More employers using simulations to hire

Billionaire Richard Branson tested his candidates by asking them to climb atop a hot-air balloon. Benefactor Mark Cuban wanted his to play a game of Jenga. And Donald Trump tests his future apprentices by, well, being Donald Trump.

While reality television takes the "show me" job interview to extremes, ordinary employers use more modest simulations to hire everyone from customer-service reps to firefighters to chief executives.

The name for this hiring method varies — simulations are sometimes called case interviews, modeling or the awkwardly titled assessment centers — but the idea is the same: Seeing how a potential employee acts in a given situation is a better measure of abilities than an interview or even a pencil-and-paper skills test.

"Traditional tests focus on aptitude and job knowledge," says Oscar Spurlin, an organizational psychologist and founder of Ergometrics, an Edmonds firm that designs video tests to simulate on-the-job situations.

"What we’re trying to figure out is, can you apply your skills in a difficult environment? If you’re feeling time pressure and you have a customer being rude or pushy, are you able to smile and help the person? Or do you feel like you have to tell them to mind their manners?"

By Shirleen Holt

Seattle Times business reporter

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