Assessment Companies and Pre-Employment Testing Vendors
If you have applied for a job recently, there is a good chance the test you were asked to take wasn't written by the company hiring you. It was built by an assessment company, a specialist firm that designs, administers, and scores pre-employment tests on behalf of employers. Most candidates only learn the name when it lands in their inbox: SHL, Criteria, Hogan, eSkill, Empco, and dozens more.
These companies all measure the same handful of things, just in different formats and under different names:
- Cognitive ability - numerical, verbal, logical, and abstract reasoning under time pressure
- Personality and behavior - work style, motivations, and how you are likely to handle a role
- Situational judgment - workplace scenarios that ask what you would do and why
- Skills and simulations - typing, software, customer service, and job-specific task simulations
Your score usually isn't compared to a fixed pass mark. It is compared to other applicants or to a norm group, which is why familiarity with the exact format matters as much as ability.
This page explains how assessment companies work and why employers rely on them. It then takes a closer look at the 3 biggest names, SHL, Criteria, and Predictive Index, with an overview of each company and a sample question from its tests. A directory of other assessment companies follows, so you can find the one behind your test and go straight to the right practice. The page ends with answers to the questions candidates ask most.
What Are Assessment Companies?
An assessment company is a firm that builds, validates, and scores the tests employers use to screen job candidates. Assessment companies such as SHL, Criteria, and Hogan write the questions, set the scoring rules, and report your results back to the employer, so the employer doesn't need to design its own test. Some are psychometric assessment companies that measure reasoning ability and personality, while others focus on job-specific skills.
You will see these firms described in several ways. Employers often call them assessment vendors, HR teams may refer to their HR assessment services, and you may find them listed as pre employment testing companies or pre employment screening companies. Whatever the label, the role is the same: they supply the test and the scoring behind your application.
A Short History of Assessment Companies
Standardized testing at scale began during World War I, when the US Army used group exams such as the Army Alpha to sort recruits. Employers adopted the idea in the following decades, and industrial psychologists began designing tests specifically for hiring. Specialist assessment companies followed, including Predictive Index in the 1950s, SHL in the 1970s, and Hogan in the 1980s. The internet then moved testing online, which made it practical for pre employment testing services to send the same test to thousands of applicants at once.
How Assessment Companies Test You
When an employer chooses among assessment vendors, it picks a test that fits the role and emails you a link. You complete the test online, usually under a strict time limit. The assessment company scores your answers against a cutoff or a norm group and sends the employer a score or ranked report. Some pre employment screening companies bundle these tests with other checks, but the test itself is written and scored by the assessment company. Most tests fall into 4 types:
| Test Type | What It Measures | Well-Known Assessment Companies |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive ability | Numerical, verbal, logical, and abstract reasoning | SHL Criteria Korn Ferry Watson Glaser |
| Personality and behavior | Work style, motivations, and reliability | Hogan Predictive Index SHL Caliper |
| Situational judgment | Decision-making in realistic workplace scenarios | SHL Aon |
| Skills and simulations | Typing, software, and job-specific tasks | Criteria Wonderlic |
Why Employers Use Assessment Companies
- Volume - a single opening can attract hundreds of applicants, and pre employment testing companies let employers narrow the pool faster than reading every resume.
- Consistency - every candidate gets the same questions, time limit, and scoring, which makes results easier to compare.
- Predictive value - structured assessments from psychometric assessment companies tend to predict job performance better than unstructured interviews.
- Defensibility - a validated test gives employers a documented, job-related reason for who moves forward, which is a major reason HR assessment services are so widely used.
What This Means for Your Test
Your score is usually ranked against other applicants or a norm group, not graded against a fixed pass mark. That makes the format itself a factor: candidates who have already seen the question types, timing, and scoring of their assessment company's test lose less time on test day. Below, you'll find the biggest assessment companies on the market, with a closer look at how each one tests and a sample question from each.
Featured Assessment Companies
We prepare candidates for tests from dozens of assessment companies. Here are 3 of the biggest names in pre employment testing: SHL, Criteria, and Predictive Index. Thousands of candidates have prepared for their tests with our PrepPacks™. Each section below covers who the company is, what it tests, and what to expect, followed by a sample question. You'll find more assessment companies in the directory below.
SHL
SHL is one of the largest assessment companies in the world. It was founded in the UK in 1977 as Saville and Holdsworth Limited, and its best-known products include the Verify ability tests and the OPQ personality questionnaire.
- Test types - cognitive ability, personality, motivation, situational judgment, technical skills, and job-specific competencies.
- Typical clients - employers that hire in volume and for technology roles, across apprentice, graduate, professional, and manager positions.
- Scale - SHL reports that 45 million of its assessments are taken every year around the world.
- What to expect - timed online ability tests such as Verify, plus personality questionnaires such as the OPQ that ask how you typically behave at work.
SHL tests show up in many different hiring processes, so the exact format depends on the employer and the role. Our SHL practice tests help you get comfortable with the question types and timing before test day.
Numerical reasoning is the SHL test most candidates expect. You get a table or graph and have to work out a figure from it, usually a percentage, a ratio, or a change over time. This question asks for a change in an unemployment rate, which adds a step: the graph gives head counts, so you have to build the rates yourself.
How to Approach This Question
- Pin down what's asked - the question wants the change in a rate, for one group, between 2 specific years.
- Pull only the relevant figures - take the counts for that group in those 2 years and ignore everything else on the graph.
- Turn counts into rates - divide the unemployed graduates by the total graduates for each year.
- Subtract, later minus earlier - the sign of your result tells you whether the rate rose or fell.
- Check the unit - the answer options are in percentage points, so make sure you haven't calculated a percent change instead.
What was the change of the unemployment rate for private universities between 1990 and 2000?
SHL numerical reasoning tests measure how well you can interpret numerical data and draw the right conclusion from it. Questions are built around tables, graphs, and charts, and the math is usually basic: percentages, ratios, averages, and changes over time. The difficulty comes from reading the data accurately while the clock is running.
SHL offers more than one version. The interactive version asks you to work with the data directly, for example by dragging answers into a table or adjusting a chart, while the multiple-choice version works like this question. Question counts and time limits differ by version, so check your invitation email to see which one you've been given. As with most SHL ability tests, your score is typically compared with a norm group, not graded against a fixed pass mark.
This question tests whether you can tell a count from a rate. The graph gives head counts of graduates, but the question asks about the unemployment rate, which is the unemployed share of the total. Comparing the raw counts instead of building the rates is an easy way to go wrong.
The second skill is the unit. As the explanation shows, the rate falls from 9.5% to 8.5%, which is a drop of 1 percentage point. In relative terms, that is a fall of about 10.5%. Percentage points measure the gap between two percentages, while percent change measures that gap against the starting value. Numerical questions can ask for either, so check the unit in the question and the answer options before you calculate.
You may see variations on this question, such as the same graph with a different group or year, a combined rate across groups, or a percent change instead of percentage points. In every case, write the formula first (rate = part / total) and only then pull numbers from the graph.
Criteria Corp (CCAT)
Criteria Corp is a US assessment company founded in 2006 and based in Los Angeles. It is best known for the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT), a pre employment assessment that Criteria says has been administered more than 10 million times.
- Test types - aptitude, personality, and skills tests, including the CCAT, the language-independent UCAT, mechanical reasoning, and game-based assessments.
- Typical clients - organizations of all sizes. Criteria names managerial, software engineering, financial analyst, and auditor roles among those where the CCAT predicts performance well.
- CCAT format - 50 questions in 15 minutes covering math, verbal, and spatial reasoning, with no calculator.
- Scoring - you receive a raw score and a percentile rank. The average test taker answers about 24 questions correctly, and very few finish all 50.
Because the CCAT is built to be hard to finish, speed matters as much as accuracy. Our CCAT practice helps you build both before the real test.
Predictive Index (PI)
Predictive Index (PI) is a US assessment company founded in 1955 by Arnold Daniels. It is as much a workforce tool as a hiring test: employers use it for hiring, team design, and management, so you may take it as a candidate or as a current employee.
- Test types - the PI Behavioral Assessment and the PI Cognitive Assessment. Employers also use a Job Assessment to define what a role requires, which candidates don't take.
- Behavioral Assessment - an untimed checklist of adjectives that measures 4 work drives: dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality.
- Cognitive Assessment - a timed test of 50 numerical, verbal, and abstract reasoning questions, with a 12-minute limit.
- Typical clients - employers across a wide range of industries. PI reports more than 1,000 partners serving clients in 140 countries.
- Scoring - there is no universal pass mark. Employers compare your results with the profile they set for the role.
The 2 PI tests work differently, so it helps to practice both. Our Predictive Index practice covers the cognitive questions and the behavioral format.
Abstract reasoning is 1 of the 3 question types on the PI Cognitive Assessment. You see a sequence of shapes, work out the rule that connects them, and pick the shape that comes next. The difficulty is that several things usually change at once, so looking at the whole picture makes the pattern hard to see.
How to Approach This Question
- Split each shape into parts - treat every color or element as its own track.
- Follow one element across the series - work out how it changes: the direction it moves, how many steps it takes, or whether it alternates between 2 positions.
- Predict where it lands next - then eliminate every option that doesn't match.
- Repeat with the next element - each element you check can remove several options, so stop as soon as 1 remains.
- Watch for overlaps - elements can sit on top of each other and hide a color, so a missing part may still be following its rule.
About the PI Cognitive Assessment
The PI Cognitive Assessment is a timed test of 50 multiple-choice questions in 12 minutes, which works out to under 15 seconds per question. The questions come from 3 categories: verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning. A test engine draws them from a larger pool, so each candidate receives a different set of questions with equivalent difficulty.
Your score is the number of questions you answer correctly. Employers set a cognitive target for the role and compare your score with it, so there's no universal pass mark. It's common not to finish all 50 questions.
Abstract reasoning questions test whether you can find patterns in non-verbal information, usually shapes and sequences. They need no specialist knowledge. PI uses the assessment to measure how quickly you learn, adapt, and solve problems.
About This Question
This is a next-in-series question. Each shape is built from several parts, such as an inner square and an outer triangle, and each part follows its own rule. Here, the yellow, blue, and black parts each move in a fixed direction at every step, while the turquoise part alternates between 2 positions. All the rules run at the same time, so you need to track them separately.
No single rule usually gives you the answer. In this question, the yellow rule alone cuts the options from 5 to 2, and the turquoise rule settles the last choice. Checking rules one at a time, starting with the easiest to see, is faster than trying to spot the whole pattern at once.
Colors can also overlap. When one part sits on top of another, the hidden color isn't visible in the shape, but it is still moving. A color that seems to have vanished is a signal to check for overlap before you assume the rule has changed.
Assessment Companies Directory
Not sure who is behind your test? This directory lists the assessment companies we prepare candidates for, in alphabetical order. Find the name in your invitation email or job posting, and you'll see what the company tests, who uses its tests, and where to practice.
Each entry covers the company's main tests, test types, typical clients, and a short description, with a link to the matching practice page on JobTestPrep.
- Main tests - cut-e scales ability tests, gamified assessments, and GATE selection tests.
- Test types - cognitive ability, personality, and judgment.
- Typical clients - employers in many countries. Before Aon acquired it in 2017, cut-e was assessing more than 12 million candidates a year across more than 70 countries.
- Description - cut-e was founded in Hamburg in 2002 and is now part of Aon, so your invitation may say Aon, cut-e, or both.
- Practice - Aon cut-e Test Practice / Aon GATE Practice
- Main tests - AMCAT (Aspiring Minds Computer Adaptive Test), plus coding, language, and video interview assessments.
- Test types - English, quantitative ability, and logical reasoning, plus situational judgment and job-specific skills.
- Typical clients - employers that hire graduates, especially in India. Customers have included Hyundai, Deloitte, and Philips.
- Description - Aspiring Minds was founded in India in 2008 and was acquired by SHL in 2019.
- Practice - Aspiring Minds Test Practice
- Main tests - the Berke Assessment, customized by each employer for the role.
- Test types - cognitive ability (written, numerical, and diagrammatic information) and personality.
- Typical clients - organizations that tailor the assessment to a specific role, culture, and set of needs.
- Description - Berke now operates as HighMatch. Because each employer customizes the test, its content and length vary, from about 10 minutes to an hour.
- Practice - Berke Assessment Test Practice
- Main tests - the Birkman Method (also called the Birkman Signature Assessment).
- Test types - personality and occupational interests, measured through Usual Behavior, Underlying Needs, Stress Behavior, and Occupational Interests.
- Typical clients - Birkman reports use by more than 8,000 organizations, for leadership development, team performance, coaching, hiring, and career alignment.
- Description - Birkman International was founded in 1951 by psychologist Roger Birkman and is based in Houston, Texas.
- Practice - Birkman Test Practice
- Main tests - the Behavioral-Personnel Assessment Device (B-PAD).
- Test types - video-based situational judgment, scored by raters.
- Typical clients - public safety agencies, including police recruit selection.
- Description - B-PAD shows you video scenarios and asks you to respond as if you were the officer handling the situation. Your recorded responses are then scored by a panel of raters.
- Practice - B-PAD Assessment Test Practice
- Main tests - the Bryq assessment, which combines cognitive, personality, and hard-skills tests into one Fit Score.
- Test types - cognitive ability (numerical, verbal, and logical reasoning, plus attention to detail), personality, and job-specific skills.
- Typical clients - employers that score every candidate against an ideal profile built for the role.
- Description - Bryq's personality section is based on the 16 Personality Factors framework, and results are reported on a 1 to 10 STEN scale.
- Practice - Bryq Assessment Practice
- Main tests - the Caliper Profile.
- Test types - personality and motivation.
- Typical clients - Caliper reports assessing more than 4.5 million people for over 65,000 companies, across sales, management, service, and technical roles.
- Description - Caliper was founded in 1961 by psychologist Herb Greenberg and is based in Princeton, New Jersey.
- Practice - Caliper Profile Practice
- Main tests - the CPS entry-level firefighter exam, in several test versions.
- Test types - reading comprehension, math, mechanical reasoning, teamwork, and communication.
- Typical clients - fire departments in the US and Canada.
- Description - CPS HR Consulting was formerly Cooperative Personnel Services. Its firefighter exams are based on job analysis data gathered from a variety of fire agencies.
- Practice - CPS Firefighter Test Practice / CPS Firefighter Prep Course
- Main tests - the CritiCall assessment, made up of modules such as data entry, multitasking, call summarization, map reading, typing, and memory.
- Test types - job-simulation and skills tests for dispatcher and call-taker roles.
- Typical clients - public safety agencies hiring 911 dispatchers and call-takers across the US and Canada.
- Description - each agency chooses its own combination of modules, so check your instructions. The test measures core dispatcher skills, not prior dispatch knowledge.
- Practice - CritiCall Test Practice
- Main tests - Logiks General (Intermediate), Logiks General (Advanced), the PAPI personality questionnaire, and situational judgment tests.
- Test types - verbal, numerical, and abstract reasoning, plus personality and work preferences.
- Typical clients - employers that run multi-stage recruitment processes.
- Description - Talogy now publishes the Cubiks tests, so your invitation may say Talogy, Cubiks, or both. Logiks Intermediate takes 12 minutes and Logiks Advanced takes 20.
- Practice - Cubiks Logiks Test Practice
- Main tests - the CWH firefighter test, in a multiple-choice format.
- Test types - cognitive skills (mechanical, writing, reading comprehension, and math), situational questions, and a personal questionnaire.
- Typical clients - fire departments across the US. Alexandria, Virginia uses it for entry-level firefighters.
- Description - the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) works with CWH's research department on diversity and hiring standardization.
- Practice - CWH Firefighter Test Practice
- Main tests - leadership assessments, assessment center simulations, the Adaptive Reasoning Test (ART), and entry-level assessments.
- Test types - leadership, reasoning, and behavioral simulations.
- Typical clients - large employers hiring and promoting at every level. Walmart ran its 10 millionth DDI-created pre-hire or promotional assessment in 2007.
- Description - DDI was founded in 1970 by William Byham and Douglas Bray and introduced the assessment center method to employers.
- Practice - DDI Assessment Practice
- Main tests - the Law Enforcement Aptitude Battery (LEAB) and firefighter entry-level tests.
- Test types - cognitive ability, plus work style and life experience questionnaires on the LEAB.
- Typical clients - police and fire departments, including the Delaware State Police, which uses the LEAB for its entry-level trooper exam.
- Description - EB Jacobs designs public safety entry-level tests and was formerly known as SHL USA.
- Practice - EB Jacobs Test Practice
- Main tests - CAST, POSS, MASS, TECH, SOPD, SASS, MRAB, and CSR.
- Test types - verbal, numerical, mechanical, and spatial aptitude, plus situational judgment for customer service and clerical roles.
- Typical clients - investor-owned electric utilities, such as Duke Energy, American Electric Power, Exelon, and Con Edison.
- Description - the Edison Electric Institute is the trade association for nearly all investor-owned electric utilities in the US, and it maintains the shared test battery its members use.
- Practice - EEI Test Practice
- Main tests - entry-level and promotional written exams, oral boards, and assessment centers for police and fire departments, plus the reading and writing exam in the Sheriffs' Association Testing Program.
- Test types - written reading and writing, job-knowledge exams, oral boards, and assessment center exercises.
- Typical clients - police, fire, and sheriff's departments, mostly in Michigan.
- Description - Empco, Inc. is a Michigan company based in Troy that provides employment testing for public safety agencies.
- Practice - Empco Test Practice
- Main tests - the FireTEAM Testing System.
- Test types - video-based situational judgment (teamwork and human relations), mechanical aptitude, math, and reading.
- Typical clients - fire departments, including Madison, WI and Salt Lake City, UT.
- Description - Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research develops video-based selection tests. The FireTEAM human relations section has 28 scenarios and 76 questions, with 10 seconds to answer each one.
- Practice - ErgoMetrics FireTEAM Practice
- Main tests - a library of 800 standard and job-based tests, plus simulations such as Microsoft Office, chat, and multitasking.
- Test types - job skills, simulations, and behavioral assessments.
- Typical clients - employers in government, engineering, transportation, logistics, manufacturing, higher education, and law.
- Description - eSkill was founded in 2003, has tested millions of candidates, and was acquired by Scaleworks in 2024.
- Practice - eSkill Test Practice
- Main tests - 12 subtests, including Vocabulary, Arithmetic Reasoning, Computation, Three-Dimensional Space, Name Comparison, Tool Matching, and Form Matching, plus hands-on dexterity tests.
- Test types - cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor aptitudes.
- Typical clients - state employment offices, vocational counseling programs, and union apprenticeship programs.
- Description - the General Aptitude Test Battery was developed by the US Employment Service, a division of the Department of Labor, and first published in 1947. Its 12 subtests produce scores for 9 aptitudes.
- Practice - GATB Test Practice
- Main tests - the Harrison SmartQuestionnaire, a 25-minute online questionnaire covering 175 workplace factors.
- Test types - personality, motivation, interests, and job fit.
- Typical clients - employers across 70 countries, including Domino's, Cathay Pacific, Kroger, and Progressive Insurance.
- Description - Harrison Assessments was founded in 1990 by Dr. Dan Harrison. Its Paradox Technology checks whether a strong trait works as a strength or a derailer for the job.
- Practice - Harrison Assessment Practice
- Main tests - the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI), Hogan Development Survey (HDS), Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI), and Hogan Business Reasoning Inventory (HBRI).
- Test types - personality, derailers under pressure, values, and business reasoning.
- Typical clients - Hogan reports that over half of the Fortune 500 have used its assessments, for hiring, leadership development, and succession planning.
- Description - Hogan Assessments was founded in 1987 by Robert and Joyce Hogan and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- Practice - Hogan Assessment Practice
- Main tests - the National Firefighter Selection Inventory (NFSI) and the National Criminal Justice Officer Selection Inventory (NCJOSI).
- Test types - cognitive ability and personality, in multiple-choice and rating-scale formats.
- Typical clients - fire, police, and corrections agencies. IOS reports working with 6 of the 10 largest US cities.
- Description - Industrial/Organizational Solutions (IOS) is a test publisher and HR consulting firm based in Oak Brook, Illinois, that specializes in public safety.
- Practice - I/O Solutions Test Practice
- Main tests - the entry-level firefighter (FF-EL) test series, plus a study packet.
- Test types - multiple-choice firefighter aptitude and job-related questions.
- Typical clients - fire departments across the US. Winchester, Virginia uses a 90-question, 2-hour IPMA-HR exam.
- Description - the International Public Management Association for Human Resources provides validated assessments to public agencies and says it has done so for more than 60 years.
- Practice - IPMA-HR Firefighter Exam Practice
- Main tests - Kenexa Prove It skills tests, plus verbal, numerical, and logical reasoning tests.
- Test types - job skills (including Microsoft Office and data entry) and cognitive ability.
- Typical clients - employers screening for skills-based roles, such as administration, customer service, and IT.
- Description - IBM acquired Kenexa in 2012, and the Kenexa assessments are now supplied through SHL, so your invitation may say Kenexa, IBM Kenexa, or SHL.
- Practice - Kenexa Test Practice
- Main tests - Talent Q Elements (adaptive verbal, numerical, and logical reasoning), Dimensions (personality), and Aspects (short screening tests), plus Korn Ferry leadership assessments.
- Test types - cognitive ability, personality, motivation, situational judgment, and leadership potential.
- Typical clients - large employers. Talent Q clients have included AstraZeneca, BT, Citi, RBS, Royal Mail, and Volkswagen.
- Description - Korn Ferry was founded in 1969 and is based in Los Angeles. Talent Q came to Korn Ferry through the Hay Group, so Talent Q tests are now Korn Ferry products.
- Practice - Korn Ferry Test Practice
- Main tests - entry-level police officer and firefighter written exams.
- Test types - aptitude, job knowledge, and cognitive ability, in a 5-response multiple-choice format.
- Typical clients - municipalities and counties across the US.
- Description - McCann Associates has provided testing, assessment, and certification tools for public safety personnel since 1959.
- Practice - McCann Public Safety Exam Practice
- Main tests - psychometric assessments, aptitude tests, and IT and non-IT domain tests, delivered on a secure online platform.
- Test types - personality, aptitude, and job-specific skills.
- Typical clients - employers hiring at scale, especially in India. Its platform was available in more than 80 countries when Mercer acquired it.
- Description - Mettl is an online assessment company based in Gurgaon, India. Mercer acquired it in 2018, so your invitation may say Mercer Mettl.
- Practice - Mettl Test Practice
- Main tests - entry-level firefighter and law enforcement exams, plus promotional assessment centers.
- Test types - reading, math, memorization, mechanical, spatial, and behavioral questions.
- Typical clients - fire and police departments, including the Austin Fire Department and Dallas County.
- Description - Morris & McDaniel, Inc. is a management consulting firm that develops testing and assessment centers for public safety agencies.
- Practice - Morris & McDaniel Exam Practice
- Main tests - occupational competency assessments, such as the Electronics Technician test.
- Test types - job-specific knowledge tests, written in a multiple-choice format, for each occupational area.
- Typical clients - career and technical schools and colleges, and employers such as Boeing through NOCTI Business Solutions.
- Description - the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute is a non-profit organization. It was established in 1973 at Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey.
- Practice - NOCTI Test Practice
- Main tests - the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, Raven's Progressive Matrices, the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test (BMCT-II), the DAT Next Generation, and the Numerical Data Interpretation Test.
- Test types - critical thinking, non-verbal reasoning, mechanical reasoning, numerical reasoning, and personality and values.
- Typical clients - employers ranging from independent consultants to FTSE 100 companies. The Watson-Glaser is typically used for graduate, executive, and managerial hires.
- Description - TalentLens is Pearson's occupational testing division. The Watson-Glaser has 40 items and a 30-minute time limit.
- Practice - Pearson Tests Practice
- Main tests - People Test Logic (PTL), People Test Basic, and People Test Person.
- Test types - general intelligence (PTL), behavior and basic skills (Basic), and personality (Person).
- Typical clients - employers and recruiters, particularly in Scandinavia.
- Description - People Test Systems publishes the People Test suite. PTL produces a general intelligence score, and People Test Person profiles 12 broad character traits.
- Practice - People Test Logic Practice
- Main tests - the Plum assessment, built on Plum's Talent Model.
- Test types - personality, social intelligence, and problem-solving ability.
- Typical clients - employers in finance, insurance, banking, healthcare, education, and government.
- Description - Plum was founded in 2012 (formerly Cream.HR) and is based in Waterloo, Ontario. A single assessment gives employers a measure of job fit.
- Practice - Plum Assessment Practice
- Main tests - the Prevue Assessment, a single 35-minute test, or sections of it.
- Test types - cognitive aptitude (Working with Words, Numbers, and Shapes), motivations and interests, and personality.
- Typical clients - companies of every size, from small staffing agencies to employers with more than 10,000 people.
- Description - Prevue HR Systems was founded in 1992 and is based in Vancouver, Canada. Every candidate takes the same assessment, whatever the position.
- Practice - Prevue Assessment Practice
- Main tests - ProfileXT (PXT), the Profiles Sales Assessment, the Customer Service Profile, and Profiles Managerial Fit.
- Test types - cognitive ability (a learning index), behavioral traits, and occupational interests.
- Typical clients - employers using job matching for selection, coaching, promotion, and succession planning.
- Description - Profiles International is based in Waco, Texas. ProfileXT compares your results with a performance model built for the specific job.
- Practice - Profiles International Test Practice
- Main tests - public safety and pre-hire selection exams, including the Firefighter Selection Test (FST).
- Test types - aptitude exams that rank applicants by their likely success in training and on the job, plus managerial assessments and licensing and certification exams.
- Typical clients - corporations, federal and state government agencies, professional associations, and certifying bodies.
- Description - PSI Services LLC is a professional testing provider based in Glendale, California. The FST was originally authored by Psychological Services, Inc.
- Practice - PSI Firefighter Selection Test Practice
- Main tests - the Swift aptitude assessments (Analysis, Comprehension, and Executive), standalone aptitude tests, and the Wave personality questionnaires (Professional Styles and Focus Styles).
- Test types - verbal, numerical, abstract, spatial, and mechanical aptitude, plus personality and situational judgment.
- Typical clients - employers hiring at entry, graduate, professional, and managerial levels.
- Description - Saville Assessment is a UK publisher founded by Professor Peter Saville. Swift assessments run 9.5 to 24 minutes, and Wave Professional Styles takes about 40.
- Practice - Saville Assessment Practice / Saville Wave Practice
- Main tests - the Virtual Job Tryout (VJT).
- Test types - interactive job simulations that combine gamification with realistic work tasks.
- Typical clients - employers hiring for roles from entry level to mid-management, including high-volume contact center hiring.
- Description - Shaker is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and began as Shaker Consulting Group. The VJT gives you a realistic preview of the job while it scores how you perform.
- Practice - Virtual Job Tryout Practice
- Main tests - the Siena Reasoning Test (SRT).
- Test types - cognitive ability, with verbal and non-verbal sections.
- Typical clients - US employers, for both pre-employment testing and internal promotion.
- Description - Siena Consulting is a human resources consulting firm based in Princeton, New Jersey, that develops and analyzes assessment systems.
- Practice - Siena Reasoning Test Practice
- Main tests - the National Police Officer Selection Test (POST), National Firefighter Selection Test (NFST), National Corrections Officer Selection Test (NCST), and National Dispatcher Selection Test (NDST).
- Test types - entry-level written exams and promotional job-knowledge exams, plus oral boards and assessment centers.
- Typical clients - police, fire, sheriff's, corrections, and dispatch agencies. Its products are endorsed by 29 state associations of chiefs of police.
- Description - Stanard & Associates has provided public safety testing since 1976.
- Practice - Stanard & Associates Test Practice
- Main tests - the General Intelligence Assessment (GIA), the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA), the HPTI, and the TEIQue.
- Test types - speed-based cognitive ability, behavioral profiling, personality, and emotional intelligence.
- Typical clients - companies and organizations that use it in recruitment.
- Description - Thomas International is a UK company now branded simply Thomas. The PPA takes 8 minutes and measures dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. The GIA has 5 sections.
- Practice - Thomas GIA Test Practice / Thomas GIA Test Guide
- Main tests - the Thurstone Test of Mental Alertness (TMA), a 126-item timed test.
- Test types - general mental ability, scored as a verbal score (Same-Opposite and Definition items), a quantitative score (Arithmetic and Number Series items), and a total.
- Typical clients - employers using it for selection, placement, and evaluation decisions.
- Description - the TMA was developed by psychologists L. L. Thurstone and Thelma Gwinn Thurstone. It measures how quickly you learn new skills, adjust to new situations, and think flexibly.
- Practice - Thurstone TMA Practice
- Main tests - WonScore, the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test, the Basic Skills Test, and the Scholastic Level Exam (SLE).
- Test types - cognitive ability, motivation, personality, and basic skills.
- Typical clients - employers across many industries. NFL teams also use Wonderlic tests to gauge the aptitude of prospects.
- Description - Wonderlic was founded in 1937 by E. F. Wonderlic, who created a short-form intelligence test. The company is based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, and reports more than 200 million assessments administered since its founding.
- Practice - Wonderlic Test Practice
- Main tests - the World of Work Inventory (WOWI).
- Test types - career interests, work styles, and aptitudes and achievements.
- Typical clients - vocational rehabilitation counselors, workforce development agencies, and employers.
- Description - WOWI was first developed in 1970 by Dr. Robert Ripley and is published by World of Work, Inc. It is untimed and, unlike most tests in this directory, is a career assessment with no right or wrong answers.
- Practice - WOWI Test Practice
Assessment Company FAQs
Your invitation email is the best place to look. It usually names the test or the platform, and the sender or the logo often shows the assessment company behind it. The instructions screen before you start and the job posting can also help, and if you're still unsure, ask the recruiter directly. Keep in mind that employers choose their own tests, and the same assessment company can give different tests for different roles, so a graduate role may use a different test than an entry-level one. Once you know the company, find it in the directory to see what it tests.
Dozens of companies do. The names candidates meet most often include SHL, Criteria, Predictive Index, Hogan, Korn Ferry, Pearson TalentLens, Wonderlic, Caliper, and Aon. Public safety exams come from specialists such as EB Jacobs, I/O Solutions, Stanard & Associates, McCann Associates, and Morris & McDaniel. You can find more in the directory above.
Start with your invitation email. The sender, the logo, and the web address of the testing platform usually name the company. The instructions page before the test often does too. If you can't find it, ask the recruiter. Keep in mind that brand names change after acquisitions, so your invitation may say Aon instead of cut-e, or Mercer Mettl instead of Mettl.
Assessment companies create and score the tests themselves. Pre employment screening companies often handle other checks, such as background and reference checks, and some bundle tests from assessment companies into their service. Employers may also use the terms assessment vendors or HR assessment services for the firms that supply their tests. For you as a candidate, the test itself always comes from the assessment company.
Start by finding out which company and test you've been given, then practice that specific format. Time yourself while you practice, since most ability tests allow only seconds per question. Read the instructions before you begin, and check whether wrong answers are penalized. If they aren't, guess rather than leave a question blank. On personality questionnaires, answer honestly and consistently, because there are no right or wrong answers.
Usually not a fixed one. Your score is typically compared with other applicants or a norm group, or with a target the employer sets for the role. Predictive Index, for example, compares your results with a target the employer defines, and Hogan reports have no pass or fail. A strong score is one that ranks well for that employer and that role.
Yes, and it helps most on ability tests, where speed and familiarity with the question types matter. Practicing shows you the format, the timing, and the kinds of reasoning involved, so you lose less time on test day. Personality questionnaires work differently. There's nothing to memorize, but practice still helps you understand what traits are being measured and how the questions are framed.
It depends on the company and the test. The CCAT has 50 questions in 15 minutes, and the PI Cognitive Assessment has 50 questions in 12 minutes. A Hogan personality inventory takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and the full Prevue Assessment takes 35 minutes. Some employer-customized tests, such as the Berke Assessment, can run from 10 minutes to an hour. Your invitation usually states the expected time.
