Right "speed" for the job....

A candidates cognitive ability - the speed at which they process information - can have a tremendous positive or negative effect on their success in a new job.

First and foremost, to be clear -I'm talking about processing speed - NOT intelligence. Cognitive abilities can be assessed quickly and easily by various validated assessment tools. But - once you have the information, how can you use it.

For the first example lets use a position where you need someone to just come in and start working - you just don't have the time or resources for a lot of training. What you need for this situation is a candidate with a high cognitive abilities score. They process information quickly and will train more quickly than candidates with average or below average cognitive abilities assessment scores.

Another example would be a position where the task is highly detailed or specific. There is a very long and specific training curve and much of the job is repetitive. While you may very well be looking for someone with above average intelligence - you may find your best candidate to have an average, or even below average cognitive abilities score. They process information more slowly, and may therefore not move too quickly and make mistakes. Further - there is less likelihood that the position will not bore them.

All TriStarr's candidates are assessed for cognitive abilities as well as personality and hard skills. If you'd like to learn more about this topic please let me know.