Pre-employment testing can speed up your hiring process, raise the signal-to-noise ratio in your applicant pool, and make it easier to compare equally qualified candidates side-by-side.
No single assessment perfectly predicts future performance, though—and creating, administering, and scoring tests from scratch can be costly and time-consuming.
That’s where modern assessment platforms like Criteria help. Instead of building tests yourself, you can pull from a validated library—cognitive ability, job skills, personality, emotional intelligence, and risk—then combine the right set for each role.
Below, you’ll find a practical, legally aware workflow to create and implement a high-quality hiring test—using Criteria (or a similar tool) to keep the process consistent, fair, and scalable.
5 Steps to Create a Hiring Test
Follow these steps to design a predictive, candidate-friendly process:
- Identify your ideal candidate
- Choose validated, job-related tests
- Package the assessment experience
- Administer and track with clear timelines
- Analyze results and move quickly
Why Hiring Tests Help
Used well, a hiring test can replace dozens of early-round interviews and quickly narrow a large field to the most promising candidates. Standardized assessments add structure and consistency compared with unstructured interviews or résumé screens, giving you more objective data points when paired with clear scoring rubrics.
Modern platforms like Criteria offer multidimensional, validated assessments in a user-friendly workflow. You can combine tests into role-specific batteries and integrate results directly into your ATS (e.g., Greenhouse, Workable, Breezy HR) to keep everything in one place.
Limitations to Keep in Mind
Assessments don’t tell the whole story. A knowledge test confirms core competencies but may miss growth potential; personality data can highlight work style but not depth of experience. Treat scores as one strong signal—supplement them with structured interviews and realistic work samples.
Also, some candidates will present themselves in the best possible light (especially on integrity or work-style questionnaires). Good platforms include response-validity checks, but always interpret results in context.
Finally, ensure your process is job-related and compliant. Use only role-relevant assessments, provide reasonable accommodations, disclose testing up front, and monitor outcomes for adverse impact (see the compliance checklist below).
Step 1: Identify Your Ideal Candidate
Start by defining what “great” looks like for this role. Clear success criteria make it easier to pick the right assessments and score candidates fairly.
Create a Candidate Profile
Document the outcomes the role owns, core competencies to achieve those outcomes, and the environment (team size, pace, tools, stakeholders). Split requirements into must-haves vs. nice-to-haves. Note behaviors that signal success in your context (e.g., structured problem solving, stakeholder communication, reliability under deadlines).
Map each required skill to how you’ll measure it (e.g., cognitive or skills tests, structured interview questions, work samples). Weight the most important attributes more heavily so your decision aligns with impact—not convenience.
Ensure your profile mirrors the job description (and vice versa). Aligning expectations from the start attracts the right people and improves candidate experience.
Step 2: Choose Validated, Job-Related Tests
Select assessments that are demonstrably job-related and predictive for the tasks at hand. Platforms like Criteria let you filter by industry or role and recommend options validated for similar jobs.
Pick the Right Assessment Types
Match assessment type to the abilities you need. Roles requiring spatial/mechanical reasoning may call for mechanical or math-forward aptitude tests; customer-facing roles often benefit from reading comprehension, situational judgment, and personality-fit measures. Game-based assessments can measure similar constructs in a more engaging way.
Limit Total Test Time
Balance depth with candidate experience. As a rule of thumb, target ~40 minutes total across two to three assessments that measure different dimensions (e.g., cognitive, job skills, and work style). If you need more depth, add it later in the process once the pool is smaller.
Decide When to Test
For high-volume roles, place an assessment right after application submission to reduce interview load. For niche roles, consider assessing after a brief screening call so you don’t deter specialized candidates up front. In all cases, be transparent about what you’ll test and why.
Step 3: Package the Assessment Experience
Build a simple, branded flow with clear instructions and fair, consistent rules. Provide expected time, technical requirements, whether the test is timed, accommodation options, and whom to contact for help. Encourage candidates to find a quiet space before starting.
Validate Internally
Platform-level validity is helpful, but you should still pilot the battery with current employees in similar roles. Compare scores to on-the-job performance, use findings to set sensible cut scores or score bands, and revisit benchmarks periodically as job demands evolve.
Step 4: Administer and Track
Tell candidates in advance that assessments are part of your process. Share the test types and general expectations. Where appropriate, include sample questions or practice resources to reduce anxiety and improve completion rates.
Define a completion window that keeps your timeline on track. As a baseline, give at least 72 hours; for senior or complex roles, a week is reasonable. Send a reminder before the window closes.
Use your platform’s pipeline view (or your ATS) to automate reminders and keep stakeholders updated in real time.
Step 5: Analyze Results and Advance
Review overall and dimension-level scores. Use score bands rather than small percentile differences to avoid over-weighting marginal gaps. Where possible, compare to a baseline from current high performers to spotlight likely top fits.
Move qualified candidates forward quickly and use assessment insights to guide structured interviews and practical work samples in the next round.
Export key data into your ATS (e.g., Greenhouse, Workable, Breezy HR) to maintain a single source of truth and a clean audit trail for hiring decisions.
Compliance & Fairness Checklist
- Title VII adverse impact: Regularly check pass/selection rates by protected class; investigate if any group falls below the “four-fifths” (80%) rule of thumb.
- ADA accommodations: Offer reasonable accommodations for disabilities; disclose format and timing so candidates can request adjustments.
- NYC Local Law 144 (if hiring in NYC): Use only AEDTs that have undergone an independent bias audit within the past year, publish a summary of audit results on your website, and provide required notices to candidates/employees before use.
- EU AI Act (if hiring in the EU): Be aware of phased obligations—some prohibitions already apply; transparency requirements for general-purpose AI begin in 2025, and high-risk employment systems face stricter obligations on documentation, oversight, and risk management as the regime phases in.
- State updates: Track emerging U.S. state rules (e.g., Colorado’s AI law timing) and any state civil-rights regs governing automated tools.
- Document & retrain: Keep written job analyses, validation studies, and decision criteria; train interviewers and recruiters on consistent, bias-aware use of test results.