Work sample or skills assessment test? What each one tells a hiring team
A skills or knowledge test asks what an applicant knows or would choose. A work sample puts a piece of work in front of them and records what they do. The difference is in the kind of evidence each produces.
The kinds of test, briefly
- Knowledge and skills tests ask questions with set answers.
- Cognitive ability and personality tests measure general ability or tendencies, not a specific job task.
- Situational judgement tests describe a scenario and ask which response the applicant would choose or rank.
- Work samples give a piece of the work itself and record what the applicant does.
What the applicant does and what is recorded
| Test | Situational judgement test | Work sample | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applicant | Answers questions | Picks or ranks responses to a described scenario | Reads records, decides, writes, acts |
| Record | Answers | Chosen responses | Actions, messages, open items |
| The situation | Abstract or generic | Described in a few lines | Built from a real piece of work |
What each can show
A test can show whether someone knows a rule. A scenario question can show which response someone says they would choose. Neither shows what they do when the rule is buried in a record, a message has to be written, and a consequence follows later. A work sample can show that, and it takes more preparation and more reading from the reviewer.
Where Calavion differs
Calavion does not provide an assessment test. It prepares an exercise from a piece of work a company has handled, and the employer reads a Replay of what each applicant did. Calavion does not give applicants an overall score, generate an ordered shortlist, or recommend whom to hire. The employer orders its shortlist; the software checks that order against approved criteria and asks for a reason where it conflicts.
What the research says
Meta-analyses of selection methods report different validity for knowledge tests, situational judgement tests, cognitive ability tests and work samples. A 2022 re-estimate reports lower validity than earlier figures for many of them, because earlier corrections for restriction of range overcorrected (Sackett, Zhang, Berry & Lievens, 2022). The sources, and the numbers with their limits, are in what research says about seeing applicants perform real work. That review does not validate Calavion, and neither does this post.
Related
- Work samples, job simulations, take-home assignments and real-work hiring
- Definitions
- Evidence and status
Sources
- Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M., & Lievens, F. (2022). Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection: Addressing systematic overcorrection for restriction of range. Journal of Applied Psychology. doi:10.1037/apl0000994