Which online test do you choose when?
The best test does not exist. The right one does.
That sounds like wordplay, but it is the whole point. An online assessment answers one kind of question, not every question at once. And most companies pick one without first working out what their question actually is.
How someone works, how they collaborate, whether they can handle the thinking, whether they can sell. Four questions, four kinds of tests.
So here is the overview I use myself. Four kinds of tests, four situations. A personality test like the Big Five if you want to know how someone works. The 4 colours personality test when it is about collaboration and communication. An ability test or a learning ability test when the job calls for thinking. And the sales assessment when there is a target attached to the role.
What an online assessment is, and what it is not
An online assessment is a standardised questionnaire or exercise that your candidate fills in online, and out of it comes a report you put next to your interview. Nothing more, nothing less.
What it is not: an oracle. An assessment does not tell you whether to hire someone. That stays your decision.
What it does do is put your gut feeling to the test. In all these years I have seen the same pattern come back: when the test and the interview contradict each other, there is always a story behind it. That is exactly the conversation you want to have next.
A good assessment does not give you an answer. It gives you a better question for your second interview.
The Big Five, when you want to know how someone works
I almost always start here. The Big Five personality test looks at five things: how open someone is to new things, how structured, how energetic in contact with others, how agreeable, and how sensitive to stress.
Of all the personality tests on the market, the Big Five is the only one that is genuinely backed by science. That is not my opinion, that is what the research says. The five factor model the test is built on has been studied for decades, across countries and languages, and it holds up.
The 4 colours test, when it is about working together
Red, yellow, blue and green, based on the typology of Carl Jung. Red is direct and results driven, yellow enthusiastic and people focused, blue analytical and precise, green calm and connecting.
My absolute favourite for teams. And at the same time the test that gets misused the most, because it is not made to decide whether someone fits a job. That is simply not what it is for.
It shows you how people talk to each other. Which tasks make someone happy and which really do not. What gives someone energy, and what drains them. In the end it mostly helps you understand why someone does what they do.
And then you see something happen in a team that knows each other’s colour. Argument on Friday, insight on Monday.
Hence the 4 Colours Training. One day with the team, where everyone gets to know their own colour and right away that of their colleagues. We practise on situations from your own work, so you go home with language you can use the next day. I give this training in Dutch and in English.
The ability test and the learning ability test, when the job calls for thinking
These do not measure who someone is, but what someone can handle.
With the ability tests there are three, each for one aspect: logical reasoning, numerical reasoning and spatial insight. So you pick one, depending on what the job really asks for. This is pure abstract thinking, and they are demanding tests. Candidates feel that too.
The learning ability test is one test, with four parts in it: language, numerical, spatial and perception. Broader, then, and a good deal more accessible. The difference is in the level of difficulty and in what gets measured. Language and perception you will only find in the learning ability test.
Of that learning ability test there are two versions, by the way. One for someone with a secondary school diploma, to see whether they keep up at bachelor level of thinking. And one for someone with a bachelor’s degree, to check whether they keep up at master’s level.
In practice I choose like this. If abstract thinking is the core of the job, I take the ability test that matches. If you want a broad picture of how someone handles information, without your candidate dropping out over the difficulty, it becomes the learning ability test.
Useful for someone who has to grow into a bigger role, or who lands in a technical environment where half the job still has to be learned.
One warning I always add: a high score is no guarantee. I wrote a separate article about that, because that misunderstanding costs companies a lot of money.
The sales assessment, when there is a target attached
The youngest of the four, and the most specific. It measures twelve sales scales and places your candidate next to six profiles: Hunter, Farmer, Deal Maker, Solution Seller, Technical Sales and Executor. On top of that we look at eleven commercial roles.
Why that matters: the smoothest talker is rarely the best salesperson. A Hunter you put in a Farmer role will be gone within the year. And a Farmer who has to cold call, the same.
Use it for every role with a number attached. Account manager, business development manager, technical sales representative, account executive.
Where it goes wrong most often
Usually not with the test. With the timing.
I see companies use an assessment as the very last step, once the decision has already been made. Then it is no longer a selection tool, it is a confirmation ritual. And if the report says something that does not fit, it quietly disappears into a folder.
I find that a waste. You are paying for information you then set aside.
So put that assessment between your first and your second interview. You walk into that second conversation with concrete questions instead of a gut feeling, and you can still do something real with it.
What an assessment costs, and why I do not work with subscriptions
With most providers you are tied to a licence, an accreditation or an annual subscription. So you also pay in the months when you are not hiring anyone.
That is not how I work. You buy per test, per candidate. If you want to run a lot of them, there is a cheaper subscription, but that is a choice and not an obligation.
What you do need is someone who can read a report like that. Interpreting a test is a craft, and I am not going to pretend it happens by itself. If you already work with a similar test from another provider, mine will be no problem, because the logic behind it is the same. If that knowledge is not in your team yet, I will train you in it. No heavy accreditation to renew every year, just learning what is in that report and what you do with it.
That is the whole difference, really. An SME that hires twice a year should not pay the same as a group that hires a hundred people.
Frequently asked questions about online assessments
How long does an online assessment take?
It depends on the test. With us you are looking at 15 to 30 minutes on average. Short enough not to scare a candidate off, long enough to measure something reliable.
When in the process is it best to use an assessment?
Between your first and your second interview. You then use the report to prepare that second conversation, with real questions. Put it right at the end and all you are doing is confirming a decision you had already made.
Do I need to be certified to read the reports?
Not with me, and that saves you a fair bit of money. You do need someone who can interpret a report. If you already work with a similar test elsewhere, it will come easily. If not, I will teach you.
Can I use one test for every role?
Better not. Every test measures something different. A colours test tells you nothing about reasoning ability, and an ability test nothing about collaboration.
Can a candidate refuse an assessment?
Yes. Taking part is voluntary. Just talk about it openly in the invitation. In practice that is rarely a problem, because candidates usually want to know the outcome themselves.
Not sure which test fits your vacancy? Give me a call or c, we will look at the role together and within ten minutes you will know which direction to take.
Written by Nancy Steels. Founder of TalentTester. 25+ years of experience in HR recruitment, online assessments and personality profiling. Connect on LinkedIn.