Pre-Employment Clerical Test

Find out whether your candidates have the attention to detail needed for the job.

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The day-in, day-out operation of any business depends on the accuracy of its employees’ work. What may seem like a small error could result in the loss of critical information or, worse still, much-needed income. Attention to detail is the key to making sure that things continue to run smoothly.

One of the best ways to ensure that job candidates can pay enough attention to detail is with clerical testing for employment, which provides you with a quick, objective way to determine whether candidates are well-suited to the job they’re applying for.

What is a clerical pre-employment test?

A pre-employment clerical skills test is an exam given to job candidates to assess their attention to detail by having them compare sets of data for accuracy and errors. When used as part of your interview selection process, clerical testing can help you eliminate candidates who don’t have the skills you need.

The benefits of clerical testing for employment

By requiring a clerical and filing test for employment, you can be sure that everyone you bring in for an interview has the clerical skills needed for a particular role at your company. You can also create custom aptitude and skills tests that include questions tailored to the job you’re hiring for.

Occupational roles that might benefit from a clerical and filing test for employment:

  • Administrative assistants
  • Clerks
  • Bank tellers
  • Bookkeepers
  • HR associates
  • Archivists
  • Inspectors
  • Software programmers
  • And many others
Hire Success clerical tests

What does the Hire Success® Clerical Aptitude Test include?

This assessment consists of 10 questions primarily focused on comparing two sets of data for accuracy and errors, with the goal of gauging a job candidate’s attention to detail.

Topics covered in our clerical test:

Visual differences

Similarities

Spelling differences and errors

Ascending and descending order

Sorting and alphabetizing

Number of questions

10

Test type

Aptitude test

Time limit

Not timed

You will receive up to 3 separate reports:

Hire Success accounting test summary report screenshot

1. Clerical Aptitude Summary Report

The Hire Success® Summary Report is broken down into sections.

  • High-level summary - Get information specific to the test taker, such as overall score, weighted score, and number of questions correct.
  • Summary of statistics by cohort - Incorporating campaign, position, location, and account, this section shows you how the applicant compares to other cohorts.
  • Distribution of people - A graph shows you the distribution of people within the applicant’s campaign.
  • Scores by category - Examine summary scores by category.
Detail report for academic test

2. Clerical Aptitude Detail Report

The Detail Report shows a breakdown of how the candidate answered questions on the test:

  • Section 1 — incorrectly answered questions
  • Section 2 — correctly answered questions

Grouping the candidate's test answers in this way not only provides you with an easy way to gauge where the candidate made mistakes but also helps you get an idea of the candidate’s areas of strength or weakness. You may want to follow up on some concepts in an interview if the candidate is selected for the next step in the hiring process.

Hire Success accounting test audit report

3. Candidate Audit Report

If you activate the cheating mitigation feature for the Clerical Aptitude Test, you’ll receive the Hire Success® Audit Report showing you a timeline that reveals:

  1. When the test taker selects answers within a question.
  2. When the test taker moves to the next question.
  3. If or when the test taker leaves/returns to the test.

The report also shows whether the test was automatically submitted because the candidate left the testing window for too long (possibly to look up an answer) or ran out of time.

This feature doesn’t just help you find out whether applicants know the test answers — it uncovers how well they know them. With the Audit Report, you’ll have added confidence in your hiring decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How will I receive each job candidate’s test results?

Each time a candidate’s test is submitted, you’ll receive two reports (or three, if you activate cheating mitigation). An email notification will be sent to you immediately upon submission, and results will be available for review in your Hire Success® online account instantly. You can view results in your account securely from any internet-connected device, and print or share results if needed.

Can I customize the pre-employment clerical test?

Yes! With our Custom Test Builder, you can use questions from our pre-designed clerical test in combination with any questions you want to add, creating an exam tailored specifically to the job you’re hiring for. You can also include questions in other areas, such as accounting or Microsoft Excel.

Learn about the Hire Success® Custom Test Builder

How much does clerical testing for employment cost?

Hire Success® offers much more than just a single clerical and filing test for employment — we offer a complete system to help improve your entire recruiting, interviewing, and hiring process. Pricing depends on factors specific to your business, industry, and team size, so the best way to get accurate pricing information is to contact us for a tailored quote.

Request a customized quote from Hire Success®

Ready to take your hiring to the next level?

Take a free test run of our whole system — from the clerical pre-employment test to the personality profile to the integrity test and more — and find out why thousands of companies have turned to Hire Success® to build stronger, more organized, and more consistent hiring systems.

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