Work-sample test
Also called work sample, take-home task
A selection method in which a candidate completes a bounded, realistic task drawn from the job, and the output is scored against predefined criteria.
Last reviewed
In practice
Work samples are among the strongest predictors of job performance in the research literature, for a straightforward reason: the closer an assessment resembles the job, the better it predicts the job.
Implementation is where they fail. An unbounded take-home selects for who has free evenings rather than who is capable, which systematically excludes carers and people already working. A vague brief selects for candidates who share the author’s assumptions. A rubric written after the submissions arrive is a rationalisation.
A defensible work sample states a realistic time box and means it, gives every candidate the same task, uses a rubric written first, and is not drawn from the employer’s live backlog.
Related
Predictive validity
The extent to which performance on a selection method actually predicts performance on the job, expressed as a correlation.
Structured interview
An interview in which every candidate is asked the same predetermined questions and their answers are scored against a rubric defined in advance.
Skills-based hiring
Selecting candidates on demonstrated ability to do the work, rather than on proxies for it such as degrees, job titles or previous employers.
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.
ReadWhat skills-based hiring actually is (and what it is not)
Skills-based hiring decides on demonstrated ability, not proxies like degrees or job titles. What it means in practice, where it fails, and how to run it well.
Read