How Test Partnership Improves Candidate Experience

If you're losing good candidates during your assessment process, you're not alone. Research shows that 60% of candidates abandon lengthy or frustrating assessment processes (Aberdeen Group, 2019), often taking their applications to your competitors instead.

But here's what many hiring teams don't realise: you can maintain rigorous hiring standards whilst dramatically improving candidate experience. At Test Partnership, we've spent over a decade perfecting this balance, helping clients reduce candidate drop-off by up to 40% whilst improving hiring accuracy.

As a hiring manager, you're caught in an impossible situation. You need to assess candidates thoroughly to avoid costly mis-hires, but every additional hurdle risks losing quality candidates to competitors with simpler processes.

The symptoms you're probably experiencing:

• High drop-off rates: Candidates start your assessments but don't finish them
• Candidate complaints: Feedback about tests being too long, boring, or irrelevant
• Reduced applicant quality: Top candidates avoiding your process altogether
• Negative employer brand impact: Poor reviews on Glassdoor mentioning your assessment process

The traditional approach of "we'll assess everyone the same way" doesn't work in today's competitive talent market. Candidates have choices, and they'll choose employers who respect their time and provide engaging experiences.

At Test Partnership, we've identified four critical elements that determine candidate experience in assessments. Our platform is specifically designed to optimise each of these areas simultaneously:

Unlike traditional testing providers who force you to choose between these elements, our Dynamic Assessments and adaptive ability tests are engineered to excel in all four areas simultaneously.

The problem: Traditional tests are too easy for high performers (making them bored) and too hard for average performers (making them stressed). Both scenarios lead to candidate drop-off and poor experiences.

Our solution: Test Partnership's adaptive assessments automatically adjust question difficulty based on each candidate's performance in real-time. This ensures every candidate faces an optimal challenge level—what psychologists call "Eustress."

What this means for your candidates:

• High performers stay challenged and engaged throughout the assessment
• Average performers don't get discouraged by impossible questions
• Everyone feels they had a fair opportunity to demonstrate their abilities
• Candidates attribute good performance to their skills, not luck

Why this matters: When candidates feel appropriately challenged, they're more likely to complete the assessment and view your company positively, regardless of whether they're ultimately successful.

The problem: Traditional assessments feel like tedious paperwork. Candidates get bored, lose focus, and often abandon the process entirely—especially your best candidates who have other options.

Our solution: Our Dynamic Assessments transform testing into an engaging, interactive experience. Instead of static multiple-choice questions, candidates solve problems through drag-and-drop interfaces, interactive simulations, and game-like scenarios.

The Engagement Advantage:

• Higher completion rates: Candidates are more likely to finish engaging assessments
• Better performance data: Engaged candidates give their best effort, providing more accurate results
• Positive brand association: Candidates associate the engaging experience with your innovative company culture
• Memorable experience: Your company stays top-of-mind throughout their job search

The problem: Candidates today apply to multiple jobs simultaneously. Long, complicated assessments that require significant time investment will be abandoned in favor of simpler processes.

Our solution: Test Partnership assessments are designed for maximum convenience without sacrificing accuracy:

Additional convenience features:

• Flexible scheduling: Candidates choose when to complete assessments within your timeframe
• Progress saving: Automatic save functionality (where applicable) so candidates don't lose progress
• Clear instructions: Simple, intuitive interfaces that require no training
• Immediate confirmation: Candidates receive instant confirmation of submission

Why convenience matters: When you remove friction from the assessment process, you retain more high-quality candidates and create a positive first impression of your organisation's efficiency and respect for people's time.

The problem: Candidates often feel frustrated by assessments that seem unrelated to the job they're applying for. This leads to negative experiences and candidates questioning the fairness of your process.

Our solution: Every Test Partnership assessment comes with clear explanations of what's being measured and why it's relevant to job performance.

How we ensure relevance:

• Job-relevant scenarios: Our assessments use workplace-relevant contexts and examples
• Clear rationale: Candidates understand why each assessment is part of the process
• Skills-based approach: Focus on abilities that directly predict job performance
• Scientific backing: All assessments are validated for job-relevance with clear research support

The face validity advantage: When candidates understand and accept the relevance of your assessments, they're more likely to:

• Complete the assessment with full effort
• Accept negative results as fair and valid
• Recommend your company to others
• Maintain a positive view of your organisation

Improving your candidate experience doesn't require a complete overhaul of your hiring process. Here's how to get started: