Pre-Employment
Reading Comprehension Test

Find out whether your candidates have strong-enough reading comprehension skills for the job.

Try It Free Request a Demo

Many workplaces require employees to read and be responsible for the content in manuals, guides, and internal and external correspondence, but some jobs require significant reading comprehension. How well the people in those jobs remember, process, and apply the information they’ve consumed relates directly to how successful they will be — and how successful their employers will be. Managers hiring people for these types of positions should strongly consider administering a reading comprehension test for job interview candidates.

What is a pre-employment reading comprehension test?

A pre-employment reading comprehension test is an assessment given to job candidates to determine their ability to understand, remember, analyze, and apply what they have read. Reading comprehension is important for almost every job, but especially for those positions where strong verbal and written communication skills are critical. Testing skills in advance is a good way to assess abilities and narrow your field of applicants.

The benefits of reading comprehension tests

By requiring a basic reading comprehension test, you can ensure that all applicants you bring in for interviews have the cognitive skills needed to do 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 this exam include:

  • Writers
  • Communications associates
  • HR associates
  • Legal professionals
  • Healthcare professionals
  • Editors
  • Scientists
  • Journalists
  • And many more
Hire Success reading comprehension test for employment

What does the Hire Success® pre-employment reading comprehension test include?

In the Hire Success® Reading Comprehension Test, job candidates are asked to read a short story and then answer 10 multiple-choice questions about their understanding of the text. Questions require the test taker to recall information about characters, locations, and the sequence of events in the story.

Topics covered in our clerical test:

Number of questions

10

Test type

Aptitude test

Time limit

Not timed

You will receive up to 3 separate reports:

Hire Success accounting test summary report screenshot

1. Reading Comprehension Summary Report

The Hire Success® Summary Report for the pre-employment reading comprehension test is broken down 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

2. Reading Comprehension Detail Report

The Detail Report shows a breakdown of how a test taker 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

3. Candidate Audit Report

If you activate the cheating mitigation feature for the reading comprehension 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?

Each time a candidate’s test 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 pre-employment reading comprehension test?

Yes! With our Custom Test Builder, you can use questions from our pre-designed clerical test in combination with any questions you want to add, creating an exam tailored specifically to the job you’re hiring for. You can also include questions in other areas, such as accounting or Microsoft Excel.

Learn about the Hire Success® Custom Test Builder

How much does clerical testing for employment cost?

Hire Success® offers much more than just a reading comprehension test for job interviews – we offer a complete system to help improve your entire recruiting, interviewing, and hiring process. Our pricing model depends on a few factors specific to your business, 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 written comprehension 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.

Try It Free Request A Demo