Stop playing games

First, Google and PricewaterhouseCoopers have prospective candidates playing with Lego blocks.

Now, another company has candidates playing Monopoly (see minute 1:50) to judge multi-tasking ability.

C'mon people. You don't need to play games. Spend just a little time putting together a good assessment. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Study the job. Figure out what the key KSAs/competencies needed day one are. And spend more than 5 minutes doing it.

2. Think about what JOB TASK you could re-create in a simulation that would measure the required competencies.

3. Spend some time putting together the exercise and how you will rate it. Spend some more time on it. Practice it. Then spend some more time preparing.

4. Give it. Rate it. Treat candidates with respect throughout the process.

5. Gather performance data once people are on the job and see if it predicts job performance.

6. Hire a professional to fix your mistakes. No, I'm kidding. If you've done the other steps right, you should be golden.

Stop playing games and stop making candidates play them. If you want to know how well an Office Manager candidate multi-tasks, put them in a scenario that matches what they would really face on the job. Phones ringing, Inbox filling up, managers at your door. Not playing with phony money.