4 benefits of game-based assessments for hiring

May 10th, 2023
The HireVue Team
Assessments

Pre-hire assessments are one of the best predictors of success. Today, organizations are using a game based assessment as an approach for successful hiring.

Game-based assessments are pre-hire assessments intentionally built as games.  Due to recent advances in data science, game-based assessments radically changed how cognitive ability can be measured. Game-based assessments rapidly assess cognitive ability through engaging gameplay, removing the need for a lengthy legacy testing approach. They evaluate a range of cognitive skills (problem-solving,  memory, attention, mental agility, numeracy, etc.) in less than 15 minutes.

Below are 4 key advantages over more traditional methods of evaluating candidates.

1) Quick Evaluation

Game-based assessments allow hiring managers to better gauge candidate success in a single step. Understanding skills is understanding potential. These assessments are a leap forward from legacy assessment tests which are tedious and time-consuming for candidates—and not always relevant. 

2) Engaging for Candidates

Today, a candidate experience is measured by how easy it is for candidates to engage during the hiring process. Gameplay is significantly more engaging than traditional pre-hire assessments. Some organizations experience dropout rates of over 50% with an old school approach to assessments. Furthermore, offering an assessment as a “game” rather than a “test” reduces anxiety, making the hiring process more inclusive and accurate for candidates who get nervous during formal testing. 

3) Fair for Candidates

By design, assessments are objective and greatly reduce bias that arise from subjective interpretations of a resume, LinkedIn profile, or interviews.  Recruiters and hiring managers assess talent on the skills that matter and actually predict job performance. Game-based assessments ensure candidates play the same games—so everyone is competing on a level playing field. 

4.) Reveals Actual Ability

Due to their fast-paced and immersive nature, Game-based assessments reveal a candidate’s natural behavior and responses in a way that traditional testing methods do not. And they’re progressive—adapting as the candidate engages with it. A well-designed game-based assessment doesn’t use gimmicky animation or flashy mechanics. Games reveal a candidate’s abilities while solving problems and thinking logically. And, by their nature, show a candidate’s drive to succeed. 

Recruiters and hiring managers can quickly engage top talent based on what is consistently shown–cognitive ability is the best predictor of job performance. 

Cognitive ability is1:

  • 6X more predictive than years of education
  • 4X more predictive than years of experience
  • 3X more predictive than reference checks

Learn about the Next Generation of Assessments with our free whitepaper. Ready to start assessing your talent with data? Request a demo.


1 Schmidt, Oh, & Shaffer, 2016. “The Validity and Utility of Selection Methods in Personnel Psychology: Practical and Theoretical Implications of 100 Years of Research Findings”.