The UAE's Emiratisation drive has been given a boost with companies using online assessment software, which can test the aptitude of hundreds of job applicants at a time.
The system - from British firm ISV - uses testing skills for various levels of applicants and it can be adapted to suit the skills needed for any particular job.
Applicants can be sent a link to the website, which has their details on it, and the test their potential employer wants them to complete.
Within seconds of the applicant completing the test, the employer can see the results of 100 or more applicants and pick the best of the bunch.
Gisou Mehrabanzad, ISV's vice-president for business development said at Careers UAE 2007 that the system would help in the Emiratisation drive and recruitment in general.
"It can show the level of trainability of the candidate and the level of knowledge he has about a specific subject," she said. "It selects the top from the bottom.What we can do is save the human resources department a lot of time and also save on the turnover by 30 per cent." The software - which sells for Dh256 - is, according to Mehrabanzad, easy to use. It covers different areas of expertise - secretarial, medical, legal, shorthand, and knowledge of applications such as Office 2003 assessment - and can be targeted to the needs of companies.
There are two kinds of tests - skill-based and knowledgebased. The first shows productivity and quality, and the second numeracy and literacy. The software can then show easy-to-use graphs that will inform the employer, for instance, of how many words were typed in the time allocated and how many words were correct.
Employers can then go to a candidate comparison chart and see who is the best person for the job.
DP World, which is one of ISV's clients, said it has been using the software since January as part of its recruitment programme and was very happy with the system.
Abdul Rahman Gheyath, DP World's Emiratisation Manager, said: "It's a very good test for us because we need low, middle and highlevel employees," he added.
"As one of the clients, we use it for two months and we are happy with what it can do. As soon as a candidate is done with his test, we can assess him in a second."
By Adrian Murphy
© Emirates Today 2007
