Assessment Test
A standardized test administered as part of the hiring process to evaluate cognitive ability, personality, situational judgment, or technical skills. Used widely in corporate, government, and financial hiring to add objectivity to candidate evaluation.
Assessment tests are structured evaluations administered as part of the hiring process, beyond the standard interview. They're used to measure specific attributes employers believe predict job performance. **Types of assessment tests:** **Cognitive ability tests**: Measure reasoning, problem-solving, verbal, and numerical ability. Examples: Wonderlic, Watson-Glaser, Hogan, SHL Verify. Common in consulting, finance, and large corporate hiring. **Personality assessments**: Measure traits and behavioral tendencies. Examples: DISC, Myers-Briggs (MBTI), Hogan Personality Inventory. Increasingly used in corporate hiring, though their predictive validity for job performance is debated. **Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs)**: Present scenarios and ask how you'd respond. Common in consulting (McKinsey PST, BCG), banking, and government roles. **Technical assessments**: Coding challenges (HackerRank, LeetCode), data analysis tests, financial modeling exercises, case studies. The most directly relevant to job performance. **Skills tests**: Typing speed, data entry accuracy, software proficiency (Excel, Salesforce). **How to approach them:** - Research which assessment platform the company uses (often mentioned in job postings or Glassdoor reviews) - Practice if tests are available — Glassdoor, the platform's own practice tests - Don't try to game personality assessments — inconsistent answers are flagged by most platforms - For timed cognitive tests, practice improves speed and reduces test anxiety
Why it matters
Assessment tests are an early filter in many large-company hiring processes. Candidates who don't prepare — particularly for cognitive ability tests where practice meaningfully improves scores — disadvantage themselves unnecessarily.
Candidate tip
Before taking an assessment, check Glassdoor's interview section for the company and role — candidates frequently mention which specific assessments they encountered and sometimes describe the question types.
Related terms
Skills Assessment
ApplicationsA practical evaluation of your ability to perform specific job-relevant tasks — a coding challenge, writing assignment, data analysis exercise, or design brief. Skills assessments are more predictive of job performance than most interview formats.
Pre-Screening
ApplicationsAn early-stage filtering step in the hiring process — typically a phone call or questionnaire — used by recruiters to verify basic qualifications, location, work authorization, and compensation expectations before investing time in full interviews.
Technical Interview
InterviewsAn interview format that evaluates domain-specific knowledge and problem-solving ability through technical questions, coding exercises, architecture discussions, or design problems. Standard in software engineering, data science, finance, and other technical fields.
Hiring Process
ApplicationsThe full sequence of steps an employer uses to evaluate and hire candidates — from job posting to background check to offer. Processes vary by company size and role, but typically include: application, screen, interview rounds, assessment, reference check, and offer.