who live far away from us. Technology allows us to be part of a larger community that supports each other. Online communication also offers many more ways for us to keep in touch with family and friends who live far away.

What do you think about online communication?