A Detailed, Step-by-step Guide To Taking Your Assessment on Testlify

Here is a complete step-by-step guide for the candidates on how to take the assessments on Testlify.

Most companies ask you to appear for a skill test when you apply for a new job. But, why do you need to appear for a skill test while applying for a job?

When you apply for a job in a specific company, you are not the only one applying for it. Employers get a lot of applications and they need to hire the best talent. This is why most companies prefer evaluating candidates through these skill tests. 

Even if you spend a lot of time on your resume and make it good. there are chances that it might get skipped. But once you appear in a skill test and do well, there is not a single chance that the employers will skip you. Testlify has a complete library of such amazing skill tests. But, you might have some difficulties in understanding the assessment properly and this might result in apprehension.

Here is the detailed guide on what you can expect in an assessment on Testlify. This article is for all those candidates who are invited for a test. 

Below is a detailed breakdown of everything you will find in this article - 

• Starting the assessment
  • Cookies
  • Filling up the details
• Setting up the assessment
  • Qualifying Questions
  • Welcome Screen
  • Camera and mic setup
• Taking the assessment
  • Taking a test
  • Skipping a question
  • Taking a break
  • Feedback for the test
• Custom Questions for Candidates
• Completion
• Final Steps

Starting the Assessment

Whenever an employer invites any candidate for a test, it is done through the Testlify system. So if you are one of the invited candidates, you will receive an email from the Testlify team with the subject line “You have been invited to an assessment”. You will find three different sections in the body of the email: 

• At the top, you will find information about the company for whom you will be appearing for the test. 
• You will then find a CTA button that will directly take you to the assessment page. You just need to click on the button that says Take the test/Go to assessment.
• You will also find the complete URL to the assessment that you can in case the CTA button does not work or you do not directly land on the assessment page. Just copy the complete URL on your browser and you will be taken to the assessment page.

Cookies

Cookies are one of the most important aspects of any website. Upon arrival on the assessment page, you will get a pop-up about the cookies. You will have two options to choose from - either accept all cookies or decline them. We would suggest you accept all cookies since they help us in keeping a track of all your activities and provide you with a seamless experience. Once you accept all the cookies, we will be able to aid you with technical help in case of any emergency.

Filling Up the Details 

Once you have accepted or declined all the cookies, the next step would be to fill up all your details before you start the test. On the filling form, you will have three tasks: 

• Fill in your first and last name.
• Accept Testlify’s Privacy Policy and choose if you would like to receive any updates from us. Please accept the privacy policy or else you will not be able to proceed to the test.
• Click on Next to move on to the test.

Setting up the assessment

Once you are done with the initial steps of the test, the next part will be setting up the assessment. This will include the qualifying questions, welcome video, setting up the camera and mic, etc. Here is a step-by-step introduction to the part of setting up the assessment - 

Qualifying Questions

Qualifying questions are a better way of understanding a candidate and this is why most companies prefer keeping qualifying questions ahead of the primary test. You will get these only if an employer has opted for them. Qualifying questions are asked mostly because a company or an employer wants to understand the applicants better. In Testlify, there are five qualifying questions. Since these are not timed, you can take your own time to answer those.

You will have only one type of qualifying question - Single Select Multiple Choice. There are two outcomes - 

• If you meet the criteria of the employer, you will advance to the primary test.
• If you do not meet the criteria of the employer, the assessment will end and you will not be able to appear in the main test.

P.S - If you feel that you have given the correct answers but still are disqualified, you can contact the hiring company personally.

Welcome Screen

The Welcome Screen is a formal way of greeting the candidates and welcoming them to the assessment. Below are the things that you will find on this screen - 

Welcome Message

A formal message thanking you for your interest in the job role and welcoming you to the assessment.

Welcome Video

This is a video included by the employer informing you about their company or the job role. This video might contain any important information, so it is better if you watch it completely before moving on to the assessment. This video will only be present if the employer has chosen to include one.

Information about the test

The welcome screen will also have information related to the test. This includes the number of tests, the number of questions in the test, and the estimated time required for the test.

Custom Questions

The assessment also includes certain custom questions that an employer might include. If you have any such questions in your test, the welcome screen will inform you about the number and if you need to turn on the audio for any selected questions.

Camera and mic setup

Testlify believes in maintaining fairness in the assessments, and that is why we take snapshots to ensure that the integrity of the tests is maintained. And there might be certain questions where you would have to turn on your mic. The setup screen will let you know about the instructions that you need to follow to set everything right. Once everything has been set in place, you will see yourself on the right side.

Taking the Assessment

Once you are done setting up for the assessments, you can click on continue and then the primary test will start. Here is what you can expect in the primary test - 

Taking a test

These are the actual skill tests that you need to answer. These tests will be in a single format only - Single Select Multiple Choice questions. You need to click on the right answer from the options available. Here is what you will see on the page: 

Question

The question will always be displayed on the left side.

Other Information

If the question requires any extra information, like a graph, an image, audio, a table, etc., it will be displayed just below the question.

Answers

The answers will be presented as options on the right side. You need to click on the checkbox that you think is the right answer.

Time and progress bar

Other than the above stuff, you will also find the remaining time for the test displayed in the top center of the screen. Also displayed will be the number of questions that have been answered out of the total number of questions. This is the progress bar.

Next Button

Once you have selected the right answer and ticked a checkbox, you simply need to click on the Next button to move to the next question.

Skipping a Question

If you do not want to answer a question or do not have the answer, you can simply skip the question by clicking on the Next button without inputting any answer. Once you skip a question, you will not be able to go back and answer it again later. 

Skipped questions are counted as wrong answers. There might be cases when you might have skipped the question by mistake, so there will always be a pop-up asking you to confirm your decision of skipping the question.

Taking A Break

You can take a break in between different tests only if you are allowed and prompted to do so. When you want to take a rest, you can simply close the window. Once you are ready to take the test again, click on the link to start it again!

Feedback for the Test

Once you are done with the tests, you can give your feedback about what you think about them. This will be anonymous and no information will be sent to the employer. Your feedback will be for our research purposes and will help us improve.

Custom Questions for candidates

Custom questions are customized and set by the employer to dive deeper and gather more information about you, your job awareness, and other factors. There are three different types of custom questions: 

Multiple Choice Questions

These are the standard questions where you either have to select one option or more from the given ones. The time limit varies from 2 minutes to 30 minutes per question.

Essay

This is an open-ended question where you need to design the answer right from the start. We would recommend you keep in mind the time limit and what the employer is asking to maintain the impression. The time limit varies from 2 minutes to 30 minutes in this question.

Video Upload

In this part, you need to upload a video answer of what the employer wants to know. The video answer mostly helps the employer in knowing about your body language and speaking style. You can consider this as a video answer. The time limit varies from 2 minutes to 30 minutes in this question.

Completion of Assessment

Once you are done with the assessment, you will be redirected to another page with a message that the assessment is finished. In some scenarios, you will see a video (welcome video) that the employer might have included.

Final Steps

After you have completed and submitted the assessment, your employer will review your performance. You will hear from the employer about the next steps regarding your selection or rejection.

That is it! You are now ready to take assessments by Testlify.