How do I benchmark results?

We provide information about each test in order to allow for benchmarking, or comparing an individual’s performance against other candidates to better understand their results. 

In the Overview table for each individual’s results, you can find our global average listed to the right of the candidate’s score. This provides a summary of how they line up against our talent pool across tests. 

Aptitude, Soft Skills, Programming, Software, and Language tests all provide a global average and distribution graph that permits comparison against our database. These figures are continuously updated to ensure you have the latest information. 

The figures are calculated using our entire talent database of all candidates who have taken that test. 

Personality results are presented as percentiles which illustrate where the candidate falls relative to everyone else who has taken the test. For example, a 49th-percentile result means that individual scores higher than 49% of the population on that trait.

Local benchmarking

Global statistics are helpful to have an indication of how most candidates perform on a test, however, we recommend benchmarking against employees in your company to get a more accurate estimate specific to your hiring needs.

Global information is typically better for tests that are general performance indicators, such as aptitude or soft skills tests. However, tests that reflect hard skills such as programming, software, and language benefit from local information. For example, when hiring a junior developer, it would help to know what level of programming skills other junior developers in the team have.

To do this, you can create an assessment with the relevant tests and send invites to current employees. You can review their results with performance levels in mind to get an idea of what an acceptable test score should be for an average performer versus a top performer, for example.

Communication around this exercise's purpose and directions to take the tests seriously should be shared with sensitivity. These results can also be used to identify development opportunities if appropriate.