6 talent assessment tools to boost quality of hire

What is a talent assessment tool?

A talent assessment tool is a standardized method used by organizations to fairly assess candidates for a job. The top talent assessment tools level the playing field between candidates by minimizing the differences between each assessment and objectively measuring candidates’ skills, reducing biases in hiring and naturally increasing diversity.

This can have benefits for your bottom line: Research shows that each 10% increase in intersectional gender equity corresponds to a 1%-2% boost in revenue.

What are the advantages of using talent assessment tools?

Having the right stack of talent assessment software helps you improve your hiring process significantly and make better hires consistently. Here’s how:

Next, before discussing the different talent acquisition assessment tools available, let’s examine the different methods of assessing candidates’ skills. 

1. Work samples

One way of conducting work assessments is to ask for work samples. This is when a candidate completes a task that is representative of the work they would do in their role to determine their suitability. Common examples are: 

• Coding tasks 

• Writing samples 

• Design mock-ups 

• Sample pitch decks 

Key considerations for using work samples in talent assessments

Unlike traditional methods that rely heavily on resumes and interviews, work samples offer a tangible insight into a candidate's actual work. Make sure that your work sample tasks: 

• Are relevant to the job requirements that would be expected of the candidate

• Don’t make unreasonable demands for time and effort from candidates

• Come with clear instructions 

• Don’t require confidential information about prior employers

• Are the same or similar for all candidates to minimize bias

• Where possible, evaluated anonymously to further reduce bias

• Compliant with employment laws around unpaid work and discrimination

Example work sample task for a web developer

Title: "Develop a responsive landing page for a new product launch"

Objective: A web design candidate is tasked with creating a responsive landing page for a hypothetical product website. This task is designed to assess their technical skills in web development, such as their coding skills, design sensibility, and attention to user experience.

You should also include a task description covering: 

• An overview of the task – in this case, to design a landing page

• Key features to include

• Technical requirements such as the coding language to use

• Deliverables, for example, a link to the live version of the landing page on Netlify

• Submission guidelines, including the timeframe and submission format for the task

• Evaluation criteria, such as code quality

Best for

• Creative, task-oriented roles like copywriters or graphic designers

• Companies that have the time and resources to assess practical skills

2. Job simulations

When doing a job simulation, you ask the applicant to pretend they’re in a specific work situation and evaluate how they approach and solve the problem. 

These are typically more interactive than work samples and may sometimes involve someone from the hiring team playing a specific role in a scenario. Job simulations are typically used during the final stages of the hiring process, most commonly during the interview. 

Key considerations for using job simulations in talent assessment

Ensure your job simulations:

• Closely mirror the actual tasks and challenges of the specific job

• Are consistent across all candidates to ensure a fair assessment process. This includes standardizing instructions, time limits, and evaluation criteria

• Have clear instructions and context

• Consider the resources required to administer simulations, including technology, space, and personnel

• Don’t ask candidates to provide free work or ideas that the company could use commercially without compensation

Example job simulation for a customer service role

Task: Handling a simulated customer service issue

Objective: Assess the candidate's problem-solving, communication, and customer service skills.

Instructions:

• The candidate is given a scenario where a customer faces an issue with a product or service. You should provide them with all the necessary information beforehand that they need to complete the simulation, including your company's policy and rules on dealing with customers

• The candidate must demonstrate how they would address the customer's concerns, provide a solution, and maintain excellent service standards

• The simulation is observed and evaluated based on criteria like communication skills, displayed personality traits, problem-solving ability, and adherence to company policies

Best for

• The final interview stages

• Roles where real-time problem-solving is crucial, like sales or management positions​​

3. Job trials

In a job trial, you ask candidates to do a trial shift or a few hours of work.

Job trials require a significant investment from your side because you need to define clear criteria for success and follow the candidate (offline or online) to monitor their performance.

Key considerations for using job trials in talent assessment

When using job trials, ensure:

• You only do them with your best candidates

• They don’t disrupt your team’s work

• The trial period is reasonable and clearly defined before the trial begins

• You are clear about payment terms – whether the work is paid or unpaid, be specific

• Compliance with labor laws regarding unpaid work

• The trial experience is respectful and valuable for candidates, regardless of the outcome

• You have clear evaluation criteria

• Involves multiple team members in the evaluation process to gather diverse perspectives on the candidate's performance

Example job trial for a bookkeeping role

Design the trial to enable you to test your candidate’s skills in a few diverse situations, not just for a single type of task.

For example, a varied job trial for a bookkeeper might include the following tasks:

1. Financial data entry: The candidate is provided with a batch of financial transactions to record in accounting software, assessing accuracy and proficiency with relevant software

2. Reconciliation task: Perform a bank reconciliation using a sample set of company bank statements and accounting records, testing attention to detail and problem-solving skills

3. Financial reporting: Create a basic financial report (like a profit and loss statement) from the provided data, demonstrating an understanding of financial principles and reporting skills

Best for

• Selective use with top candidates

• Jobs that can’t be easily simulated

4. One-way video interviews 

One-way or asynchronous video interview software helps you save time and optimize the interview process by asking candidates to record their answers to preset interview questions without needing an interviewer to be present.

These enable candidates to respond to questions at their own pace and gives your team the ability to get responses from as many people as needed in a much smaller timeframe.

Key considerations for using one-way video interviews in talent assessment

For best results, make sure your one-way video interviews:

• Are hosted on a video interview platform that complies with data privacy laws and regulations

• Come with detailed instructions on how to use the video interview platform, including any technical requirements

• Are accessible to all, including those who may not have access to high-speed internet or advanced recording equipment

• Avoid overly complex or ambiguous questions – the candidate can’t ask for clarification

• Are assessed by hiring managers who are trained to focus on the content of the responses rather than extraneous factors like candidates’ appearance or surroundings

Example use of one-way video interviews for a marketing manager

If you’re hiring a marketing manager, you could include tasks like:

• Analyze a case study: Ask the candidate to analyze a brief case study of a marketing scenario and discuss their approach

• Pitch a campaign: Request the candidate to prepare a pitch for a hypothetical marketing campaign

• Share relevant experience: Tell the candidate to discuss a time in their life when they had responsibilities similar to those of this position

Best for

• Efficiently evaluating large numbers of applications

• Roles that require excellent presentation skills 

Include one-way interview questions in your online talent assessment.

TestGorilla’s online assessment tools for recruitment enable you to ask candidates video questions – get started for free today.

Start screening with our Free forever plan

5. Structured in-person interviews

Unlike traditional unstructured interviews, during which hiring managers make up the questions as they go, structured interviews ask all candidates the same questions, in the same order, evaluated by the same pre-agreed criteria.

This minimizes interviewer bias and makes the post-interview decision-making process easier by making sure all candidates are asked about the same skills.

Key considerations 

When designing your structured interview process: 

• Conduct a job analysis to determine the key skills to examine during the interview

• Make sure the questions address the core skill areas you identified during the job analysis

• Consult with members of the target team about what constitutes a “good” answer before the interview to establish an evaluation benchmark

• Ask individual interviewers or interview panels to rate each answer out of five as they go to make candidates’ performance easier to compare 

Example use of structured in-person interviews for a data analyst

When conducting a structured interview for a data analyst role, you might discover during the job analysis phase that, in addition to strong data analysis and SQL skills, this candidate needs strong problem-solving abilities.

After including online talent assessments for these skills in the screening phase, you could ask all candidates three key questions in the interview: 

• Let’s say you were provided with low-quality data for a website user behavior analysis. How would you overcome this?

• Can you identify a moment where you overcame a mistake in your previous role? What did you do to solve the issue?

• How do you define success, and how would you measure it for this role?

Best for

• First-round interviews for most roles – in later stages, you might switch to a more flexible interview model to gain qualitative data about candidates 

6. Online talent assessments

Online skills assessments are one of the best talent assessment tools available. They enable you to validate the skills of your candidates and compare them so that you can identify which candidates to interview.

Key considerations for using online skills tests in your talent assessment tools

To maximize the effectiveness and fairness of online skills tests: 

• Create multi-measure assessments that touch on several skill areas and incorporate the talent assessment tools outlined above

• Communicate what the assessment tests are measuring and how they are used in the decision-making process

• Ensure that the assessment platform is accessible to all candidates, including those from different cultures and those with disabilities. This may involve providing alternative formats, languages, or additional time for completion

• Respect candidates’ time by keeping assessments reasonable in length

• Ensure that the assessments comply with local and international laws regarding employment practices, data protection, and privacy. For example, we’ve built our platform and tests on the standards of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Example of an online talent assessment for a junior copywriter

TestGorilla enables you to administer skills tests easily, either by using the ones you can find in our test library or by creating your own. You can also add open questions or ask candidates to submit a work sample. 

Here’s an example of the tests you might pick when using our online assessment tools for recruitment:

• Role-specific skills: Use a custom essay question to ask for a writing work sample and add an SEO Copywriting test.

• Soft skills: Use our Communication test to check that they can communicate effectively and professionally with others 

• Hard skills: For international candidates, you might test their English language skills to ensure they have the skills to keep up in your English-speaking team 

• Culture Add: Rather than “culture fit,” check that their values align with your company while also bringing something new to the table with our Culture Add test

Best for

• Maintaining effectiveness during high-volume hiring

• Reducing unconscious bias and promoting diversity – one study found that the number of women hired into senior roles increased by nearly 70% after switching to skills-based hiring

• Supercharging your training efforts by using the data collected during hiring to determine upskilling opportunities

6 best talent assessment tools on the market

So far, we’ve discussed what you can choose recruitment assessment tools for and the benefits this could bring to your hiring process. But choosing the right assessment tool for hiring isn’t easy. 

To help you make your decision, here are the six best talent assessment tools we think should be on your radar.

Looking for more detailed product insights?

Check out our comprehensive guide to compare the top talent assessment tools on the market.

Compare top tools

1. TestGorilla

Best for companies looking for effective multi-measure talent assessment.

G2 user rating: 4.5/5 stars out of 1100+ reviews

TestGorilla is an easy-to-use, top-rated talent assessment platform. With more than 400 pre-employment tests in our test library, you’re sure to find the questions that work for you. The wide range of science-backed assessments includes: 

• Situational judgment tests

• Language proficiency tests

• Cognitive ability tests

• Coding tests

• Enneagram personality tests

In addition, you can customize these tests or mix and match test questions to create a completely tailored assessment.

TestGorilla’s work assessments can be completed from anywhere using the mobile-friendly platform. Each test takes 15 minutes or less to complete, and we score the candidates’ results automatically to simplify the shortlisting process for you.

TestGorilla’s website is available in 11 localized languages – perfect for international hiring campaigns – including Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, and Arabic.

Features

• The mobile-friendly platform makes it easy to complete tests on the go

• 30-minute training and onboarding tour to help you get to grips with the platform

• Edit or add your own questions to tests to create custom assessments

• GDPR compliance, ATS integrations, and API access

Pros and cons

Pricing

• Free forever at $0: Full access to 10 free tests, including all personality assessments

• Starter from $75 per month ($900 per year paid upfront)

• Pro from $115 per month ($1,380 per year paid upfront)

Use TestGorilla to hire the most skilled candidates, every time.

Explore our test library to find skills tests for your open roles.

Get started with your product tour

2. Maki

Best for businesses in niche industries, thanks to its wide range of test questions.

G2 user rating: 4.7/5 stars out of 100+ reviews

Features

• Mobile-friendly tests

• ATS integration

• Customizable test questions

Check out our comparison of TestGorilla and Maki to get the full picture. 

Pros and cons

Pricing

Maki offers three pricing tiers, with details available on inquiry:

• Grow: Includes unlimited assessment credits, one user account, and unrestricted library access.

• Scale: Includes all Grow tier features, in addition to a candidate feedback page.

• Enterprise: Includes all Scale tier features, in addition to a dedicated onboarding platform, ATS integrations, and more.

3. Testlify

Best for businesses that need to assess specific and unusual skills. 

G2 user rating: 4.8/5 stars out of 100+ reviews

Features

• Customize test questions

• 15 minutes per test on average 

• API access

Check out our in-depth comparison of TestGorilla and Testlify for more information. 

Pros and cons

Pricing

Testlify offers three pricing plans:

• Starter plan: $19 per month for 100 candidates. Each additional candidate costs $3.

• Basic plan: $39 per month for 300 users. Each additional user costs $2.

• Professional plan: $99 per month for 1,000 candidates. Each additional user costs $1.

• Business plan: $199 per month for unlimited candidates. 

4. Canditech

Best for large businesses.

G2 user rating: 5/5 stars out of 50+ reviews

Features

• Detailed, downloadable candidate reports 

• Wide range of customer support options

• GDPR Compliance

Check out our in-depth comparison of how Canditech compares with TestGorilla for more information. 

Pros and cons

Pricing

Canditech offers a tiered pricing plan (all plans billed annually):

• Individual plan: From $45 per month for one assessment, three user accounts, and multiple testing options.

• Team plan: From $75 per month for Individual plan features, plus eight user accounts, two assessments, and technical support for candidates.

• Pro plan: From $100 per month for Team plan features, plus unlimited assessments, unlimited users, ATS integrations, dedicated phone and video support, and more. 

• Enterprise plans start at $150 per month.

5. Indeed

Best for basic skills testing combined with job posting.

G2 user rating: 4.3/5 stars out of 600+ reviews

Features

• Integrated with Indeed’s job posting platform 

• Assessments include key topics such as critical thinking and problem-solving 

• You can see candidates’ skills test performance on their profile if they have already completed it

Pros and cons

Pricing

• Indeed pricing is available upon request

6. HackerRank

Best for hiring developers

G2 user rating: 4.5/5 stars out of 400+ reviews

Features

• Dedicated platform for assessing coding skills for various roles, including software engineers, back-end, front-end, DevOps, data scientists, and QA/SDET

• Companies can host coding competitions

• Offers intuitive user experience, a variety of coding challenges, and real-time collaboration

Pros and cons

Pricing

• Starter: Starts at $100 per month for one user. Includes 1,000+ assessment questions and access to Screen & Interview feature.

• Pro: Starts at $450 per month for two users. Includes 2,000+ assessment questions and access to Screen & Interview feature.

• Contact HackerRank directly for Enterprise options.

4 best practices to follow when using talent assessment tools

Even the best assessment tools for hiring can let you down if you don’t know how to use them well. Here are our top tips to excel with them:

1. Before you start hiring, use your talent acquisition assessment tools to evaluate your current workforce. Identify skills gaps in the teams you’re hiring for and the skills that are common in your high-performing teams. You can then look for these in your new hires.

2. When picking a talent assessment platform, choose one that uses cycling questions. One of the benefits of using TestGorilla as your talent assessment solution is that every test in our library has a bank of hundreds of questions, and our algorithm ensures that different questions are used for each assessment. This minimizes cheating while ensuring that all candidates are tested fairly.

3. Use the data you collect from skills-based hiring to provide valuable feedback to candidates, especially those you don’t take forward in the process. If there’s a specific area they fell down in, let them know. This improves their candidate experience and boosts your employer brand.

4. Store the skills data of successful candidates and use it to target their onboarding and upskilling training. Is there a skill that they could improve on? Do they show leadership potential? Use these insights to craft a personal development plan for them. This demonstrates your investment in them and boosts their chances of sticking around long-term – one study found that companies that aligned their HR selection processes to their employees’ skills boosted engagement by 50%, halved training costs, and raised productivity by 40%.

Get started with talent assessment tools with TestGorilla

In this article, we’ve discussed: 

• What talent assessment tools are 

• The benefits of using online assessment tools for hiring 

• The best talent assessment tools out there 

• Best practices to follow when crafting work assessments

All that’s left is for you to start hiring. 

To get started with talent assessments straight away for free, sign up for our Free forever plan.

If you want an in-depth walk-through from one of our experts, sign up for a free 40-minute demo.