What is a Test Battery?

In pre-employment testing, a test battery refers to a set of tests grouped together and administered to applicants for a particular position. Test batteries vary from position to position depending on the job’s requirements and the needs of the employer. For example, companies hiring maintenance workers may want to administer a test of mechanical aptitude to assess the applicant’s ability to work with machinery and tools. They may also want to administer a basic skills test to measure attention to detail and to see how trainable the applicant may be. Finally, they may want to administer a personality test to predict how trustworthy, honest, and rule-adherent the applicant will be. Combined, these three tests constitute a test battery, and can be administered to applicants as a sequence. While test batteries are highly customizable, the sum total of the time required to take all of the tests within the battery should not be too long, so as to avoid test fatigue.