7 Great Talent Assessment Tools For Every Use

Lots of very talented people are very bad at reporting their skills, experience, and potential. Some feel pressure to exaggerate, others feel awkward praising themselves—both scenarios mean you’re not getting an accurate picture of how a person will perform in the job.

That’s why talent assessment tools are so important.

With the right talent assessment tools, you can gain valuable insights into the personalities and skill sets of potential hires. And in this Willo guide, we’ll cover some of the talent assessment tools we feel stand out from the crowd.

What Is Talent Assessment?

Talent assessment (or candidate assessment) is a systematic process organizations use to screen job applicants for a specific role or skill, typically done at the top of the candidate funnel immediately after applying. 

This process helps the organization narrow down the pool of candidates and make more informed hiring decisions.

Types of talent assessments

Job simulations

Job simulation assessments involve creating a realistic scenario for candidates to showcase their skills. The underlying idea is that the best way to understand how a candidate thinks about problems, the job, and the organization is to see how they’d operate in an actual work situation.

Within this type of assessment, there are several subtypes, including:

• Role-play simulations: These assessments involve the candidate acting out a scenario with someone from the team. This can test their communication, problem-solving, and customer service skills.
• Work sample assessments: These are simple (but effective) job simulations where candidates are asked to complete a task or project. The project is then reviewed by the hiring team to assess the candidate's skills. 
• In-basket exercises: This is a specific kind of assessment where candidates are presented with a large volume of simulated job tasks (emails, memos, etc.) to sort through, prioritize, and address within a specific amount of time. The goal is to see how well candidates can process complicated workloads and identify what’s important.
• VR simulations: VR and AR job simulations are becoming increasingly popular in industries like healthcare, aviation, and manufacturing. They let companies simulate complicated and potentially dangerous on-the-job scenarios and observe how candidates handle them.

Note: If you’re asking a candidate to do real work (e.g., write a blog you intend to publish) or an activity that will take significant time, it’s best practice to offer compensation for their effort regardless of hiring outcome. 

Asynchronous video interviews 

Asynchronous video interviews are a form of assessment where candidates record responses to pre-set interview questions at their convenience. 

It gives recruiters a chance to see how candidates present themselves, their communication skills, and their ability to think on their feet. It’s also much more convenient and less stressful for candidates—that helps them perform better and helps you create a positive candidate experience.

Here’s an example set up you can use:

1. Present a scenario and ask a multiple choice question where every option is a different, yet viable path forward.
2. Follow up with a video-based question asking the candidate to explain their reasoning; why did they pick the answer they did? 
3. Optional: Add a document upload question if the scenario involved creating a presentation, submitting a plan, or uploading any other relevant documentation.

AI-powered assessments

You can also add some extra efficiency to your assessment strategies by cleverly introducing AI. 

For example, AI algorithms can analyze resumes, assess writing samples, and even score certain types of tests. But remember—AI assessments should be just one piece of the puzzle, not the sole factor in hiring decisions.

Want to learn more about integrating AI into your recruitment process? Check out our Hiring Humans ebook to learn more.

Soft skills and personality tests 

Soft skills and personality tests allow you to evaluate a candidate's non-technical attributes, such as emotional intelligence, introversion and extroversion, teamwork, etc.  They can help identify individuals who will thrive within your company culture and mesh well with existing team dynamics. 

If you want to test for personality, use a psychologist-approved test like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) or the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI).

Technical skill assessments 

Technical skill assessments measure a candidate's proficiency in specific technical skills required for the job. This could involve coding tests for software developers, writing samples for content creators, or design challenges for graphic designers.

What Is a Talent Assessment Tool? 

Talent assessment tools play a key role in the recruiting process. They help recruiters look beyond sugar-coated (or AI-generated) resumes and cover letters to identify candidates’ real qualities through tests, surveys, interviews, and other approaches we mentioned earlier.

These (technical and soft skills) assessments can cover a range of important and more specific areas, including:

• Aptitude
• Personality
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Role-specific skills
• Language proficiency

Talent assessment tools can also differ in their approach to evaluating candidates. For example, Arctic Shores uses interactive assessments to evaluate candidates. On the other hand, Willo lets recruiters host async interviews where candidates record themselves responding to questions.

Source: How MyTutor Increased Recruiting Capacity And Reduced Overheads

Using Willo, MyTutor was able to boost their recruiting capacity by 75% while also reducing their overheads by 12%. The best part is that they achieved this without compromising on delivering a successful candidate experience.

Why Are Talent Assessment Tools Important? 

• Reduce the time-to-hire: Using a reliable talent assessment tool optimizes your hiring strategy because you’re significantly reducing the time it takes to hire candidates. On average, Willo users save 36 hours per month by using the platform instead of traditional video and face-to-face interviews. Companies like InHealth saved over 1,000 recruiter hours in one year using Willo’s asynchronous interview tools. 
• Decrease hiring and training costs: By automating your pre-employment assessments, you ultimately reduce your administrative tasks, so you can focus resources on qualified candidates. Additionally, verifying candidates’ skills before hiring helps decrease overall training costs. 
• Access to quality candidates: Talent assessment tools help verify if candidates are a good fit for open roles. This allows you to avoid spending time interviewing unqualified talent who may not be able to give suitable answers to your assessments.
• Make data-driven, unbiased decisions: Incorporating a talent assessment tool allows you to mitigate unconscious bias by focusing on a candidate’s knowledge, skills and expertise instead of their origin, CV, and other factors. This way, you can also achieve a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Criteria to Consider When Choosing Talent Assessment Tools

• Validity and reliability of assessment: A reliable talent assessment tool should be able to provide consistent results over time that showcase a candidate’s true abilities. It should also be valid in interpreting the results you need to meet your hiring goals. 
• Accessibility and usability: Candidates should be able to easily access your assessment tool without any hassle, so you don’t miss out on great talent. 
• Customization: As every organization has their own unique requirements, consider a talent assessment tool that allows you to tailor assessments to your unique needs.
• Cost-effectiveness: A talent assessment tool should be cost-effective enough to help you achieve your goals. Assess both the upfront costs and long-term benefits. It’s also helpful to consider how scalable the tool is in case you need to assess a large number of candidates. 

7 Great Talent Assessment Tools 

1. Willo: Best for asynchronous video interviewing.
2. Arctic Shores: Best for behavior-based assessments.
3. TestGorilla: Best for accessing multiple test types.
4. WizeHire: Best for personality assessments.
5. Modern Hire: Best for simulating job tasks.
6. iMocha: Best for remote-based skills assessment.
7. Coduty: Best for technical skills testing

1. Willo

Willo is a candidate screening platform that helps companies save time and make more confident hiring decisions.

Source: Capterra

Recruiters use Willo to create (or generate) interviews using a range of question-types. Invite links are then sent out to candidates, who can record responses on their own time using any device with a browser. Collaboration features make it easy to review responses, assess candidates, and collect feedback from internal stakeholders.

Relevant Features

• Asynchronous interviewing:  Willo helps you easily set up asynchronous video interviews and screen up to thousands of candidates. You can collect video, audio, text, or file responses, set time limits and deadlines, and review responses at your own pace.
• Question Generator:  When you’re struggling to think of relevant interview questions to ask candidates for specific roles, Willo can automatically suggest them for you. This way, you can ensure better answers that are tailored to what you’re looking for. 
• Showcase™: Willo makes it easy to create shortlists and share promising interviews with any internal stakeholder. Use their feedback to add as much context as you need, and make sure every hiring decision is made with consensus.
• Identity Verification: Willo’s IDV features ensure that each of your interviewees is eligible to work for you. Integrate digital right-to-work and background checks into your assessment process, and you’ll receive a certified report supported by the UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (UKDIATF). 

Pricing

Willo has a free-forever plan that supports one job and up to ten responses monthly.

All our paid plans—Launch ($68/month on an annual plan), Growth ($187/month on an annual plan), Scale ($299/month on an annual plan), and Enterprise (custom)—support unlimited responses.

Pros

• Simple process of writing and organizing interviews
• Easily accessible to your candidates
• Over 5,000 integrations including Workday, Greenhouse, and Teamtailor
• Fully browser-based and works on any device
• Customizable to your brand
• Designed to be scalable enough to handle growth

‍

Cons

• Free forever plan is limited to 10 responses

2. Arctic Shores

Arctic Shores is a tool that offers interactive assessments to help recruiters get an in-depth understanding of candidate behaviors.

Source: G2

Recruiters start by defining the key performance indicators necessary for the job role, and candidates will undergo gamified tasks to evaluate their fit.

Relevant Features

• AI-proof evaluation: Assessments are designed to prevent the use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
• In-depth scoring:  Candidates are not just scored on their output, but also on every step they take to reach their result. 
• Candidate feedback reports: Collect insights on candidate experience after completion of assessment tasks. 
• Insightful psychometric analysis: Candidates are assessed against 12,000 data points, and you’ll have access to comprehensive reports, metrics, and scores to compare performances. 

Pricing 

Contact Arctic Shores for pricing information. 

Pros

• Engaging candidate experience
• Scoring is standardized to help reduce hiring bias
• Insightful analytics 
• Assesses both personality and workplace intelligence‍

Cons

• Pricing isn’t published publicly

3. TestGorilla

TestGorilla offers various pre-employment assessment tools to help organizations screen candidates according to unique job requirements. 

Source: G2

Relevant Features

• Large assessment library: TestGorilla provides over 300 scientifically validated tests for companies to choose from. Test types include cognitive ability, personality, programming skills, role-specific skills and situational judgment. 
• Video interviews: There’s the option to conduct video interviews to assess candidates’ personalities. 
• Automated screening: The tool automatically grades and ranks candidates according to their test scores to streamline your selection process. 
• Cheating prevention: The tool provides access to automatic snapshots of candidates while they take your specified test. You’ll also be notified if a candidate exists in full-screen mode. 

Pricing 

TestGorilla provides transparent pricing on their website. There’s a free plan available, with paid plans starting at $75/month (customizable based on number of employees).

Pros

• Fully customizable
• Easily accessible to candidates through shareable links
• Candidates are automatically ranked
• Mobile friendly

Cons (based on GetApp reviews)

• Customer support could be improved
• Intermediate level questions are more difficult than expected

4. WizeHire

WizeHire is a hiring platform that provides research-driven evaluation tools to help companies hire the best candidates. 

Source: TrustRadius

Relevant Features

• Wizehire coaches: The platform provides coaches to help match and customize relevant interview questions unique to your company’s needs.
• Interview guides:  Wizehire allows you to customize or create your own interview guides, so you can provide a fair interview process for candidates.
• DISC+ personality assessment: This assessment allows recruiters to uncover candidates’ personal strengths, motivators, and work styles. 

Pricing 

WizeHire has a fixed Quickstart plan ($249/month) designed for teams planning on hiring 1 to 2 new employees. Higher volume plans are customized based on your needs.

Pros

• Evaluation tools are customizable
• Integrates with prominent job boards
• Reliable support
• Scalable for a wide range of industries

Cons (based on Capterra reviews)

• Could be better at sifting out unqualified candidates
• Lacks the capability to directly invite candidates to apply

5. Modern Hire

Modern Hire is a hiring platform that uses selection science and automated interview tools to help organizations hire suitable candidates. 

Source: TrustRadius

Relevant Features

• Virtual Job Tryout® simulation: Candidates can experience what the job role is really like by participating in a series of job-specific tasks and simulated tasks.  
• Predictive analytics: The platform continuously learns candidate behaviors to help improve your assessment methods. 
• AI-powered question sets: Modern Hire leverages AI to provide relevant text-based interview questions to assess candidates. 

Pricing

Contact Modern Hire for pricing information.

Pros

• Integrates interviewing, assessment and predictive analytics
• Add your branding to simulation tasks
• Assessments are provided in the candidate’s preferred language
• Provides questions relevant to the job role

‍Cons (based on TrustRadius reviews)

• Unable to export screening data to Excel
• User interface could be improved 

6. iMocha

iMocha is an AI-powered talent assessment tool that specializes in analyzing remote-based skills for international organizations.

Source: G2

Relevant Features

• Skill-gap analysis: iMocha’s platform can help you identify candidate skill gaps for your specific job roles. 
• Live interviews: The platform allows you to conduct live interviews with top-scoring candidates and up to three interviewers. 
• Qualitative insights: The tool benchmarks skill proficiency and gives you actionable insights to enhance your employees’ career profiles.   

Pricing 

You need to request a quote from iMocha’s website.

Pros

• Tailored to remote-based companies
• Cheating prevention for assessments
• Supports hiring team collaboration
• Reports on candidate engagement‍

Cons (based on GetApp reviews)

• Could be more user-friendly
• Not enough flexibility to customize tests

7. Codility

Codility is an online talent assessment platform designed to assess developers’ coding proficiency in over 20 programming languages. 

Source: G2

Relevant Features

1. CodeLive: A real-time coding interview tool that allows interviewers to conduct live coding interviews with candidates. 
2. CodeCheck: An automated coding assessment feature that evaluates candidates' code for correctness, performance, and edge cases.
3. Plagiarism Detection: Algorithms to detect similarities and potential plagiarism in candidates' code submissions, ensuring the integrity of the assessment.
4. Task Library: A library of pre-built coding tasks across various difficulty levels and programming languages. 

Pricing

Interested users need to contact Codility for a quote.

Pros

(Pros and cons gathered from G2)

• Quick and easy to use 
• Great test catalog 
• Nice UI with clear questions 

Cons

• No questions to assess vanilla JavaScript proficiency 

How to Implement Talent Assessment Tools

1. Define your perfect candidate 

Before jumping right into talent assessments, take a moment to define your ideal candidate for the role—consider their skills, experience, and qualities. This step helps you understand exactly what you’re looking for and manage your expectations.

How can you do this?

Start by conducting a thorough job analysis. In simple terms, break down the role into specific duties, responsibilities, and required skills. Gather insights from managers or external employees if there aren’t any current employees you can interview.

From your job analysis, you might gather a lot of skills and experience data that might be unrealistic to expect in one person. So, we recommend categorizing them further into:

• Essential (must-have)
• Desirable (nice-to-have)

This will help you prioritize during the evaluation stage. While candidates might not possess every "nice-to-have" trait, they should have the core "must-have" skills and experience. The latter are typically (but not always) the focus of assessments.

2. Choose an assessment type

Having defined your ideal candidate profile, you can now choose the most effective tests (and tools for conducting the tests).

Start by thinking about the skills you want to test for. For instance, testing for both hard and soft skills will give you a well-rounded view of the candidate. But in some cases, testing for both might not be necessary—if you're hiring for a technical role, you can use assessments to test for hard skills and then use interviews to assess soft skills.

Your job analysis will typically guide you in the right direction here.

Once you've decided on the skills, choose a tool that fits. For example, if you are testing for both soft and hard skills, you can use a job simulation or async video format. But if you only need to assess technical skills, you can submit work samples or take a technical test.

After that, it's easier to choose a tool. Pick one that offers your chosen format while considering other criteria mentioned earlier.

3. Communicate with your candidates

Research shows that 54% of candidates have bailed on an application process due to poor communication. To ensure that most candidates complete the assessment, you need to communicate effectively upfront. 

That means:

• Explain the entire assessment process: Let them know about the types of assessments they can expect and why they're being used. Explain how assessments fit into the larger process and what they can expect moving forward.
• Explain the assessment timeframe: Explain how long the assessment will take and how long you expect it to take to review their assessment. Be sure to mention whether you’ll be providing feedback to set expectations early.
• Offer additional resources (optional): To make sure candidates have a great experience, offer resources to help them prepare for the assessment or access help if needed. This might mean having an example assessment on-hand or a quick link to access support. 

4. Administer the assessments and evaluate

Finally, administer your assessments. 

Here are some tips to help you with this: 

• Standardized administration: Ensure consistent administration and scoring across all candidates for in-person assessments or simulations.
• Technical support: Provide technical support if candidates encounter any difficulties during online assessments.
• Proctoring (optional): Consider proctored testing for high-stakes assessments. This is unnecessary for most hiring scenarios but may be useful for certain roles or organizations (e.g., finance or security).

After candidates complete the assessment, send a quick thank-you email acknowledging their participation and telling them what to expect next. This small gesture can significantly enhance the candidate experience.

Elevate Your Talent Assessment With Willo

Talent assessment tools are extremely helpful in ensuring you select more competent hires and significantly reduce your hiring time. It’s best to select a tool that allows you to assess for a multitude of job roles, so you get the best return on your investment. 

At Willo, we specialize in providing hiring teams with a robust set of async screening and identity verification tools to streamline your hiring process. Ready to start screening top talent at scale? Sign up today and explore Willo for yourself!