by Geoffrey K. Cummings, Esq.

            For decades airlines and the military have used flight simulators both to train pilots and to determine their abilities, under realistic conditions, to respond to emergency situations.  While interviews and testing have been relied on as well, flight simulations have always been a foundation of pilot training and recertification.  Simulations demonstrate abilities, or lack of abilities, that are not readily apparent through more traditional testing methods.  Accordingly, it is not surprising that employers in all sorts of businesses and industries are now turning to simulations as a primary hiring tool.

            Simulations place a candidate in situations similar to those that would occur in the business and allow both the potential employer and interviewee to learn about each other in an efficient and economical fashion.  The Internet has made it much easier for candidates to anticipate and respond properly to predictable job interview questions and standardized tests.  References from past employers have become notoriously unreliable or noncommittal.  Resume services make sure that even marginal candidates have what appear, at first blush, to be impressive resumes.  Many contemporary positions require the use of electronic technology and significant personal interaction.  Evaluating such abilities through traditional methods can be very unreliable.  Job simulations are a means around all of these impediments to selecting a top candidate.  They have the added benefit of demonstrating to a candidate that his or her potential employer is progressive and, hopefully, innovative.

            How do job simulations differ from traditional job interviews and basic skills testing?  Formerly, an executive assistant could expect a personal interview and a typing or word processing test.  A business utilizing job simulations would similarly conduct a personal interview, but from that point onward, the evaluation methods would diverge sharply.  A simulation for such a potential employee might begin with a series of written and oral directives as to how to handle, delegate, or redirect various issues that might arise in the absence of the management employee for whom the candidate might work.  The candidate would then be placed in a realistic work station or office and given a series of basic tasks, such as transcription and distribution of an intra-office memorandum and the researching of a marketing issue on the Internet. 

            Shortly after the candidate began work on the assigned tasks, the phone might ring.  At the other end of the line would be a participant in the simulation, posing as a client with a pressing problem.  Then, e-mails might arrive, raising similar potentially critical and time-sensitive issues.  And, to make things even more interesting, yet another participant in the simulation might appear in person, posing as an employee with a personnel problem.  Throw in a second visitor posing as an unexpected Department of Labor or OSHA inspector, and one has just the sort of potential chaos that is becoming the occasional norm in today’s workplace.  The employer or consultant would perform a post-simulation analysis of how the candidate prioritized and handled the multiple issues with which he or she was faced.  Such an analysis will provide a far better measure of the candidate’s potential as an employee then any traditional skills testing ever could.

            Simulations for high level executive positions may last many hours and cost thousands of dollars.  At the other end of the spectrum are commercial services that, for a fee that may be only $50 to $100, will test candidates for particular jobs and report the results to the potential employer.  Simulations may take many forms.  A common one, as in the scenario described above, is to present a candidate with a variety of tasks typical for the position and have the candidate solve or organize potential solutions for the various issues.  Another is to ask the candidate to assume he or she holds the position being sought and then handle client or employee interactions dealing with actual problems or employee issues.  In some instances, employee candidates, under the monitoring of supervisors, have been asked to demonstrate their abilities by handling actual client problems over technical hotlines.  Similarly, candidates have been asked to participate in group exercises seeking to resolve a particular problem typical of the sort of work the employer does.  In such situations, the candidate is judged not just on technical knowledge, but also on the ability to interact with clients or potential future fellow employees.

            Simulations may be as complicated and costly or as simple and relatively inexpensive as an employer wishes.  However, as is true for all employment related actions, caution must be exercised to be certain that the simulations do not run afoul of the legal limitations applicable to all employee interviews.  Some such concerns are obvious:  A physically disabled candidate who requires reasonable accommodation to perform the essential functions of a job may have to be provided that accommodation during a simulation.  Other potential violations might not be as obvious.  Simulations have attracted a huge amount of attention in a short period of time and will, for the foreseeable future, continue to become more and more a part of the job interview process.  If properly created and conducted, they can be highly effective in identifying the best candidates.