Pre-Employment
Basic Academic Combination Assessment

Find out whether your candidates have the math, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar skills needed for the job.

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Cognitive Aptitude Tests

Professional Skills Tests

In the past, a high school diploma or equivalency was considered sufficient for workforce readiness in many entry-level U.S. jobs. Increasingly, though, as educational standards vary and workplaces become more sophisticated, employers can no longer rely on the old markers of educational attainment. Having sufficient knowledge of math and the English language is critically important for most U.S. jobs. Simple errors in either can be not only embarrassing but also costly — either financially or for your public image. One of the best ways to ensure that job candidates have the necessary skills for a position with your company is by administering a basic math and English test for employment.

What is a basic math and English test for employment?

A basic math and English test for employment is an assessment given to job candidates to determine their knowledge of math and English spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. When you include a pre-employment skills test as part of the hiring process, it can save you time by helping narrow down your pool of candidates quickly.

The benefits of testing your job applicants

By requiring a basic skills test for employment, you can ensure that the people you’re bringing in for interviews meet your company’s standards and have the skills necessary for the job. You can also create custom aptitude and skills tests that include questions tailored to the job you’re hiring for.

Occupational roles that might benefit from a basic skills test:

  • Administrative assistants
  • Clerks
  • Bank tellers
  • Sales associates
  • Accountants & bookkeepers
  • Medical assistants
  • Human resources associates
  • Retail managers
  • Marketing associates
  • Communications associates
  • And many more
Hire Success basic academic combo test

What does the Hire Success® Basic Academic Combination Test include?

Our basic math and English test for employment consists of 40 multiple-choice questions in four categories: math, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. In addition to an overall score, each category is scored separately so hiring managers can assess knowledge in each area. Questions range in difficulty from a fourth-grade level to a college level. The majority of questions on this test are at the middle school or high school level. As noted above, you can change or add questions on any topic through our Custom Test Builder to make sure the test is tailored to the job you’re hiring for.

Topics covered in our basic skills test:

Addition, subtraction, multiplication & division

Spelling

Word usage

Word definitions & applications

Probability

Fractions

Punctuation

Number of questions

40

Test type

Skills test

Time limit

Not timed

You will receive up to 3 separate reports:

Hire Success accounting test summary report screenshot

Basic Academic Combination Summary Report

The Hire Success® Summary Report for the basic skills test is divided into sections.

  • High-level summary - Get information specific to the test taker, such as overall score, weighted score, and number of questions correct.
  • Summary of statistics by cohort - Incorporating campaign, position, location, and account, this section shows you how the applicant compares to other cohorts.
  • Distribution of people - A graph shows you the distribution of people within the applicant’s campaign.
  • Scores by category - Examine summary scores by category.
Detail report for academic test

Basic Academic Combination Detail Report

The Detail Report for the Basic Academic Combination Test shows a breakdown of how the candidate answered each question on the test:

  • Section 1 — incorrectly answered questions
  • Section 2 — correctly answered questions

Grouping the candidate's test answers in this way not only provides you with an easy way to gauge where the candidate made mistakes but also helps you get an idea of the candidate’s areas of strength or weakness. You may want to follow up on some concepts in an interview if the candidate is selected for the next step in the hiring process.

Hire Success accounting test audit report

Candidate Audit Report

If you activate the cheating mitigation feature for the basic math and english Test, you’ll receive a Hire Success® Audit Report showing you a timeline that reveals:

  1. When the test taker selects answers within a question.
  2. When the test taker moves to the next question.
  3. If or when the test taker leaves/returns to the test.

The report also shows whether the test was automatically submitted because the candidate left the testing window for too long (possibly to look up an answer) or ran out of time.

This feature doesn’t just help you find out whether applicants know the test answers — it uncovers how well they know them. With the Audit Report, you’ll have added confidence in your hiring decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How will I receive each job candidate’s test results?

For every Basic Academic Combination Test that is submitted, you’ll receive two reports (or three, if you activate cheating mitigation). An email notification will be sent to you immediately upon submission, and results will be available for review in your Hire Success® online account instantly. You can view results in your account securely from any internet-connected device, and print or share results if needed.

Can I customize the basic skills test?

Yes! With our Custom Test Builder, you can use questions from our Basic Academic Combination Test and in combination with any questions you want to add. You can also include questions in other areas, such as Microsoft Excel, reading comprehension, accounting principles, etc.

Learn about the Hire Success® Custom Test Builder

How much does the basic skills test cost?

Hire Success® offers much more than just a single employment test — we offer a complete system to help improve your entire recruiting, interviewing, and hiring process. Pricing depends on a number of factors, including your needs, company, industry, and team size, so the best way to get accurate pricing information is to contact us for a tailored quote.

Request a customized quote from Hire Success®

Ready to take your hiring to the next level?

Take a free test run of our whole system — from the basic academic skills test to the personality profile to the integrity test and more — and find out why thousands of companies have turned to Hire Success® to build stronger, more organized, and more consistent hiring systems.

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