Spanish proficiency test C1: Language skills assessment to hire the best candidates

Use our Spanish (proficient/C1) test to hire the best

This online Spanish proficiency test evaluates a candidate’s knowledge of the Spanish language at the C1 level of the CEFR framework. This language skills test will help you hire employees who can participate in demanding professional and social conversations in Spanish.

The test is designed by a subject matter expert to assess candidates’ expertise in the areas of grammar and vocabulary, sentence composition, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension. You can send this online Spanish proficiency test to your prospective job applicants before inviting them to an interview.

Covered skills

Grammar
Vocabulary and spelling
Reading comprehension
Listening comprehension

Use the Spanish (proficient/C1) test to hire

Editors, writers, content creators, customer success managers, and other employees that need to be proficient in Spanish to perform well in their roles.

Type

Language

Time

10 min

Languages

English

Level

Advanced

Preview questions Get started

About the Spanish (proficient/C1) test

Employees who are proficient in Spanish will enrich your company’s internal and external communications by clearly and effectively discussing ideas, plans, and goals with customers and colleagues. They will also be able to write well-structured reports, presentations, and other material in Spanish to help promote the company’s brand and ideas to others.

The Spanish (proficient/C1) test evaluates a candidate’s ability to communicate at the C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages. The test evaluates candidates in the areas of grammar and vocabulary, sentence composition, reading comprehension, and listening comprehension.

Employees who are proficient in Spanish can express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much searching for expressions. They can understand demanding, longer texts and recognize implicit meaning in both written and verbal communications. They use the language flexibly and effectively for social, academic, and professional purposes and can produce detailed texts on complex subjects, showing a controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors, and cohesive devices.

The test is made by a subject-matter expert

Geovanna F.

Having grown up speaking both Spanish and English, Geovanna has had a life-long affinity for languages. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in English and a TESOL certificate, Geovanna has been working as a translator and interpreter for over five years. Her work includes a variety of media such as articles, flyers, websites, manuals, lesson plans, educational content, and much more.

When not busy in her role as a Spanish translator, Geovanna teaches English to Chinese students online.

Crafted with expert knowledge

TestGorilla’s tests are created by subject matter experts. We assess potential subject-matter experts based on their knowledge, ability, and reputation. Before being published, each test is peer-reviewed by another expert, then calibrated using hundreds of test takers with relevant experience in the subject. Our feedback mechanisms and unique algorithms allow our subject-matter experts to constantly improve their tests.

What our customers are saying

Use TestGorilla to hire the best faster, easier and bias-free

Our screening tests identify the best candidates and make your hiring decisions faster, easier, and bias-free.

Predict job performance

Learn how each candidate performs on the job using our library of 284 scientifically validated tests.

Test candidates for job-specific skills like coding or digital marketing, as well as general skills like critical thinking. Our unique personality and culture tests allow you to get to know your applicants as real people – not just pieces of paper.

Hire without bias

Give all applicants an equal, unbiased opportunity to showcase their skills with our data-driven and performance-based ranking system.

With TestGorilla, you’ll get the best talent from all walks of life, allowing for a stronger, more diverse workplace.

Offer a positive candidate experience

Our short, customizable assessments and easy-to-use interface can be accessed from any device, with no login required.

Add your company logo, color theme, and more to leave a lasting impression that candidates will appreciate.

Get a demo Get started

Watch how you can use the Spanish (proficient/C1) test

Create high-quality assessments, fast

Building assessments is a breeze with TestGorilla. Get started with these simple steps.

Create high-quality job assessments, fast

Building assessments is quick and easy with TestGorilla. Just pick a name, select the tests you need, then add your own custom questions.

You can customize your assessments further by adding your company logo, color theme, and more. Build the assessment that works for you.

Invite candidates your way

Send email invites directly from TestGorilla, straight from your ATS, or connect with candidates by sharing a direct link.

Have a long list of candidates? Easily send multiple invites with a single click. You can also customize your email invites.

See the best candidates, ranked

Discover your strongest candidates with TestGorilla’s easy-to-read output reports, rankings, and analytics.

Easily switch from a comprehensive overview to a detailed analysis of your candidates. Then, go beyond the data by watching personalized candidate videos.

Get a demo Sign up free

View a sample report

The Spanish (proficient/C1) test will be included in a PDF report along with the other tests from your assessment. You can easily download and share this report with colleagues and candidates.

Download sample report

How can you measure language proficiency with a C1 Spanish test?

The C1 Spanish test will help you evaluate how well your candidates read, listen, speak, and write in Spanish. The C1 in the test’s name represents the level of operational proficiency a person has in the Spanish language, according to the CEFR framework. We’ll look at this in more detail later.

The test assesses how well your candidates can discuss ideas, plans, and goals with potential customers, stakeholders, and investors. It also evaluates whether the applicants can write a well-structured report, presentation, or memo in the Spanish language that can promote your organization’s brand to others.

C1 is one of the highest proficiency levels in the CEFR framework, and a company that is seeking candidates with this level of Spanish-language proficiency is usually trying to fill one of the following roles:

• Copyeditors
• Content writers
• Content creators
• Customer-success managers
• Business-development managers

When you need applicants to be fluent in Spanish, you should give them a C1 Spanish test to evaluate their language proficiency. With a pre-employment test, you can assess their skills objectively and without bias.

What does the C1 Spanish test measure?

The Spanish C1 test measures candidates’ knowledge, skills, and abilities in four main areas:

• Reading comprehension: Reading comprehension has to do with how well your candidates can interpret the Spanish language when it’s presented to them in a written form. Since you’re looking for a C1 Spanish-language speaker, your candidates shouldn’t have any problems in this area, even when reading complex and technical text.

• Writing proficiency: Writing proficiency is how coherently candidates can express their ideas and thoughts in writing. A candidate with a C1 proficiency level shouldn’t have problems expressing their views in a nuanced way, including when they are writing about complex topics.

• Vocabulary: Vocabulary has to do with your candidates’ ability to communicate verbally with other Spanish-speaking people. A candidate with a C1 level of proficiency shouldn’t need to grasp to find certain phrases or words. They should be able to have a natural and flowing conversation, even when they are discussing complicated subjects.

• Listening comprehension: Listening is one of the most difficult areas of language to master. When candidates listen to someone speaking Spanish, they need to understand the language’s complexities, nuances, and idioms, and then be able to respond so that the conversation continues. A candidate with C1 proficiency should be able to understand all of the language’s complexities and respond with ease.

What is the CEFR framework?

CEFR stands for the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. CEFR recognizes six language-proficiency levels. So when you want to hire a candidate who has a C1 proficiency level in Spanish, you should test them with a C1 Spanish test.

The CEFR’s six proficiency levels are:

• A1 (Beginner): At this level, the candidate only knows simple words, phrases, verbs, and adverbs.

• A2 (Elementary): A candidate at this level has a deeper understanding than someone at the beginner level, and they can introduce themselves in Spanish. On top of that, they can speak about geography, family, community, and work.

• B1 (Lower intermediate): If a candidate is at this level, they understand around 60% of the language. Even though they still make errors, they can have a conversation with a native Spanish speaker.

• B2 (Upper-intermediate): When a candidate is at this level, they can discuss many different topics with a native Spanish speaker almost effortlessly.

• C1 (Operational proficiency): A candidate at this level has achieved operational proficiency. This means that they can understand the language’s subtleties, like idioms and complex text. Additionally, they can converse about complex topics with ease.

• C2 (Mastery): At this level, the candidate’s proficiency can be considered equivalent to that of a native Spanish speaker. They can hold even the most challenging conversations with native speakers on any topic.

A more complex test, like the C2 Spanish test, might filter out suitable candidates for no reason. On the other hand, a simpler test for the A or B levels might not be challenging enough to provide useful information about the candidate’s proficiency. So if you want an advanced language speaker, give them a C1 Spanish test.

How can the C1 Spanish test help you hire the right candidate?

When you use a pre-employment assessment tool like our C1 Spanish test, you increase your chances of finding a candidate with advanced proficiency in Spanish. Here are four key benefits of using our pre-employment tests:

• They’re bias-free: When you use a pre-employment test, you assess all the candidates who apply for your open role. This removes bias from the hiring process, since every applicant takes the same pre-employment test and is evaluated on their results. When you start the recruitment process by screening CVs, some less-than-ideal candidates can make it to the next stage and some great candidates can be filtered out.

• They’re objective: With TestGorilla’s pre-employment assessments, all of the candidates receive the same test. You also get numerical results for each applicant, so you can easily compare candidates to see who did better on the test.

• They’re scalable: Pre-employment testing is a scalable solution to the hiring process. No matter how many applicants you have, you can distribute the test to all your candidates with a single click and simply wait for the results.

• They’re made by experts: All of TestGorilla’s tests are created by subject-matter experts. Then they’re assessed by another subject-matter expert with relevant knowledge in the field. After that, the test goes through multiple feedback rounds until it is the best possible version of the test, and only then is it uploaded to our test library.

In summary

If you need to hire a Spanish-speaking candidate with a C1 proficiency level, don’t leave finding the right candidate to chance. Use a C1 Spanish test to avoid bias and receive objective scores for your applicants, helping you to find the most skilled candidates for the job.

FAQs

What is the difference between an assessment and a test?

An assessment is the total package of tests and custom questions that you put together to evaluate your candidates. Each individual test within an assessment is designed to test something specific, such as a job skill or language. An assessment can consist of up to 5 tests and 20 custom questions. You can have candidates respond to your custom questions in several ways, such as with a personalized video.

Can I add my own questions to an assessment?

Yes! Custom questions are great for testing candidates in your own unique way. We support the following question types: video, multiple-choice, coding, file upload, and essay. Besides adding your own custom questions, you can also create your own tests.

How do video questions work?

A video question is a specific type of custom question you can add to your assessment. Video questions let you create a question and have your candidates use their webcam to record a video response. This is an excellent way to see how a candidate would conduct themselves in a live interview, and is especially useful for sales and hospitality roles. Some good examples of things to ask for video questions would be "Why do you want to work for our company?" or "Try to sell me an item you have on your desk right now." You can learn more about video questions here.

Can you explain how the other custom question types work?

Besides video questions, you can also add the following types of custom questions: multiple-choice, coding, file upload, and essay. Multiple-choice lets your candidates choose from a list of answers that you provide, coding lets you create a coding problem for them to solve, file upload allows your candidates to upload a file that you request (such as a resume or portfolio), and essay allows an open-ended text response to your question. You can learn more about different custom question types here.

Can I customize an assessment with my company logo and color theme?

Yes! You can add your own logo and company color theme to your assessments. This is a great way to leave a positive and lasting brand impression on your candidates.

What type of support do you offer?

Our team is always here to help. After you sign up, we’ll reach out to guide you through the first steps of setting up your TestGorilla account. If you have any further questions, you can contact our support team via email, chat or call. We also offer detailed guides in our extensive Help & Inspiration Center.

What is the cost for using the Spanish (proficient/C1) test?

You can find our pricing packages here. Sign up here to try TestGorilla today.

Can I combine the Spanish (proficient/C1) test with other tests?

Yes. You can add up to five tests to each assessment.

Where in my recruitment process should I use the Spanish (proficient/C1) test?

We recommend using our assessment software as a pre-screening tool at the beginning of your recruitment process. You can add a link to the assessment in your job post or directly invite candidates by email. TestGorilla replaces traditional CV screening with a much more reliable and efficient process, designed to find the most skilled candidates earlier and faster.

What is the difference between intermediate and proficient level of the English language tests?

The intermediate tests test the B1 level of the CEFR framework language skills. The proficient tests, which are more advanced, test the C1 level language skills of a candidate. You can read more about the different skill levels here.

Spanish (proficient/C1)