Pre-employment testing is key to a productive recruitment campaign. It lets you compare tech abilities, personality, culture fit, and more by using job-specific skills tests. In addition, pre-employment testing platforms help you reduce human bias in the hiring process and evaluate candidates objectively – so you can be confident you’re hiring the right person.
You have lots of choices in pre-employment testing platforms today. Below, we take a closer look at TestGorilla and Pymetrics, two popular options.
TestGorilla is a user-friendly pre-employment testing platform used by top brands around the world. It lets you build assessments in minutes by drawing on a library of more than 400+ tests and using your own custom questions. Tests take around 10 minutes to complete, and assessments can be made of up to five tests.
With TestGorilla, you can evaluate language skills, cognitive ability, familiarity with coding languages and software, and much more. TestGorilla saves you time by letting you see at a glance which candidates demonstrate the skills you need.
Candidates can take their pre-employment tests on phones, tablets, PCs, or laptops. You can then review the reports of every applicant and make comments on the reports before sharing them with your hiring team.
TestGorilla gives you a comprehensive picture of each candidate to help you make better hiring decisions. For example, testing for culture add increases the chances of a long tenure because you’re hiring someone who aligns with your company.Testing soft skills and personality ensures you’re hiring talent who can cooperate with your team.
Pymetrics is a pre-employment assessment platform that uses behavioral insights, AI, and interactive, game-like tests to evaluate candidates. The focus is on evaluating soft skills.
There are 12 core gamified tests in a Pymetrics assessment. These include tests to evaluate effort, risk tolerance, decision-making, attention, focus, learning, fairness, generosity, and emotion. Users can complete tests in as little as 25 minutes.
A risk tolerance game, for example, may ask candidates to earn as much virtual money as they can. Each time they click a button, a balloon on the screen inflates and the money balance on the screen increases. If applicants overfill and burst the balloon, the money balance returns to zero.
Employers can also add an additional four games (which come bundled together) to test numerical and logical reasoning. These tests take between seven and 10 minutes each.
As an applicant plays the games, an AI algorithm creates a cognitive and behavioral profile for the test-taker.
The wide range of tests available gives you an accurate overview of every candidate. Look for a variety of tests that let you test personality, cognitive function, job-specific skills, and more. This way, you can create assessments for many open positions.
See how TestGorilla leads the way in skills assessments. Sign up for our free live demo and discover a better way to evaluate candidates.
TestGorilla’s test library has more than 400+ tests for you to choose from. You can create your own custom questions, too. You can test:
Language skills
Soft skills, such as customer service and communication
Situational judgment
Role-specific skills for developers and other roles
Programming skills
Familiarity with specific software
With localized websites in 12 languages, TestGorilla is ideal for helping you attract candidates with various backgrounds from all around the world.
Pymetrics has a total of 16 possible tests, presented as games, though most candidates have time to complete just 12 games. The numerical and logical reasoning games are optional for employers.
There isn’t much variation in the tests. For example, most assessments include a balloon game, arrow games, memory games, card games, and a tower game where applicants need to build a tower from colorful blocks.
Pymetrics gamified tests focus on personality, reasoning, and cognitive ability. There are no specific skills tests for languages, coding, software, and similar abilities.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
Cognitive ability tests | Yes | Yes |
Situational judgment tests | Yes | Yes |
Job-specific tests | Yes | Yes |
Software tests | Yes | No |
Programming tests (including coding challenges) | Yes | No |
Language tests | Yes | No |
Personality tests | Yes | Yes |
Culture-add test | Yes | No |
Your own custom tests | No | |
Custom questions per assessment | Yes | No |
Test recommendations for each job role | Yes | No |
Multiple tests per assessment | Yes | Yes |
Technical skills tests let you evaluate the abilities of applicants for developer roles. Look for a pre-employment platform that tests coding in different languages, debugging, and additional skills.
TestGorilla hasmore than 140 programming skills tests for developer positions, with new tests being added all the time. TestGorilla can also measure:
Debugging skills
Mobile and web-development frameworks
Coding languages
You can even create custom coding and debugging challenges.
TestGorilla also has a new language agnostic coding skills test: one coding test, 20 coding languages. So, no matter what a candidate’s preferred programming language is, they can demonstrate their coding skills using the language they are most comfortable with.
Pymetrics doesn’t have specific skills tests for hiring developers. There’s no way to test coding skills, for example. However, the platform allows you to test soft skills as well as numerical and logical reasoning.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
Coding languages | JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP, C, C#, C++, CSS, HTML, SQL, Kotlin, Ruby, TypeScript, Go, R, Scala, React, Swift, Julia, Elixir, Dart, Perl, Rust, Solidity, and Erlang | None |
Web-development frameworks | Yes | N/A |
Mobile-development frameworks | Yes | N/A |
Algorithmic-thinking challenges | Yes | N/A |
Debugging challenges | Yes | N/A |
Language-specific concept challenges | Yes | N/A |
Your own custom coding challenges | Yes | N/A |
Code-playback function | Yes | N/A |
Automated scoring | Yes | N/A |
Live peer coding | No | N/A |
Language-agnostic coding test | Yes | N/A |
Video interviews hint at the impression a candidate makes in person. They help you narrow down who you might want to interview on site.
Keep an eye out for platforms that offer one-way interviews and custom questions. They can make the assessment process more engaging for applicants.
TestGorilla offers one-way video interviews plus features to make video interviews more customizable and useful for your hiring team and engaging for applicants. You can create custom questions, for example, and limit video answer length.
With TestGorilla, you can see how many times an applicant attempted a video response and cap their responses at 30, 60, or 120 seconds. You can view their videos from a computer or mobile device and even add comments and rankings for your hiring team to see.
You can also play back candidates' responses at various speeds, and even add comments and ratings for each one. This makes it easier to compare candidates and stay organized as you make your decisions.
Pymetrics also offers one-way video interviews. Employers can ask questions using text or video, and applicants usually have up to 120 seconds to reply. Candidates have time to prepare and can re-record an answer if they wish.
Test questions can be tailored for each individual hiring campaign, and videos are easily shareable between recruiters to enhance collaboration. However, you can’t comment on or rate these answers.
Candidates can practice their test question as many times as they’d like using the timer and video recording option. Interviewers can see only the final recording.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
One-way video interview | Yes | Yes |
Custom video questions | Yes | Yes |
Recording of candidates’ attempts | Yes | No |
Restrict maximum answer length | Yes | Yes |
Recording and playback on any device | Yes | Yes |
Rate and comment video answers | Yes | N/A |
Payback speed control | Yes | No |
Pre-employment test platforms that create a great candidate experience ensure applicants have a positive view of your business from the start. They also increase the odds that candidates will complete their assessments.
A reasonable test length, candidate support, and the ability to complete assessments on a mobile device all help applicants feel more comfortable with the process.
Look for solutions with branding tools that allow you to customize assessments with your company colors and logo. This bolsters your employer brand and reassures applicants they’re taking a legitimate assessment.
For candidates, TestGorilla provides tech support and a reasonable-length, enjoyable assessment experience. Applicants don’t need to download any software. They can just open the link in their invitation email and get started on any mobile device.
Employers can benefit from TestGorilla’s customization features, which allow them to add their company logo and colors to their assessments. Companies can also record intro and outro videos to introduce applicants to the team and the culture of their organization.
Once a candidate has completed a test, they’ll be redirected to create a TestGorilla profile. They don’t have to do this, but it’s a great place to store their test scores, personal information, and more. Candidates who take assessments in English and do this can view their assessment results.
Pymetrics enables candidates to take their assessments from a mobile device, with no need to download software. They can take breaks in between questions.
Pymetrics creates a gamified experience, where applicants can play memory games, card games, and other games. These tests evaluate candidates’ soft skills, logic, and cognitive abilities.
It’s unclear whether Pymetrics allows for custom employer branding.
Pymetrics is happy to offer accommodations for those with ADHD, dyslexia, or other specific learning disabilities. You can email support@pymetrics.com for more information on how they can support your candidates.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
Your company’s intro or outro video | Yes | No (but users can create videos for interview questions) |
Assessments branded with your company logo and colors | Yes | Unknown |
Customizable invitation and rejection emails | Yes | Unknown |
No login required for candidates | Yes | Unknown |
Mobile-friendly | Yes | Yes |
Help and support for candidates | Yes | Yes |
Typical assessment length | 30-60 minutes | 25-30 minutes |
Qualifying questions prior to assessment | Yes | No |
Pre-employment testing platforms designed for businesses of any size are flexible enough to grow with your organization.
Look for ATS integration, API access, candidate tracking, different plans for different-sized companies, and GDPR compliance. This way, you can keep using your platform even as your organization evolves.
TestGorilla has a free-for-life plan ideal for smaller startups. It lets you track small candidate pools from application to hire. For larger enterprises, TestGorilla integrates with ATS and offers API access to give you more flexibility.
TestGorilla’s bulk actions makes it easy to manage large scale hiring campaigns. For example, you can easily invite, remind, or reject a group of candidates from the interview process using these tools.
Using TestGorilla’s library of 400+ tests, you can hire across your entire company, from sales reps to developers to admin staff and any other talent you need.
With GDPR compliance and localized websites in 12 languages, TestGorilla also makes it easy to hire remote workers or employees for locations around the world.
What’s more, you can use TestGorilla’s job board to post your remote roles and grow your company.
Pymetrics offers API access and integration with ATS. The platform is GDPR compliant, though Pymetrics does ask employers to contact privacy@pymetrics.com to ensure GDPR compliance.
Pymetrics works with high-volume hiring companies, such as call centers, as well as startups targeting new graduates. The platform also allows companies to hire internally by testing existing workers and recommending courses they can take to upskill.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
ATS integration | Yes | Yes |
Multiple users and role-based rights management | Yes | No |
GDPR compliant | Yes | Yes (but users must email Pymetrics to ask to exercise their privacy rights under GDPR) |
Multiple candidate invitation options | Yes | No |
Public links to invite candidates | Yes | Yes |
Public links for each candidate source | Yes | No |
Bulk invite candidates (CSV/XLSX upload) | Yes | No |
Track candidate stages from invited to hired | Yes | No |
API access | Yes | Yes |
Bulk actions to manage candidates | Yes | No (but users can check assessment statuses and receive results in bulk through a partner integration) |
Quality control measures on pre-employment assessment platforms can include frequent replacement of test questions, quality checks before tests go live, and integration of employer and applicant feedback.
These measures keep assessments relevant so you can hire the best talent. They also ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for candidates.
TestGorilla is committed to quality and continuous improvement.
Before any TestGorilla test goes live, it undergoes a comprehensive, science-backed 28-step quality-control process that includes reviews by psychometricians, copywriters, subject-matter experts, and peer reviewers.
TestGorilla also regularly adds features and new tests, so your pre-employment testing can reflect the current skills your organization needs.
Proprietary algorithms are continuously improving tests, and TestGorilla actively seeks out and acts on candidate and employer feedback.
Pymetrics’ Candidate Advisory Council provides feedback on features and tests. The company also tests out new Pymetrics tests and features before they go live.
Pymetrics uses AI algorithms to evaluate test results. Before these algorithms go live, Pymetrics evaluates them against accuracy standards, including standards established by Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
In an effort to be transparent about the inner-workings of its platform, Pymetrics has also been audited by a third-party group of AI auditing experts from Northeastern University. This audit looked at the objectivity and fairness of the platform, and its results are available in an article titled, “Building and Auditing Fair Algorithms: A Case Study in Candidate Screening.”
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
Proprietary algorithms that continuously improve the quality of each test | Yes | No |
Extensive quality checks before tests go live | Yes | N/A (Pymetrics does beta testing with its Candidate Advisory Council and evaluates its AI algorithms before tests go live) |
Questions replaced after reaching exposure limit | Yes | No |
Customer feedback used to improve tests | Yes | Yes |
Test-taker feedback used to improve tests | Yes | Yes |
For employers, anti-cheating measures such as IP address logging and webcam snapshots ensure confidence in assessment results.
For candidates, anti-cheating measures ensure a fair experience and a chance at a coveted job.
TestGorilla uses sophisticated anti-cheating measures – including webcam snapshots (with candidate permission) and IP address logging – to ensure the intended candidate is taking your assessments.
To reduce the chance of online leaks, TestGorilla uses a large question pool, randomizes questions, and disables copy and paste. Time limits and full-screen tracking help prevent applicants from looking up answers. For example, full-screen tracking alerts you when candidates exit full-screen mode to research answers.
Pymetrics doesn’t reveal many of its anti-cheating measures, but there are time limits on tests. Since the test relies on games, including timed games, there are also no “right” answers to research.
Employers should be aware that there are many samples of Pymetrics tests online that candidates can look up.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
IP address logging (to avoid multiple attempts by the same candidate) | Yes | Unknown |
Logging of candidate location | Yes | Unknown |
Webcam snapshots (with the option to turn on/off) | Yes | Unknown |
Full-screen mode detection (to avoid research during the test) | Yes | Unknown |
Randomized questions per test | Yes | Unknown |
Large question pool for each test | Yes (100+) | Unknown |
Questions and answers not visible to employers to protect test integrity | Yes | Unknown |
Time limit on tests/questions | Yes | Unknown |
Copy-paste disabled | Yes | Unknown |
Multiple attempt prevention | Yes | Unknown |
Once you have results from your assessments, you need to make sense of the data and determine which applicant is the best fit for the role.
Look for pre-employment assessment platforms that make it easy to compare applicants and generate reports you can comment on and share with your hiring team.
TestGorilla gives you clear insights into all pre-employment assessment results. There are individual reports for candidates and broad overviews of all assessments taken by your applicants. Plus, you can sort applicants by overall scores or scores on specific tests.
A scoring benchmark makes it easy to compare candidates and identify the perfect person for the job. You’re also able to download reports (in PDF, CSV, or Excel format) and share candidates you’re interested in interviewing with your hiring team. You can even include comments to each candidate for your hiring team to review. Your hiring team can make a few comments themselves, too.
TestGorilla has introduced a suite of new features to make candidate comparison and decision-making easier than ever. For example, we’ve updated our Candidate PDF Reports, enabling users to get insights into candidates' strengths and weaknesses in specific skill areas. You can also share these results with your team members to make collaborative hiring decisions.
What’s more, we’ve introduced new filters to make it easier to highlight top candidates. You can search by overall test scores, a candidate’s answer to a specific question, multiple choice answers, and more. We’ve also introduced weighted scores to ensure results are calibrated to your needs.
Pymetrics has a client portal that allows you to compare all candidates and focus on specific applicants to see how they performed on tests.
Each candidate is marked as “Highly Recommended,” “Recommended,” or “Not Recommended” for the specific job they applied for.
It’s unclear whether hiring teams can download copies of reports or add notes to them.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
PDF reports of assessments and individual candidates | Yes | No |
Excel and CSV reports of assessments and individual candidates | Yes | No |
Comprehensive overview of all current and past candidates | Yes | Yes |
Scoring benchmarks for candidates (including percentile rank scoring) | Yes | Yes (but no percentile rank scoring) |
Add your ratings and personal notes for candidates | Yes | Unknown |
Good customer support helps make the testing experience smooth and stress-free. Providers may offer support via email, chatbot, live chat, online resources, and FAQs.
TestGorilla offers friendly, timely customer support via email and live chat.
When you first join TestGorilla, a free onboarding tour helps you quickly start creating assessments and using all the powerful customization features.
There’s also an online help center for candidates and employers where you can get answers to common questions and step-by-step instructions. You can read TestGorilla’s blog for additional information on pre-employment screening, remote work, and more.
Pymetrics offers technical support for customers and candidates via email and a web-based form.
The Pymetrics website also has a resource center and a blog featuring articles up to August 2022. Pymetrics’ parent company, Harver, regularly updates a blog – with articles on various HR topics – that can be accessed via the Pymetrics site.
Additionally, there’s a separate Pymetrics Support Center available, though this isn’t listed on the Pymetrics site.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
Live chat | Yes | No |
Help center | Yes | No |
Email support | Yes | Yes |
Training and onboarding tour | Yes | No |
Phone assistance | No | No |
Most pre-employment testing platforms use a subscription model. You pay a monthly or annual fee, depending on the number of features and the number of users who will be accessing the platform.
TestGorilla has three pricing options:
Free forever at $0: Full access to five free tests, including all personality tests.
Pricing for paid plans depends on the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) your business has. For example, one person working standard full-time hours – e.g., 35-40 per week – counts as one FTE. Two people job-sharing and working part-time hours (e.g., 20 per week each) also count as one FTE.
Depending on the number of FTEs your company has, paid plans begin with:
Starter from $75 USD per month ($900 per year paid upfront for 1-15 FTEs). This plan enables skills-based hiring with basic features for all roles. Companies with more than 15 FTEs have the option to pay monthly, starting from $85 USD per month.
Pro from $115 USD per month ($1,380 per year paid upfront for 1-15 FTEs). With this plan, you can maximize your hiring with advanced features. Companies with more than 15 FTEs have the option to pay monthly, starting from $130 USD per month.
Pymetrics doesn’t make its pricing publicly available. Contact the company for a quote.
TestGorilla | Pymetrics | |
Plan | Price | Contact Pymetrics for a quote |
Free | $0 | |
Starter | From $75 USD per month ($900 per year paid upfront, 1-15 FTEs) The pay monthly plan starts from $85 USD per month | |
Pro | From $115 USD per month ($1,380 per year paid upfront, 1-15 FTEs) The pay monthly plan starts from $130 USD per month |
An easy-to-use platform benefits both employers and candidates. You can quickly set up assessments, easily evaluate applicants’ results, and start hiring fast, all without a steep learning curve. Your candidates can access and complete tests hassle-free.
TestGorilla’s user-friendly interface, well-organized website, and user experience (UX) design make it easy to hire the right talent. Getting started with TestGorilla takes just a few minutes, and creating and sharing an assessment is easy.
We’ve updated the library’s search features so you can easily find recommended tests by entering a skill or role, and there’s a brand-new assessment search feature to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
TestGorilla also offers accommodations for candidates who need them and localized websites in 12 languages so more people can use the platform with ease.
Another feature that makes TestGorilla stand out is transparency. Information about pricing, specific tests or features, and even case studies is clearly available online.
Find out what sets TestGorilla apart in hiring. Sign up for our free plan and access comprehensive tools for effective candidate screening.
Pymetrics is somewhat easy to navigate – although the site isn’t as intuitive as it could be. For instance, the support center isn’t even listed on the site.
The platform is easy to use. Pymetrics uses AI to automatically create a profile for each candidate, and the tests are auto-populated with games. Employers just need to indicate whether they want the core 12 games or the core games plus the additional four games to test numerical and logical reasoning.
Assessments are available in 30 languages, and accessibility accommodations are available for ADHD, dyslexia, and colorblindness. However, the assessments include flashing images, and there’s no accessibility feature available for test-takers who can’t view such images.
Once applicants complete their Pymetrics games, they can use their results to apply for any company using Pymetrics for their assessments, without having to retake the test.
TestGorilla and Pymetrics both let you test cognitive function, personality, and soft skills, and both allow you to compare candidates.
But, TestGorilla offers more flexibility and more information about each applicant. It allows you to test job-specific skills such as languages, coding, ability with specific software, customer service skills, and much, much more. Pymetrics doesn’t have this range of tests. It evaluates only soft skills and logic.
While Pymetrics does allow one-way video interviews with custom questions, it focuses on behavioral assessments. In contrast, TestGorilla lets you test real-world skills. For example, you can give developers coding challenges that mimic what they’ll be doing on the job.
For these reasons, TestGorilla is the clear best choice for pre-employment testing.
Pre-employment testing enables you to go beyond an application and objectively test the skills a candidate really has. You can hire great talent by measuring their abilities rather than just reading their resumes, which may not always be entirely accurate.
TestGorilla is your go-to pre-employment testing solution for consistently making the right hires. Discover how TestGorilla can simplify your hiring process by exploring our free or paid plans today. You can also sign up for a free account or book a live demo.
Why not try TestGorilla for free, and see what happens when you put skills first.
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