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Administrative assistant roles carry huge responsibilities: managing calendars, coordinating meetings, safeguarding sensitive information, and keeping teams on track. That makes the cost of a mis-hire steep. The US Department of Labor estimates that a bad hire costs 30% of the employee’s first-year salary – tens of thousands of dollars for this role – not including the lost productivity, reputational damage, and strain on your team. So, why do so many organizations still get it wrong? It’s becau

No more mis-hires: Use an administrative assistant skills test to screen candidates

Blog thumbnail How to screen Accounts Payable candidates

Accounts payable (AP) is often viewed as “just data entry.” But those who work alongside it know better.  As one certified public accountant (CPA) put it, “Not everyone is capable of doing [AP]. It is more than just making sure things get paid. It takes attention to detail and an understanding of expense codes and approval processes.” This perspective gets closer to reality. Done well, AP protects cash flow, data integrity, and vendor relationships. Done poorly, it creates hidden costs that ripp

An accounts payable skills test is the best way to screen your candidates

How skills tests help you truly assess Excel proficiency graphic

“Excel proficiency” shows up in skills lists on nearly every resume – but too often, it’s an empty claim. Many hiring managers discover too late that a new hire can’t build a pivot table or automate a report. The result? Wasted hours, broken models, and bad decisions. Resumes and interviews rarely separate true Excel experts from inflated claims – but skills-based testing does. Evaluations like TestGorilla’s Microsoft Excel (Advanced) test require candidates to prove their abilities through real

How skills tests help you truly assess Excel proficiency

For job seekers

testgorilla questions and answers featured image

TestGorilla assessment questions are designed to help you showcase your abilities, solve real-world problems, and prove you’re the right fit for the job. By focusing on your skills – not your resumé or memorized answers – you get a fair, unbiased opportunity to stand out and demonstrate what you can do. But you might be a little nervous or even uncertain before taking a TestGorilla assessment, especially if you’re new to hiring assessments or are applying to jobs for the first time.  Never fear:

TestGorilla assessment questions and answers explained: The ultimate guide

Hiring & recruiting

Talent assessment

Competency assessment how to test your candidates featured image

When you’re hiring new talent, it can be challenging to get past what’s on paper. Resumes are polished and interviews can be rehearsed, leaving you wondering if a candidate really has what it takes. Make the wrong hire, and you risk employee turnover and lower productivity, which can hurt your organization's pockets. So how do you ensure your candidates have the skills and behaviors that truly matter for success in the role you’re hiring for? That’s where competency assessments come in. They giv

Competency assessment: How to test your candidates

Alternatives to Enneagram assessment featured image

When hiring, personality tests can help you uncover how candidates might perform in the workplace, collaborate with your existing team, and more.  The Enneagram is one personality test often used to explore motivations and emotional drivers, but it may not fully address other important traits for workplace success. For a broader understanding of candidates, you’ll want to consider alternatives to the Enneagram.  Not sure where to start? We’ll lend a hand. This guide highlights five alternative p

Top 5 alternatives to Enneagram assessment: Best personality tests for hiring

Top 5 alternatives to the 16 Personalities test

Personality testing is great for understanding how people work, communicate, and fit into a team. The 16 Personalities test is a popular choice for this, but it might not capture everything you need to know for workplace success.  To give you deeper insights into your candidates (and current employees), this guide explores five alternatives to the 16 Personalities test. These offer fresh perspectives on behavior, values, and job satisfaction, and we’ll show you how each fits different work scena

Top 5 alternatives to the 16 Personalities test: Best personality tests for work

Top 5 alternatives to the DISC assessment featured image

Personality and motivation are multi-faceted, and no one workplace personality test can cover everything you need to know about a candidate or employee. While the DISC assessment has long been a staple of workplace psychometrics, it may not be the right test for your particular needs.

In this article, we explore five alternatives to the DISC assessment, when to use them, and how they can help you build a winning team. Let’s dive in! 

Top 5 alternatives to the DISC assessment

The top 5 alternatives to the Big 5 personality test for the workplace featured image

Personality tests are great for hiring because they offer deeper insights into candidates’ behaviors, communication styles, and potential to vibe with the company’s culture and teams.  The Big 5 Personality test helps recruiters understand candidates’ broad traits and strengths, plus how they relate to others. But it may not be the best option for other purposes – like understanding their decision-making processes or job preferences.  Fear not: There are plenty of other just as effective persona

The top 5 alternatives to the Big 5 personality test for the workplace

Hiring a programmer with the perfect blend of technical knowledge, soft skills, and a deep understanding of programming languages is hard because validating crucial skills based on what you read in a resume is impossible.  As part of a comprehensive talent assessment, a programming aptitude test evaluates the core skills candidates need to thrive in the role.  The insights gained from a programming or coding aptitude test make it easier to compare candidates based on their competency, reducing b

Programming aptitude tests: The ultimate guide for HR teams

Top 5 hiring assessment tools for data-driven hiring in 2024 graphic

As a hiring manager, finding the perfect candidate can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Manually reviewing resumes and interviewing applicants is time-consuming and doesn’t guarantee the perfect hire.  Fortunately, online hiring assessment tools accurately measure a person’s suitability for any role to provide you with a reliable shortlist of qualified candidates.  In this article, we break down the features and pricing of the five best hiring assessment tools so you can choose the 

Top 5 hiring assessment tools for data-driven hiring in 2025

Aptitude tests are transforming hiring, delivering a shortlist of skilled candidates without bias and in a fraction of the time of traditional resume screening.  But there is an art to choosing the aptitude test categories that deliver the right hire, and with a library of different types of aptitude tests before you, where do you even start? What is an aptitude test going to do for your hiring process anyway? In this article, we discuss the benefits of different types of aptitude tests for empl

Types of aptitude tests: Everything you need to know

With good opportunities everywhere, in-demand candidates don’t want to wait to hear back. In fact, 62% of job seekers lose interest in a job if they don’t get a response from recruiters within two weeks, according to a Robert Half survey. So, how do you hire faster without overlooking important details? The solution is simple – ditch resumes and embrace talent assessments.  To do so, you need to find reliable tests with the right psychometric properties. This article examines the definition of p

What are the psychometric properties of talent assessments?

Behavioral assessments for hiring: The complete guide featured image

When you make hiring decisions, can you predict how well someone performs on the job?  Unfortunately, it’s tough to guess a candidate’s behavior based only on resumes and interviews. Much of what you learn about their personality doesn’t come until you see them in action. Behavioral assessments get you those answers sooner rather than later by testing candidates on their underlying traits. This article explores how behavioral testing improves recruitment and provides an overview of the most effe

Behavioral assessments for hiring: The complete guide

 Most accurate 16 personalities tests for assessing candidates featured image

With so many tests churning out personality type results, you might wonder if it’s all just pseudo-science.  Well, some of it might be. But there are science-backed tests out there, too.   The 16 Personalities test is a popular choice that tells you what factors drive your candidates’ decisions and behaviors and what shapes their preferences and communication styles at work. So, which platform provides the most accurate 16 Personalities test? In this guide, we list our top five contenders, along

Most accurate 16 personalities tests for assessing candidates

Human resources

The tech skills gap: What it is, why it exists, and how to close it in 2024 featured image

Traditional hiring approaches fall short when you’re searching for candidates with unique skill sets to drive your company’s success. One such skill is cognitive thinking, which HR recruiters often struggle to assess effectively. You can overcome this hurdle with cognitive ability tests, which help you redefine talent acquisition and find the best talent. In this article, we explore nine different cognitive thinking definitions, discuss how to test candidates or current employees for mental abil

Cognitive thinking definitions and how to test for cognitive thinking skills

The 16 Personalities test for hiring: An overview  featured image

You’re likely here because you’ve never heard of the 16-personality type test – or you have a vague understanding but are curious to learn more. Let’s cut to the chase.  The 16 Personalities test is a popular personality assessment. When used in recruitment, it gives hiring managers insights into a candidate’s thought processes, personality, preferences, and more. It helps you understand what makes an applicant tick, how they might fit into your team, and how they might contribute to your busine

What is the 16 Personalities test?

How accurate is the 16 personalities test for hiring featured image

Personality tests offer a way to gain deeper insights into your candidates' personalities and behaviors, which helps to make the hiring process more consistent and effective. The 16 Personalities test remains a popular tool for assessing job applicants. But just how accurate is it? Could relying solely on this test lead to hiring the wrong people?  In this article, we explore how accurate the 16 personalities test is and how incorporating it as part of a multi-measure approach can improve the ef

How accurate is the 16 personalities test for hiring?

Best 16 personalities test for hiring featured image

Finding the right person for your team is more than just looking at resumes. A candidate's personality profile plays a big part in how well they’ll fit in at your company and enhance your company culture.  That's where the 16 Personalities test comes in handy. It offers in-depth analysis of a candidate's preferences, decision-making style, and more. 

But picking the right test for your candidates? That can be tricky, as there are multiple tests to choose from, and they all have different streng

Best 16 personalities test for hiring

Cognitive intelligence is defined as the capability to acquire, process, and understand information in cognitive psychology. It includes several functions, like learning and reasoning. Although most candidates have skills that help them complete role-specific tasks, it’s harder to measure whether they possess the necessary cognitive intelligence to fully understand and adapt to the complexities of their roles.  In this article, we break this down by answering what cognitive intelligence is, expl

Cognitive intelligence: 6 types of cognitive tests for candidates

Employees who don’t work well together can hinder your organization’s productivity and culture. That’s why it’s essential to consider a candidate’s personality and how they can mesh with your team before hiring them. Personality tests offer an easy way to get detailed insights into an applicant’s qualities, motivations, emotional intelligence, and traits. If you don’t evaluate a candidate’s personality, you risk potential workplace conflicts and decreased team morale. In this article, we discuss

6 best workplace personality tests for hiring productive and cohesive teams

Should You Use Excel Competency Tests To Hire Project Managers featured image

Hiring skilled project managers can be the difference between success and failure. When a project manager lacks the skills required for the role, your business might suffer from delayed or failed projects. Assessing project manager candidates, including their Excel competency, enables recruiters to hire the best talent and achieve desired business outcomes. Rather than stalled projects, you and your clients can look forward to results that exceed expectations. In our guide, we’ll show you how to

Should you include Excel competency tests in your project manager hiring campaign?

WHAT DOES THE 16 PERSONALITIES TEST REVEAL featured image

Paper-thin hiring methods like resumes can only tell you so much about a potential hire. That's where personality tests like the 16 Personalities test come in. By using this test in your hiring process, you can gain deeper insights into a candidate's traits, motivations, and potential fit for the role and your company.  While many managers have heard of the 16 Personalities test, many don't know what it reveals or how to interpret the results. Let's explore what the 16 Personalities can tell you

What does the 16 personalities test reveal?

Why you should include Excel competency tests in your retail manager hiring campaign featured image

Retail managers are so much more than just people managers. They’re data analysts, skilled merchandisers, inventory wizards, and financial strategists all rolled into one. Microsoft Excel is the perfect tool to help your retail manager thrive in their role.  This is why it’s important for your candidates to have strong Excel skills. They should be able to use this spreadsheet program to measure profit margins, pricing strategies, and forecasting trends. Without these skills, they may struggle to

Why you should include Excel competency tests in your retail manager hiring campaign

Should you include Excel competency tests in your administrative assistant hiring campaign featured image

When hiring an administrative assistant, recruiters typically focus on good communication and organizational abilities but sometimes forget to look for strong Excel skills.  This can lead to hiring someone who struggles with administrative tasks such as data management, scheduling, and reporting – which are essential to the role.  Excel competency tests can prevent mis-hiring by evaluating candidates' Excel skills before you bring them aboard. Below, we explain what Excel competency tests are, w

Should you include Excel competency tests in your administrative assistant hiring campaign?

Are you unsure of how to find employees with strong mathematical abilities? Are you planning to rely on resumes to gauge skills and make recruitment decisions? There’s a better option – pre-employment math tests. They’re the fastest, most accurate method to assess your candidates and optimize your hiring process. In this article, we review everything you need to know about pre-employment assessments, including the most important math skills assessments and how to use them to recruit the best app

Pre employment math tests: How to evaluate your candidates’ skills using math assessments

10 leadership styles in business and when they’re effective featured image

Hiring someone who doesn’t click with your existing team can lead to friction, slowed down projects, and employee turnover. Meanwhile, hiring someone who clicks with but doesn’t enhance your team can encourage groupthink – where your whole team thinks the same way and lacks creativity as a result.  That's why finding someone who not only fits in with but also adds to your existing team culture is crucial. Personality tests like the Enneagram and 16 Personalities tests help you hire for harmony a

Enneagram vs. 16 Personalities: Which test is best for assessing applicants? 

Why you should include Excel competency tests in your accountant hiring campaign featured image

When hiring accountants, many organizations simply focus on candidates’ degrees or educational backgrounds. However, overlooking important competencies, such as Excel skills, can lead to hiring people who may look good on paper but struggle with essential accounting tasks. This can damage your finance department’s productivity, morale, and client relationships.  An Excel competency test can help you avoid these challenges. Below, we'll discuss what an Excel test measures, the key benefits it off

Why you should include Excel competency tests in your accountant hiring campaign

Why Use Excel Competency Tests When Hiring Financial Analysts? featured image

When hiring a financial analyst, it's tempting to prioritize credentials and overlook the practical Excel skills that are used in the role every day. Without strong Excel proficiency, even the most qualified analyst can struggle, causing costly errors, missed deadlines, and poor decision-making based on incorrect data. In this article, we'll explore why assessing Excel skills can significantly enhance your financial analyst hiring process. 

Why you should include Excel competency tests in your financial analyst hiring campaign

Actions speak louder than words: How to avoid diversity washing featured image

The 16 Personalities test, based on the work of philosopher Carl Jung, categorizes human personality into 16 unique types based on four binaries: extraverted vs. introverted, sensing vs. intuitive, thinking vs. feeling, and judging vs. perceiving.  Results of the 16 Personalities test can reveal a lot about the test-taker – from their communication style and decision-making tendencies to their interpersonal relationships, career preferences, and suitability for specific jobs.  Of the 16 personal

Which 16 Personalities types are best suited for leadership?

Skills vs. experience: What matters more for hiring? 


Personality tests can be a great way of identifying how candidates might fit into your company. One of these – the 16 Personalities test – can be used for hiring, but recruiters should be wary of relying too much on it. Overreliance on a single candidate assessment can lead to bias in hiring, imbalanced teams, a lack of diversity, and more. However, if you use the 16 Personalities test responsibly, your workplace and existing teams can thrive when you hire new people. In this article, we’ll show

Can the 16 Personalities test be used for hiring?

Software development roles demand strong skills in many different programming languages.  Naturally, your business’s hiring managers should evaluate candidates' coding skills to make sure you recruit programmers and software engineers who fit the job requirement Using assessment tests for general coding can be valuable because, unlike resumes, they offer direct insights into a candidate's skill level and practical knowledge of the necessary programming languages.  They can also be more effective

The 10 best coding assessment tools for hiring programmers and developers

Personality tests are a great way to learn more about candidates. They can help you make a more confident hiring decision and ensure your hire integrates smoothly with your existing team.   But with multiple personality tests out there – including the popular Enneagram, DISC, and 16 Personalities tests – it can be difficult to know which one to choose.  To help, we describe these three personality tests and their areas of focus. We’ll also suggest what each can reveal about a candidate and share

Enneagram vs. DISC vs. 16 Personalities: Which is best for assessing candidates?

When teams lack cohesion, companies fall apart. That sounds dramatic, but the consequences of a mis-hire are real: more team tension, counterproductivity, and project disruption. But there’s a way to avoid dreaded mis-hires. You can use personality assessments like the DISC and 16 Personalities tests during hiring to ensure you hire individuals with the right traits to mesh well with the rest of your team. Both tests are popular, but which is right for your hiring process? Read our DISC vs. 16 P

DISC vs. 16 Personalities: Which test should you use in your hiring process?

ISTPs, the Virtuosos, are a powerhouse of adaptability and hands-on expertise, essential for teams that value practical solutions.  However, they may become unhappy if they feel hemmed in by rigid schedules or protocols, hindering their problem-solving flair. And their knack for improvisation and efficiency might be underused in roles that don't align with their hands-on approach.  Skipping in-depth evaluations of their skill set can also result in a disconnect between how they prefer to tackle 

How to attract and assess Virtuoso (ISTP) candidates

Have you ever hired someone and then realized they just don't gel with the team?  A lack of team cohesion can lead to communication problems, decreased productivity, and even the need for re-hiring. Employee turnover from mis-hiring is not only detrimental to morale but wastes valuable company resources that could have been used more effectively to hire the right person. DISC and Enneagram tests help you understand the intricacies of a candidate's personality and can act as alternatives to CPI a

Can DISC and Enneagram tests be used for hiring? 

Numerical reasoning skills encompass the ability to logically process, analyze, and interpret numerical data, patterns, and trends. The absence of strong numerical reasoning skills in your team can lead to data misinterpretation in financial forecasts, or missed opportunities from incorrect market analysis. Companies often overlook the necessity of assessing job candidates for numerical reasoning skills, especially in positions where the connection to numbers isn't overt.  This article discusses

What jobs require numerical reasoning? (And how to improve it)

How to support INFJ personality types in the workplace featured image


Logicians (INTPs) are known for their innovative thinking and problem-solving skills, and you can identify them using the 16 Personalities test. Whether you’re looking to hire one specifically or want a better understanding of your top candidates’ personalities, you’ll need a full picture of their strengths and weaknesses. Overlooking a Logician's need for intellectual challenge and independence can lead to dissatisfaction and weaken team dynamics. And if they’re confined to rigid, uncreative ro

How to assess and hire a Logician (INTP) personality 

Hiring people with the right personalities can ensure they'll fit in with your team and resonate with your company culture. But trying to figure out someone's personality by yourself can be a guessing game. You might misread cues or get the wrong impression, which can lead to poor hiring decisions. (And that’s not even mentioning the unconscious bias that can sneak in.) The Enneagram and DISC personality tests can help. The Enneagram dives into what drives a person, while the DISC test shows how

Enneagram vs. DISC – which is better for candidate pre-assessing?

Picture this. You’re in a management meeting where no one dares disturb the “business as usual” atmosphere. Problems need fixing, but no one will touch them. Meanwhile, business growth is slow and employees are dissatisfied with the decision-making.  Often, the culprit in this scenario is the absence of critical thinking in leadership. Critical thinking helps leaders challenge assumptions and make logic-driven decisions. So, assessing this skill when hiring for leadership positions is crucial. B

How to assess critical thinking for leadership positions

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The skills-based hiring handbook

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How to elevate employee onboarding

A comprehensive guide with in-depth comparisons, key features, and pricing details to help you choose the best talent assessment platform.

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Top talent assessment platforms: A detailed guide

This in-depth guide includes tools, metrics, and a step-by-step plan for tracking and boosting your recruitment ROI.

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The blueprint for boosting your recruitment ROI

A step-by-step blueprint that will help you maximize the benefits of skills-based hiring from faster time-to-hire to improved employee retention.

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The skills-based hiring checklist

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 Get all the essentials of HR in one place! This cheat sheet covers KPIs, roles, talent acquisition, compliance, performance management, and more to boost your HR expertise.

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Employee onboarding checklist

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Key hiring metrics cheat sheet

In a hiring world where bots screen bots, this one-pager shows how to refocus AI on surfacing real, job-ready people. Learn how to blend skills data, human insight, and smart automation to build a fairer, faster hiring process.

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 The State of Skills-Based Hiring 2024

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