Most hiring managers find themselves in a predicament where they need rigorous evaluation methodologies and actionable insights to conduct quality screening of job candidates. Without a data-driven screening process, finding the most coveted employees is the same as finding a needle in a haystack. Besides, employers have long used resumes and interviews to garner as much information about an applicant as feasible.
Despite that, most resumes are not authentic. Similarly, unstructured and nonstandard interviews do not provide relevant insights into the candidate’s probability of success on the job. That is why assessment tests are designed to delve deeper into an applicant’s ability, aptitude, and personality function more effectively as a recruitment tool. Contrarily, assessments that do not yield the best insight leave the recruiter with no significant data to wield. That said, assessments that are conducted over the Internet using web-based technologies are called online assessments.
This blog will detail the intricacies of online assessments and how to leverage such digital recruiting solutions to make successful recruiting decisions.
Online assessment is conducting a test online to gauge the participants’ learning and mastery over a particular subject. An online examination may be administered with a specific intent, such as ascertaining a candidate’s skills, knowledge, or learning abilities. Online assessments may include numerical reasoning, inductive logical thinking, verbal reasoning assessments, personality questionnaires, and more.
An online assessment is a structured, meticulous evaluation of an individual’s skills, characteristics, knowledge, or expertise. The test is hosted online via modern web-based technologies. Online assessments comprise a series of questions that assess multiple aspects of a test-taker and are created based on the job role, level, and competency requirements. Such reviews objectively evaluate an applicant’s capabilities and predict on-the-job performance.
”Online assessments can help businesses determine if an employee would be a good fit for an organization. There are several types of online assessments, from skills-based to personality assessments. The type of assessment needed varies by position. For example, a content writer may need to take in an evaluation for proofreading. One of the many benefits of online assessments is that they help filter through candidates and make the hiring process run more smoothly’’, says Tim Mitchum, President of WINPRO Pet.
According to a study by Emergen Research, the global assessment services market is estimated to reach USD 11.47 Billion by 2027. The primary causal factors for such projection are increasing reliance on data-backed assessments to shortlist prospective candidates and a growing number of youth job seekers around the globe, contributing directly to the global market revenue growth of assessment service providers.
Online assessments are well-received in different domains: corporate HR teams, higher education, and schools. There has been a staggering increase in demand for psychometric, aptitude, coding, and other domain-based skills assessments. This surge could be attributed to several factors, including a rising number of competitive exams and certification tests, an ever-increasing demand for employability skills, and organizations’ growing affinity for such assessments. In addition, the vagaries of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought significant disruption, compelling many educational institutions and corporations to automate their workflows digitally.
Online assessments exude duality, i.e., they can be used qualitatively and quantitatively. For example, an assessment determining how quickly a person completes a coding task will quantify their technical expertise. Similarly, a reaction-based test to measure a subject’s soft skills will help uncover new aspects of their personality. There are various online assessments, each being employed for a specific purpose. Based on purpose and implementation technique, we divide online assessment types into three broad categories:
Online assessments or E-assessments offer a package of wide-ranging benefits that strengthen the hiring process and add substance to an organizational structure, increasing the chance that new employees will achieve success in their new roles. In addition, these assessments can help recruiters alleviate the complexities of first-level screening procedures. After the screening process, recruiters have a sizable talent pool brimming with the required talent and skills to take the talent assessment process to the next level.
Campus placements often manifest as a logistical nightmare for colleges and companies alike. The mammoth task of sourcing and testing candidates from thousands of campuses annually can take a grim toll on organizational resources. Adopting pen and paper testing methodology will not suffice when conducting such massive campus placement drives. A vast majority of companies prefer stepping into campuses to test the potential candidates at the source. The usual time-consuming process of a college drive involves a presentation, assignment, group discussions, and interviews. It becomes a colossal task if the number of companies participating is enormous, not to mention the logistical expenses.
Online assessments provide an opportunity to fade out the slow and outdated recruitment processes. Talent acquisition teams can make objective decisions based on insights from online assessments. These tests are an effective filtration tool that screens out incompatible candidates from the large pool of applicants, enabling companies to find the right match to build winning teams. Such tests offer flexibility to assess candidates’ skills in different talent verticals. One can determine multiple aspects in an online assessment; for example, apart from evaluating a candidate’s technical competencies, it is easy to understand their cultural fit and psychology through psychometric online evaluations.
Online assessments are the key to an effective recruitment strategy as they provide tangible results by assessing candidates objectively. They help determine if a job prospect is the right fit for the open position. Online assessment tools allow companies to make data-backed decisions to identify top talent while reducing hiring time and recruitment costs. Online tests are incredibly effective as pre-employment tests to streamline the hiring process and increase the likelihood of new hires being a great addition to the team. As ideal assessment tools, they have found extensive use in lateral hiring.
After the profound impact of prolonged exposure to the pandemic, it has become evident that talent assessment is much more nuanced and dependent on technology. More organizations have started leveraging online evaluations and other virtual hiring tools to tide over the disruption caused by COVID-19 and meet their recruitment needs. When calibrated aptly, these assessments help improve the recruitment metrics (time to fill), work performance, productivity, employee retention, etc. However, the most important consideration is choosing an online assessment that suits an organization’s needs.
Listed below are some of the most commonly used pre-employment online assessments to assess critical traits and skills:
Psychometric assessments are assessment tools to evaluate a person’s competencies, behavior and aptitude. They are designed to assess personality traits and role fitment. They measure how individual behavior affects workplace dynamics and vice-versa. Employers then use the information gauged via psychometric assessment tests to make informed hiring decisions. They are divided into two categories:
A personality test is a systematic evaluation of human personality constructs. It is commonly used as a part of the pre-employment assessment process. The employer administers these tests to assess a candidate’s personality characteristics. The tests measure how an applicant’s personality traits correlate to work performance.
Personality assessments are based on the premise that observable changes in an individual’s behavior vary from person to person based on underlying traits. The traits may differ in people from different socio-economic backgrounds, cultures, religious beliefs, and upbringings. Personality assessments aim to measure these traits objectively. They can be administered to observe a change in personality, screen job applicants and provide a holistic view of an individual’s weaknesses or strengths. The big five OCEAN model reveals the five core personality traits among the various trait theories.
Cognitive assessments measure an individual’s cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, verbal reasoning, numerical ability, problem-solving, decision-making, etc. The test results indicate on-the-job performance and assess potential employees across job levels. These online tests also measure role-specific IQs across multiple job functions.
Cognitive tests play a critical role in mapping the workforce’s development journey. They reveal the competency gaps on which employees need to be trained to perform better. They also help HR improve the quality of hires. Cognitive tests can correctly predict the probability of success in almost any job – from beginner to executive level. Such assessments include questions to assess candidates’ potential to use cognitive abilities to solve complex problems or acquire new knowledge.
Behavioral assessment is a part of employers' evaluation process to assess critical behavioral traits required to excel in a particular role. The test determines whether an individual is a good fit based on personality characteristics rather than skills. Behavioral assessments aim to perceive, comprehend, elucidate and envisage human behavior. To understand which behaviors are expected at the workplace, hiring managers can consult psychologists regarding appropriate workplace behavior and design their assessments based on required behavioral competencies. Hence, behavioral estimates are based on behavioral competencies and relevant indicators.
Agreeing with Twain’s ideology, American psychologist Paul Meehl wrote, “Behavior science research itself shows that, by and large, the best way to predict anybody’s behavior is their behavior in the past.”
While psychometric assessments assess human personality, traits, behavior, and intelligence, technical assessments focus on an individual’s subject matter expertise in their line of work. They test the in-depth knowledge of the person. The questions in a technical evaluation are based on the skill requirement of that particular role. The competencies in technical assessment vary with the job role, job function and industry. To hire the most competent tech professionals, employers use technical assessments to assess aspirants’ knowledge across skills and subskills. The specific skills and proficiency for a particular job role are quickly evaluated through the technical assessment test. By conducting a technical exam, recruiters can determine if candidates have the suitable expertise required for a given position.
Employers use technical assessments to assess aspirants’ knowledge across skills and subskills to hire the most competent tech professionals. The specific skills and proficiency for a particular job role are quickly evaluated through the technical assessment test. By conducting a technical exam, recruiters can determine if candidates have the suitable expertise required for a given position.
Technical assessments can be divided into three categories:
Online coding assessments are automated, structured frameworks to assess candidates’ coding skills in a dedicated programming environment. These tests enable recruiting and engineering teams to conduct pre-employment screening for programming roles effectively at a large scale. Employers use coding tests to gain insight into applicants’ skills and abilities.
Online coding assessments encompass numerous coding skills. These assessments include a C developer test, Java developer test, C++ developer assessment, software testing, python development, and more. Coding tests assess prospects on various languages and technologies within real coding environments, such as Java Spring, ReactJS, C#, automation testing, Oracle DBA, SQL, and much more. These tests evaluate the output and consider numerous parameters such as code, time and space complexity.
Role-based assessments
Role-based assessments, or domain skills assessments, are suitable for gauging the job-specific skills of applicants. Recruiters can assess job seekers’ competencies with the expert-curated problems provided in these assessments. The purpose of role-based evaluations is to determine the domain expertise of individuals. This test enables hiring managers to onboard the most eligible candidate.
Role-based assessments are customized for various job functions such as marketing, sales, finance, operations, customer support, etc. These tests are also used to re-skill employees to enhance workforce productivity. The assessment results shed light on the areas needing improvement, which helps prepare personalized training programs for workforce development per industry criteria.
A communication proficiency test measures an individual’s fluency, pronunciation, grammar and comprehension skills. It plays a crucial role in effective communication. This pre-employment test acts as a filtration tool that screens out unsuitable candidates and helps employers find candidates with excellent oral and written skills.
The communication test accurately assesses a person’s language skills, whether writing, speaking or listening. These tests provide crucial information on both job candidates’ and employees’ ability to use the language to comprehend and communicate thoughts, ideas, and issues.
Employee learning and development directly impact revenue, cost and overall productivity. The change and churn are making numerous job profiles obsolete. A majority of organizations have frozen their ongoing recruitment. The focus of businesses has now shifted to sustenance, employee engagement and development. Organizations must continue investing in employee training with a host of upcoming skills and technologies in demand.
The current situation demands employees to upskill and cross-skill to stay relevant. To meet these requirements, employers must first identify their workforce’s training needs by utilizing the pre-training assessment, followed by skill gaps identification and a development plan based on the assessment report. Employers can then analyze the training effectiveness via a post-training evaluation, which helps map employees’ development journey.
A high potential (HiPo) is an employee with all the traits and attributes required to climb the corporate ladder, assume new roles and responsibilities, and undertake more advanced challenges. HiPos are distinctly recognized among their peers in the organization. They are crucial for driving business performance and achieving better productivity and profit. They demonstrate skills and qualities that align with the organization’s culture and vision. High-potential identification is a process that discovers individuals with high potential to undertake new organizational and personal advancement roles.
Despite being crucial, conducting the HiPo process is a challenging affair. For this purpose, a scientifically validated battery of online assessments is handy. Such reviews can be customized easily to measure talent potential without fail.
Organizations need a skilled and experienced leader to navigate the post-COVID-19 turbulence, someone with a deep understanding of effective crisis management, workplace disruption and problem-solving. However, to build a leadership pipeline, businesses must first identify the high-potential (HiPo) employees with the knowledge, expertise and potential to take up future leadership roles.
Online succession planning tools play a significant role in identifying and developing high-potential employees. Unlike subjective leadership evaluation, online assessments objectively evaluate competencies, skills, and behaviors critical for leadership positions.
Effective succession planning provides:
Online assessment in education is a critical component that significantly impacts the holistic learning structure. Online educational evaluation systematically chronicles and utilizes empirical data on candidates’ skills and course-based subject knowledge. This assessment method helps teachers align the learning outcomes with teaching methodology to encourage a more effective learning process. Assessments are an impartial analysis of an individual learner or all individuals collectively.
Traditional recruitment methods are not free from limitations. Online assessments have the edge over their retro counterparts when evaluating candidates’ capabilities holistically. The ample leeway these assessments have over their predecessors is the accuracy and flexibility they offer to recruiters in various talent verticals and screen out misfits from the cohort early in the process. They justify evaluating, analyzing and documenting the test-takers’ work readiness, training needs, learning progress, and skill acquisition. The benefits of online assessments are substantial, some of which are listed below:
Online assessments measure candidates’ capabilities and gather essential data on their skills, abilities, and personalities. The test can help ascertain whether they are a good fit for organizations. These assessments are proctored online with the highest security standards. Therefore, the integrity of these tests is unwavering. Online assessments are normative, which helps employers conduct an objective and fair evaluation of candidates to determine the right person for the role. Since these tests have inherent scientific reliability, their results can be valid indicators for the prospective candidate’s future job performance.
Online assessment analytics lend unparalleled ease to dissect complex data to furnish crucial insights, enabling employers to make data-driven hiring decisions. With instant test results and report generation in real-time, the candidate evaluation report gets generated as soon as the test-taker completes the online assessment. Since online reviews make it incredibly easy to test thousands of candidates, they help recruiters build a sizable talent repository, which is helpful for future hiring. Moreover, hiring managers can leverage the power of insightful data generated from assessing so many candidates.
Online assessments can help companies identify prospective hires during a campus hiring drive. By utilizing these tools, recruiters can save a significant amount of time by not having to administer tests for every candidate manually and single-handedly but rather automating the entire process with the help of online assessments. These tests are an excellent filtration tool to assess a large applicant pool, screen out unsuitable applicants and qualify top talent. These assessment tests are used as standard pre-recruitment tools to assess various skills (both hard and soft) for technical and non-technical roles. Additionally, one can employ specific online assessments such as psychometric tests, culture fit tests, aptitude tests, and behavioral tests to obtain a holistic profile of candidates.
Online assessments are also helpful when understanding a candidate’s cultural fit during the hiring process. Cultural fit is the congruity of beliefs, values, and objectives between the employer and employee. When a candidate aligns perfectly with an organization’s values and goals, it might be translated into a successful long-term relationship. A cultural fit assessment helps employers determine what would matter to prospective employees once they start working at an organization. The test is a helpful tool to assess candidates’ cultural fit and increase retention rate by selecting candidates who are the best fit for the company.
With the advent of online assessments came the convenience of reaching beyond the constraints of geographical limitations. Now, examining bodies can reach out to candidates from far-flung areas, unlike before when administering tests was limited to physical test centers.
Examinees nowadays prefer working on a computer and are not keen on adopting the traditional pen-and-paper approach. Candidates are so used to computer editing tools while writing that they cannot do without them; for example, copying and pasting text and using spreadsheets have become commonplace tasks. Switching to pen and paper would be toilsome when they have become accustomed to working digitally.
By turning to online assessments, evaluators significantly reduce administrative hassles such as organizing and conducting exams. Printing and distributing estimates on paper and organizing the supplies of complete scripts for evaluation purposes is tedious.
Security concerns are appropriately addressed in an online test setting, where all test papers, candidate details, and grades are digitally available. Besides, the security level is remarkably high because only authorized people can access the assessment.
Online assessments offer unparalleled ease of taking exams from anywhere. Features such as online remote proctoring enable examinees to take an exam from the comfort of their homes securely and conveniently.
Online assessment reports are comprehensive and provide insights into candidates’ results and progress. Such a report delves deep into how candidates perform in a particular area and which areas require immediate attention.
Online assessments can simplify the evaluation process and provide test outcomes much faster than traditional assessments. With the auto-grading feature, assessors spend less time grading manually and give the candidates immediate feedback.
In the case of an online assessment, authoring questions becomes a collaborative process. The examining body can easily manage the tasks while creating questions because transparent workflows are defined for reviewing and selecting problems before including them in the question bank.
Administering online assessments is cost-effective because administrators save time and resources while performing administrative operations, including exam creation, delivery and circulation, and evaluation processes.
Administrators can conduct online assessments even for candidates with disabilities. It is easier to change the background color, font size, etc. Moreover, the test format perfectly caters to those candidates with special considerations.
Online assessment platforms are great tools for assessing the candidates for the job. However, challenges might arise if the online assessment platform is not properly used. It is critical to use appropriate tests and ask the right questions to avoid discrepancies in the applicant’s ability to perform a particular task. To overcome the disadvantages of online assessments, it’s crucial to implement a multi-faceted approach that addresses various challenges. Firstly, companies should invest in diverse assessment methods to comprehensively evaluate candidates or employees.
Secondly, companies should prioritize ensuring the security and integrity of online assessments. Implementing robust anti-cheating measures, such as secure browser settings, webcam monitoring, or AI-driven proctoring tools, can help maintain the credibility of online assessments. Additionally, offering clear guidelines and instructions and educating participants about the significance of honesty and integrity in assessments can contribute to a more reliable evaluation process. By combining various assessment methods and ensuring the security of online evaluations, companies can mitigate the limitations associated with online assessments and make more informed decisions about hiring, training, and development.
Online assessment platforms are enterprise-grade end-to-end software solutions for talent identification and selection. They effectively map a candidate’s journey from screening and shortlisting to onboarding. These platforms automate human resource processes effortlessly when used with assessments.
The adoption of online assessment systems is rising steadily since these platforms can be used across the employee lifecycle, making human resource management more manageable. From hiring top talent and employee training and development to succession planning, online assessment softwares offer umpteen benefits to employers.
Online assessment platforms allow talent experts to scale recruitment and selection effortlessly. The use of AI to automate manual processes has simplified many day-to-day tasks of hiring managers. Clean recruiter dashboards deliver a funnel view of applicants. HRs can view the number of applicants in the pipeline, test completion rate, pending tests and candidature status. Online assessments have become seamless with customizable e-mails and auto-scheduling of multiple rounds.
Online assessment systems are enriched with a wide variety of questionnaires. The questions are based on a wide range of competencies required for numerous job roles and levels. There are different questions, including MCQs, coding, graphs, equations, video, audio, database, etc. Hiring managers can either choose from a library of thousands of questions, upload bulk questions, or consult an in-house team of experts to get quick customization of online assessments.
The remote proctoring service, whether auto, live or recorded proctoring, helps maintain the integrity of the test results. The three-step authentication process checks impersonation, which is critical, especially in high-stakes assessments. The AI-enabled platform flags any suspicious activities. Additionally, the online assessment software kills all background apps. It does not allow test-takers to navigate away from the browser and bar screen sharing, thus ensuring the credibility of the test results.
Online assessments are followed by comprehensive reports based on candidates’ performance. The reports provide essential insights to employers, facilitating decision-making and understanding a particular candidate’s strength and weakness. The exhaustive reports also cover section-wise versions and the time it took to attempt different sections.
The report includes the following:
Conventional evaluation methods, such as pen-and-paper tests, multiple telephonic rounds, and face-to-face interviews, can be tedious. Sifting through applications, scheduling meetings with relevant candidates, managing expected availability, and selecting the most suitable candidate become subjective, time-consuming, and challenging.
With online assessments, the time spent coordinating with job applicants, selecting qualified prospects and scheduling multiple rounds has become easier. Candidates can now be administered an online assessment before the telephonic interview. This step saves hiring managers’ time and provides them clarity in ensuring that only top talent qualifies.
Compared to traditional assessments, online assessments offer speed and accuracy in identifying and developing top talent. They streamline both these processes, enabling organizations to make the right ‘people’ decisions. Due to their multifold benefits, there has been increased adoption of online assessments in human resource management. They are now widely used in various sectors, such as education, government, consulting, etc.
The future of online assessment platforms is poised for continued growth and innovation. With an online assessment center that suits one’s business needs, one can continue recruiting top performers after suitable assessments. These platforms will incorporate more sophisticated tools for evaluating skills and knowledge as technology advances. Adaptive learning algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence will likely play a crucial role in tailoring assessments to individual learners, providing personalized feedback, and dynamically adjusting difficulty levels based on performance. Additionally, increased emphasis on remote work and learning will drive the development of secure and reliable remote proctoring solutions, ensuring the integrity of online assessments. Overall, the future of online assessment platforms is expected to be characterized by increased accessibility, personalization, and the integration of cutting-edge technologies to create more effective and efficient evaluation methods.
Finding the proper assessment platform requires a lot of patience and research. There are numerous points one must note when choosing a suitable assessment platform.
The online assessment software must adequately evaluate performance relevant to the desired job, ask appropriate questions to correctly assess the knowledge, skills, and abilities. It should provide adequate and relevant data about the applicant’s abilities the help the recruiter’s hiring decisions.
It must emphasize theory and practical questions for a holistic evaluation of candidates and use simulations to assess their knowledge. It must be free of language, culture, gender, and other biases. The online test software must maintain security at each level, and the results of the assessments must be interpretable. The data must accurately represent the applicant’s abilities in a real-life situation. The marking scheme must be consistent across different evaluations to eliminate recruiter biases.
Harness the power of a cutting-edge hiring and skills assessment system that does all the technological heavy lifting and comes packed with all the above features— from screening, shortlisting, and onboarding to effortlessly tracking a candidate’s journey.
Mercer | Mettl’s online assessment platform is a leading enterprise-grade holistic software system that helps conduct high-stakes assessments securely. This all-in-one assessment evaluation system automates each hiring process step, enabling you to set up and deliver online AI-proctored evaluations and manage the end-to-end candidate evaluation process. The platform offers simple steps to set up online assessments and create and deliver post-test analytics. It hosts and supports all online assessments ranging from technical, role-based, communication, aptitude, and personality evaluation tools.
Mercer | Mettl has taken a pole position in the assessment ecosystem, offering top-notch cloud-based talent assessment solutions tailored to any organization’s hiring and skill development needs. Since its inception, Mercer| Mettl has partnered with over 4000 corporates across 80+ countries, successfully delivering more than 25 million assessments in more than 20+ languages to date.
With over a decade of experience providing HR technological solutions and talent assessment services, Mercer | Mettl’s talent assessment solutions enable organizations to make well-informed recruitment, training and development decisions.
In conclusion, understanding the intricacies of online assessments is crucial in today’s digital age, where education, recruitment, and professional development have increasingly moved into virtual spaces. This comprehensive exploration has shed light on the definitions, types, benefits, and challenges of online assessments. From their flexibility and accessibility to the potential for enhanced objectivity and efficiency, online reviews offer many advantages. As technology evolves, staying informed and adapting assessment strategies will be vital in harnessing the full potential of online assessments for academic, professional, and personal growth.
Originally published December 4 2019, Updated October 23 2024
Archita Bharadwaj has worked as a Content writer at Mercer | Mettl since April 2023. With her research background, she writes varied forms of content, including blogs, ebooks, and case studies, among other forms.
Online assessments, also known as digital or virtual assessments, are computer-based exams. Online assessments use information technology to empower test-takers to take assessments from anywhere, anytime. Online assessments are widely used by educational institutions and corporations.
Behavioral Competencies
Cognitive Competencies
Coding Competencies
Domain Competencies
