Types of pre-employment assessments: what each test measures, how well it predicts and where it fits

The main types of pre-employment assessments are work sample tests, job knowledge tests, cognitive ability tests, situational judgment tests, personality tests and integrity tests, with structured interviews, biographical data, assessment centers and physical ability tests also used as selection tools. They measure different things: what a candidate can do now, what they know, how quickly they learn, how they judge work situations, and how they tend to behave. The largest recent re-analysis of the research, published in 2022, found the job-specific measures predicted performance best, and that some tests carry much larger group score differences than others.

This page compares the types side by side, explains each one using the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's descriptions and the original meta-analytic evidence, and covers where each fits in a hiring process and the legal limits to check. The legal detail lives in pre-employment testing laws.

How do the types of pre-employment tests compare?

Validity is the average correlation with later job performance; group difference is the average Black-White score gap in standard deviation units (Cohen's d), as compiled in Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens (2022, Journal of Applied Psychology). Candidate effort is our own rough guide.

Two cautions. These are averages across many studies, and the paper reports wide variation around some of them, especially structured interviews. And the authors note that some subgroup estimates come from non-applicant samples. The numbers rank the methods; they do not promise a result for your next hire.

What is a work sample test?

Candidates perform tasks that mirror the job: drafting a memo, reconciling an account, fixing a bug, handling a role-played customer. OPM's work samples page says applicants often see them as very fair, that they can be costly to build and run because someone has to observe and rate, and that they should only be used where candidates are expected to have the skill on entry. If you will train the task after hiring, test something else. Our guides to take-home assignments and job trial days cover design and scoring.

What is a job knowledge test?

Questions on the technical or professional knowledge the job needs from day one, such as accounting principles, contract law or a programming language. Licensing and certification exams are job knowledge tests too. OPM's job knowledge tests page notes that candidates usually see them as fair, that custom tests are expensive to build and need updating, and that they are not appropriate when candidates will be trained in that knowledge after selection.

What is a cognitive ability test?

Questions on reasoning, verbal and numerical ability and problem solving, designed to estimate how well a person can learn and apply new information. OPM's cognitive ability page says they work better as job complexity rises and are cheap to administer, but typically produce larger racial and ethnic score differences than other valid predictors, and recommends combining them with other methods. That is the history behind Griggs v. Duke Power (1971), where the Supreme Court held unlawful a general intelligence test requirement that had not been shown to relate to the job; see skills-based hiring.

What is a situational judgment test?

A written or video scenario from the job, followed by response options to rank or choose: what would you do, what is the best and worst response. OPM's situational judgment page calls them low-fidelity simulations, says they are particularly effective for managerial and leadership competencies and are usually seen as fair, and that scoring keys come from subject-matter experts. The interview version is the situational question; see situational interview questions and a scoring rubric.

What do personality tests measure?

Self-report questionnaires about stable traits, usually the Big Five: extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. OPM's personality tests page notes they show few score differences between groups, that items can be easy to fake, and that candidates may find them invasive. Validity rises when items are framed around work rather than life in general: .25 against .19 for conscientiousness in the 2022 analysis. The same OPM page warns that a test designed to diagnose psychiatric conditions is a medical examination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and can only be given after an offer.

What is an integrity test?

A questionnaire that estimates the likelihood of honest, dependable behavior and the risk of theft, absenteeism or other counterproductive conduct. Overt tests ask directly about attitudes and past behavior; personality-based tests measure related traits. OPM's integrity tests page says they add prediction on top of cognitive tests and show few group differences, but transparent items invite faking.

What other assessments are used in hiring?

• Assessment centers. Several exercises, such as an in-basket test and a leaderless group discussion, rated by multiple trained assessors. OPM says they suit managerial and leadership roles and are expensive to run.
• Biographical data (biodata). Structured questions about past experiences, scored against what predicted success in the job. OPM notes that building and validating the scoring takes considerable expertise and large samples of applicants.
• Physical ability tests. Strength, flexibility or stamina tasks for physically demanding jobs. OPM's physical ability tests page warns that strength and endurance tests tend to screen out a disproportionate number of women and some ethnic minorities, so validity evidence is essential, and that tests monitoring heart rate or blood pressure count as medical exams under the ADA.
• Structured interviews. Counted as an assessment in the research above, and the top-ranked one; see what is a structured interview.

Where does each assessment fit in the hiring process?

1. Early, at volume: short online tests that are cheap to administer, such as situational judgment, integrity or a brief job knowledge test, alongside the phone screen.
2. Middle: a structured interview on the core competencies.
3. Late, for finalists: a work sample or trial task, scored against a rubric. This is where the candidate's time cost is highest, so keep the numbers small and pay for long tasks.
4. After the offer: medical examinations and anything else the law allows only post-offer; see pre-employment medical exams under the ADA and drug testing laws in hiring.

Combining methods is the usual advice for a reason. Sackett and colleagues note that using combinations of predictors, rather than single predictors, has long been advocated as a way to reduce group differences, and their top-ranked methods include both tests with large differences and tests with small ones, such as structured interviews and integrity tests.

What legal limits apply to pre-employment tests?

• Job-relatedness and adverse impact. Under the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR 1607), a test with adverse impact must be validated or otherwise justified. Section 1607.14 also says content validity is not an appropriate strategy for tests of traits such as intelligence or personality, or for skills employees will learn on the job. The four-fifths rule is the usual first check.
• Disability. The ADA bars tests that screen out people with disabilities unless job-related and consistent with business necessity, and requires tests to measure the skill rather than a sensory, manual or speaking impairment (42 U.S.C. 12112(b)(6) and (b)(7)). Offer accommodations in the invitation; see ADA accommodations in interviews.
• Lie detectors. The federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act bars most private employers from requiring or requesting lie detector tests from applicants, according to the Department of Labor's fact sheet. Massachusetts goes further: its statute, M.G.L. c. 149, section 19B, defines a lie detector test to include a written examination used to judge honesty, which reaches some integrity tests.

This is general information as of October 2026, not legal advice.

How do you choose the right assessments for a role?

1. List the must-have skills for day one, and separate them from what you will train.
2. For each must-have, pick the most job-like measure you can afford: a work sample or knowledge test for skills and knowledge, a structured interview for behavior and judgment.
3. Add a cognitive test only if the role demands fast learning of complex material, and pair it with measures that have small group differences.
4. Check total candidate time across all stages, and cut anything that duplicates another step.
5. Record pass rates by stage and group, and review them at least once a year.