Vetted assessment
Also called verified skills assessment, pre-vetting assessment
A skills assessment a person passes before being presented to employers, so what reviewers see has already been tested rather than self-reported.
Last reviewed
In practice
The idea is to move verification to the front of the process. Instead of every employer screening the same person separately, one assessment is taken once, under controlled conditions, and the verified result travels with the person. On CalHire every listed talent has passed one: a skills test plus a text interview, with a result that stays valid for a fixed period before a retake is needed.
Vetting is only as good as its integrity controls. A vetted assessment should be built to detect cheating, through questions generated per session, behavioural signals and an identity check at the start, rather than marketed as impossible to cheat; no assessment can honestly promise that. Integrity flags belong with a human reviewer, never with an automatic fail.
It is evidence, not a licence. A result describes specific skills at a point in time, which is why it should carry a date and expire, and why the assessment behind it should be checked for predictive validity and adverse impact like any other selection method.
Not to be confused with
- Background check
- A background check verifies facts about someone’s history, such as identity, employment or a criminal record. A vetted assessment verifies present ability and says nothing about history.
Related
Work-sample test
A selection method in which a candidate completes a bounded, realistic task drawn from the job, and the output is scored against predefined criteria.
Predictive validity
The extent to which performance on a selection method actually predicts performance on the job, expressed as a correlation.
Remote proctoring
Monitoring a candidate during a remote assessment, typically through webcam, screen recording, room scans or gaze tracking, to detect cheating.
Talent
A person being considered for work, also called a candidate or job seeker. Also used collectively for everyone an organisation could hire.
Read further
Longer pieces on this and the arguments around it.
Does your assessment predict anything? Validity for non-specialists
An assessment that feels rigorous can predict nothing. What validity and reliability mean, how to check yours, and the four ways hiring tests quietly break.
ReadCandidates are using AI in your assessments. Now what?
AI-text detectors are unreliable and disproportionately flag non-native speakers. What to do instead: assessment design, signals and human review.
ReadWhy webcam proctoring is the wrong fix for assessment integrity
Webcam proctoring flags disabled candidates, people with darker skin and anyone without a private room. What it costs, and what to measure instead.
Read