The Top Recruitment Assessment Tools and Technologies for 2025
Not long ago, one of my recruiters spoke with a candidate for an IT role that would be responsible for improving the usability of the client’s software. This candidate came highly recommended and had the resume to match, but during the interview, he was very subdued, almost downplaying the accomplishments described in his cover letter. We decided to investigate further with an assessment.
We gave the candidate a simple Six Sigma assessment, which tests proficiency in applying problem-solving skills to solve business challenges. He passed with flying colors, confirming our suspicions: he’s one of those people who’s great with technology but not so great at hyping up his own skills. Thanks to the information we gleaned from an objective assessment, he wound up getting hired.
Every recruiter wants to avoid bad hires, but we’re all human, which comes with limitations. Recruitment assessment tools help remove subjectivity and bias from the hiring process, adding a layer of objectivity and data-backed insight that can help us make the best choices when shortlisting candidates and putting together job offers.
We’ve analyzed dozens of pre-employment assessment tools and technologies to identify the top options that can strengthen your screening and hiring.
What Are Recruitment Assessment Tools?
As a recruiter, you do everything in your power to gather information that will help you make an intelligent decision about who to hire. However, you can only do so much with the information that a candidate presents to you (like in their resume and cover letter) and the intel you collect on your own (like via LinkedIn and reference checks). As in the example above, all that information might still not paint an accurate picture.
Assessment tools take your analysis one step further, helping you measure a candidate’s skills, proficiency level, and personality traits on an objective scale to make an accurate and informed hiring decision. Assessments can take many forms, including multiple-choice, open-ended answer, simulation, sample assignment, and even physical testing.
Benefits of Recruitment Assessment Tools
Recruitment assessment tools are beneficial to hiring for a variety of reasons. They are:
Customizable
Recruitment assessments have evolved dramatically in the last decade. Today’s testing solutions can be tailored to any role or proficiency you want to assess, from technical skills like web coding to soft skills like leadership and cultural factors like work style.
One of my team’s favorite types of assessments is a ‘culture add’ test. It analyzes how a candidate’s values align with those of the organization and whether their behaviors would be conducive to working successfully as part of the team.
Accessible
Assessment tools are easy to use and accessible for every candidate. Candidates can complete them on their own time, on a device they’re comfortable with. They can also be customized to accommodate people with disabilities, like those who use screen readers or special headsets when working on a computer.
Objective
No matter how much hiring managers want to remain objective when assessing candidates, we’re still human, and bias can creep into analysis. One of the core advantages of recruitment assessments is that they level the playing field. Pre-employment assessments help us compare candidates against one another using an equal measuring stick.
Effective
If you’ve ever been torn between two great candidates, you know the tug of war that can take place in your mind. I hate that feeling. Recruitment assessments eliminate guesswork from selecting the best person for the job. A candidate either meets the required proficiency level, or they don’t. They’re a strong fit for the work environment, or a weak one. This level of precision reduces bad hires and helps you identify great candidates faster.
Related: How to Use Pre-Employment Assessments to Make Better Hires
Key Features to Look for in Recruitment Assessment Tools
When choosing a recruitment assessment tool, consider the following aspects.
Reliability
A good recruitment assessment platform should provide consistent results backed by research. To predict job performance accurately, look for platforms that are scientifically validated and demonstrate their effectiveness with case studies from other employers.
Customization
Every company’s hiring needs are unique, making customization a necessity. The ideal platform should give you the ability to tailor your assessments to different roles, experience levels, and your company culture. Whether it’s adjusting the test difficulty, adding job-specific questions, or incorporating your company’s branding, customization ensures a more useful assessment while providing a better candidate experience.
Ease of use
Have you ever looked at some of the online forums for job seekers? Some of the people who post on them hate–and I mean hate–recruitment assessments. My guess? They have such a bad impression due to irrelevant, poorly designed, or downright offensive tests to their experience level (one senior programmer talked about being given a skills assessment that asked “What is debugging?”).
Your recruitment assessment should contribute to a positive candidate experience. That means having clear instructions, a user-friendly interface, and a mobile-friendly design.
On the flip side, you also need it to be easy for recruiters to use. Look for software that offers pre-built assessments, drag-and-drop templates, and automated workflows that assist with distributing and following up on candidates’ tests.
Versatility
A worthwhile recruitment assessment platform should support a range of assessments, like skill evaluations and personality tests. Versatility ensures that different roles, whether creative, technical, collaborative, or managerial, are assessed in the most appropriate way.
AI capabilities
Cutting-edge assessment platforms capitalize on artificial intelligence to aid in identifying top candidates and reducing bias. For example, AI can predict with precision how likely a certain candidate is to succeed in a role or mesh with a team. Choose an assessment provider that prides itself on updating its platform with the latest technology.
Analytics
Recruitment assessments are all about data, and you need an easy way to visualize and gain insights from the data they provide. Look for a tool that offers analytics features like real-time dashboards, at-a-glance reports, and the ability to compare and rank candidates easily.
Security
Protecting candidates’ personal data and keeping your organization compliant with all relevant laws is paramount. When considering an assessment platform, ask about how it stores and manages candidate information and how its software complies with guidelines like the EEOC and GDPR.
Integration
Seamless integration with the other software you use to hire, like your ATS or HRIS, is a must. A well-integrated platform reduces manual work, enhances efficiency, and contributes to a more streamlined hiring process.
Staffing your team doesn’t have to be hard.
Reach out and see how we can help.
Best Skills Assessment Tools
Test Gorilla
When you need to verify that a candidate actually has the skills their resume claims, TestGorilla is a great option. More than 10,000 companies use the platform to assess candidates across a wide range of skills and proficiencies, from programming and engineering to a variety of languages. With more than 300 scientifically validated tests, it offers employers objective insights into applicants’ capabilities for both technical and non-technical roles.
G2 rating: 4.5 out of 5
Pricing:
- Free: Low-volume hirers can access up to five tests for free
- Starter: $83 per month or $990 per year
- Pro: $127 per month or $1,518 per year
HackerRank
One of the most common gripes among development candidates is that the pre-employment assessment they were given has nothing to do with the actual job. HackerRank is a platform built by computer scientists for computer scientists to solve this problem. It uses a cutting-edge methodology to offer highly relevant tests for every facet of development. Tech giants like Amazon and AirBNB were early adopters of the platform, and companies like Goldman Sachs, LinkedIn, and Adobe now rely on HackerRank for hiring technical talent.
G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5
Pricing:
- Starter: $165 per month or $1,990 per year
- Pro: $375 per month or $4,490 per year
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for testing up to 100,000 candidates at once
iMocha
iMocha is a powerful skills assessment platform catering to companies hiring for tech, finance, and business roles. It boasts an extensive library of more than 2,500 assessments with AI-based proctoring. iMocha is best for mid-size and enterprise-level companies looking to streamline their technical hiring while ensuring evaluation accuracy and fairness.
G2 rating: 4.4 out of 5
Pricing:
- Basic: $400 per month, billed annually
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited assessments
Vervoe
Vervoe’s mission is to help companies hire based on merit rather than background. Its tests allow candidates to showcase their abilities by performing job-related tasks. Then, Vervoe uses machine learning models to tank candidates based on how they perform.
G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5
Pricing:
- Free: 7-day trial with no credit card required
- Pay as you go: Pay on a per-candidate basis starting at $300 for 10 candidates
- Custom: Custom pricing for fully customizable assessments
Personality/Culture Fit Testing
The Predictive Index
Building a dream team requires a mix of personalities. You need leaders, but not everyone can be a leader. The same goes for innovators, operators, and all of the other personality types that make up a high-performing team. The Predictive Index is built on this concept, helping hiring managers identify strong candidates and select the ones who make the most strategic sense as part of the overall team makeup.
G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5
Pricing:
- Free trial available, pricing varies based on the features you need
HighMatch
HighMatch understands that no two roles are alike. Even the same job can be drastically different between two different companies. That’s why they use rigorous job profiles to personalize their assessments, ensuring that employers judge candidates on the qualities defining success for that role in their organization. Their test questions use simple language that’s easy for anyone to understand, so candidates aren’t left going in circles trying to figure out the “right” answer.
G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5
Pricing:
- Pricing is dependent on company size and number of candidate profiles
- Small business (under 20 employees) pricing starts at $1,500 per year
SHL’s Occupational Personality Questionnaire
The Occupational Personality Questionnaire, or OPQ, is an industry juggernaut. It dates back to the 80s and is used in more than 10 million assessments each year. Though the test has evolved to capitalize on modern technology and contemporary science, its core value offering is the same as it was 40 years ago: to indicate a candidate’s preferred behavioral style at work and help employers gauge how well they’ll fit into a specific environment. It’s a straightforward, proven test that takes just 20 minutes and is available in 30 languages.
G2 rating: N/A
Pricing:
- Contact for pricing
Bryq
Bryq specializes in psychometric and cognitive assessments that evaluate candidates based on personality traits, cognitive abilities, and culture fit. It combines information from resumes with hard data from personality assessments to offer a comprehensive view of candidates, while using historical data to learn from the performance of existing employees. This approach enables more confident hiring decisions, better retention rates, and improved productivity.
G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5
Pricing:
- Standard: $299/month billed annually
- Advanced: Contact for pricing
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
Harver
Harver is designed for volume hiring, specifically in the customer service, retail and hospitality industries. It offers assessments for situational judgement, personality, and cognitive ability rooted in over 35 years of psychology science designed to identify best-fit candidates.
G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5
Pricing:
- Contact for pricing
No matter which recruitment assessment technology you use, make sure that it’s tailored to each particular role and the unique needs of your organization. You can even mix and match different tools to come up with a pre-employment screening recipe that’s a perfect fit for your requirements.
