When should you give candidates a Mechanical Reasoning test?

If you’re looking to expand your workforce and your business is in the manufacturing or engineering industry, then it is vital to give potential new hires a Mechanical Reasoning test.

Essentially, mechanical reasoning is the ability to understand and apply basic mechanical and physical concepts, operate machinery, and use tools to perform certain tasks, like welding and fabricating goods. 

People working in these industries need to have a strong grasp of what they are doing because a single bolt that is not screwed in correctly can damage the machine and become dangerous for those operating it.

Therefore, when recruiting new employees for a job, use a Mechanical Reasoning test to assess if your candidates comprehend the fundamental mechanical concepts. 

Once they pass the test, you can provide hires with additional training on using specific tools catered for your company if needed.

However, if they don’t have sufficient mechanical reasoning from the start, it may prove difficult to teach them new skills since they won’t be able to grasp the concepts behind the tools and machinery. 

This article will go over which roles require mechanical reasoning, why you should use a test to ascertain if someone is qualified to work in your industry, and when you should use the test during the hiring process.

For which roles is mechanical reasoning important? 

You should give a Mechanical Reasoning test to anyone applying for a role in manufacturing or engineering.

Some of the roles the test is most relevant for include: 

• Technicians: This includes HVAC technicians, equipment installation technicians, electricians, and everyone else who works with the installation and maintenance of facilities. It is important for these professionals to understand how electrical currents work and how to use tools to repair and maintain appliances. Without sufficient knowledge in this area, they will be prone to incidents that can be catastrophic and even life-threatening. Therefore, it is critical for you to determine the skills of these technicians before hiring them. 

• Welders: Welders create, repair, and maintain products by using heat to fuse or cut different metals. They are responsible for building houses, bridges, pipelines, aircraft, cars, and other goods and products. Welders use various tools to perform their tasks, which is why it’s essential for them to have excellent mechanical reasoning. 

• Machine operators: Similarly, machine operators need to know how to use technical equipment in the most efficient manner to ensure machines run smoothly and are properly maintained. 

• Engineers: Mechanical reasoning is key for engineers because they are responsible for designing and building machines and other equipment. Knowing how and why something works is crucial in their line of work.

• Technical salespeople: Finally, technical salespeople need solid mechanical reasoning to understand the products they sell. It will be difficult for them to sell these tools or machines to potential buyers without a deep knowledge of how they are constructed and how they work.

Why should you assess candidates’ mechanical reasoning skills with a test? 

Using a Mechanical Reasoning skills test will help you to make objective and unbiased decisions when hiring new employees. 

The test will help you to easily evaluate candidates’ skills and filter out all those who are not qualified. This will speed up your hiring process and enable you to choose only the best candidates to come in for a face-to-face interview. 

In addition, using a Mechanical Reasoning test as part of a pre-employment skills assessment will enable you to create specific questions that cater to your industry. You receive candidates’ results immediately, so you can review them the moment they complete the test.

Moreover, you can easily compare their results with those of other candidates. You can also prevent cheating by using alerts and snapshots to detect if someone does something out of the ordinary while taking the test. 

When should you give candidates a Mechanical Reasoning test?

You should always give candidates a skills test before conducting interviews. The test results help you to quickly understand which candidates have the right skills for the job and which you can filter out early on. 

The recruitment process should look like this:

1. Define the job requirements

Clearly explain the job requirements for the opening. Spell out exactly what you need in the person you want to hire, and list all of the skills pertinent for the role. 

2. Post a job ad

Once you’ve defined your job requirements, you’re ready to post your job ad. You can advertise the open role using job boards, your website, and social-media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The more you advertise, the more candidates you’ll be able to reach. 

3. Administer a skills assessment

Apart from evaluating candidates’ mechanical reasoning skills, you might also want to test their ability to understand instructions, solve problems, and pay attention to visual details.

All of these abilities are important for any employee who works with machinery, and testing them before hiring can save you a lot of headaches in the future. Make sure not to go over five tests because candidates can get overwhelmed if they need to complete too many tasks during the hiring process. 

4. Interview your best applicants

After you have tested candidates’ skills and filtered out those who are not suitable, you are ready to invite your best candidates for an interview.

During the interview, ask them industry-specific questions about their previous experience, and use their answers to determine if they would be a good match for your business.

5. Perform background checks

Once you’re done with the interviews, you can perform background checks to validate all that a particular candidate has said and given you as documentation.

Make sure to reach out to their previous employers, and see if you can find news or articles on the internet that mention your candidate. 

6. Make a hiring decision

When you’re confident you’ve pinpointed the right person (or multiple people if you’re batch hiring), you’re ready to make them an offer. And that’s it – you’ve just found your best candidate. Congratulations! 

Hire the best talent with a Mechanical Reasoning test

If you’re hiring technicians, machine operators, or engineers, make sure you use a Mechanical Reasoning test.

The test will enable you to evaluate candidates’ skills before you invite them for an interview, ensuring you get the best hires out there. By testing candidates, you can avoid future mistakes and accidents that may hurt your business.

Therefore, you should use TestGorilla’s Mechanical Reasoning test to easily find applicants with the best mechanical reasoning skills. Start hiring the simple way today.