Communication Skills Assessment for Hiring

Assess a candidate’s ability to write clearly, speak clearly, listen actively, and adjust their message for different audiences before making a hiring decision.

Start Assessing View Sample Question
Format
24 multiple choice
Time
Approximately 12 minutes
Result
Structured overall and dimension-level evidence
Sample Question 01Written Clarity

An email to a client reads: 'Following up on what we spoke about, just wanted to check if the thing is still happening on the date, let me know if not, thanks.' Which rewrite is clearest?

  1. AHi Sarah, following up on our call, can you confirm the project kickoff is still scheduled for March 4th? Let me know if that date has changed.
  2. BHi, checking in about the thing, is it happening, let me know.
  3. CRe: our conversation, please advise on the status of the previously discussed matter at your earliest convenience.
  4. DJust following up, still good for the date?

Representative example—not a live assessment item. The response pattern shows the kind of job-relevant evidence the assessment creates.

Two people having a conversation

What is a communication skills assessment?

A communication skills assessment is a pre-employment test that measures how clearly and accurately a candidate exchanges information in a work setting. It evaluates practical behaviors, such as writing concise messages, explaining ideas verbally, listening for the real point behind what someone says, and adjusting tone and detail for the person receiving the message.

Employers use this assessment because communication ability is hard to judge from a resume and easy to overstate in an interview. Miscommunication drives rework, missed deadlines, and frustrated customers or colleagues, so employers want direct evidence of how a candidate handles realistic written and verbal exchanges before extending an offer.

This assessment is typically used early in the hiring process, either as a stand-alone screen or paired with role-specific assessments, so results are available before the interview stage.

What does the assessment measure?

See the defined dimensions separately, so strengths and areas to verify are easier to discuss before the interview.

  1. Written Clarity

    The ability to write messages that are concise, well organized, and free of ambiguity.

  2. Verbal Clarity

    The ability to explain information out loud in a way that is easy to follow and hard to misread.

  3. Active Listening

    The ability to identify the key point, concern, or request within a conversation or message.

  4. Audience Adaptation

    The ability to adjust tone, detail, and vocabulary for different audiences and situations.

What candidates can expect

Candidates complete 24 multiple-choice questions in approximately 12 minutes. Each question presents a short workplace message, conversation excerpt, or scenario and asks the candidate to identify the clearest rewrite, the most likely intended meaning, or the most appropriate response. Instructions are shown before each question, the assessment can be completed on desktop or mobile, and progress is saved automatically.

More sample questions

Representative examples created for this page, not questions from the live assessment bank. Open each item to compare the options and review the answer.

Verbal ClarityA manager explains a new process by saying: 'So basically once it's done you kind of just send it over and then, yeah, someone checks it and then it goes.' Which version communicates the same process most clearly?
  1. AOnce you finish the report, email it to the reviewer. After they approve it, it gets published.
  2. BBasically you finish it and then someone deals with it.
  3. CIt goes through a process before it's done, sort of.
  4. DOnce it's done, it's done, and then it moves along.

Correct answer: A. It specifies each step (finish, send, review, publish) so no part of the process is left to guesswork.

Active ListeningA colleague says: 'I can hit the deadline, but only if I skip the QA pass, and I really don't love doing that.' What is the colleague's main concern?
  1. AThey cannot meet the deadline at all.
  2. BThey can meet the deadline, but are worried about the quality trade-off of skipping QA.
  3. CThey want a deadline extension.
  4. DThey are unsure whether QA is required.

Correct answer: B. The colleague states they can hit the deadline but signals discomfort with the quality risk of skipping QA, so the real concern is the trade-off, not the deadline itself.

Audience AdaptationA support rep needs to explain a billing error to a non-technical customer. Which explanation is best suited to that audience?
  1. AA duplicate transaction ID caused a race condition in the billing queue, resulting in a double charge.
  2. BYou were charged twice by mistake due to a system error on our end, we've refunded the extra charge and it should appear in 3-5 business days.
  3. CThere was an idempotency failure in the payment gateway.
  4. DBilling queue race condition, refund issued, ETA 3-5 days.

Correct answer: B. It explains the same fact (double charge, refund, timeline) in plain language a non-technical customer can act on, without technical jargon.

Ways to assess communication skills in candidates

A communication skills assessment test gives you comparable evidence, but different formats reveal different parts of communication. Match the format to the communication the role actually requires.

Written scenario

Use an email, handover note, support reply, or short briefing to assess clarity, structure, tone, and audience adaptation.

Judgment question

Present a realistic conversation or message and ask which response is most effective. This shows how candidates recognize context and communication risk.

Role-play or work sample

Use a live or recorded task when spoken explanation, questioning, negotiation, or de-escalation is central to the role.

Structured interview

Ask every candidate the same evidence-based questions, then use assessment results to probe strengths or gaps without changing the scoring standard.

Selection rule: assess the channel and audience the job uses most. A customer support role may need written clarity and de-escalation; a manager may need listening, explanation, and audience adaptation. Use the communication interview questions to verify the result.

When to use a communication skills assessment

Use this assessment when clear writing, clear speaking, and accurate listening are important parts of the role.

  1. Before interviews

    Use results to identify communication strengths and gaps to probe further, rather than relying on how polished a candidate sounds in the interview itself.

  2. During candidate screening

    Add structured evidence of written and verbal clarity for roles where miscommunication has real cost, such as client-facing or cross-team positions.

  3. When comparing finalists

    Compare finalists against the same communication criteria instead of relying on interview rapport alone.

Roles where communication skills matter

Customer Service Representative, Account Manager, Administrative Assistant, Team Lead, Project Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator, Sales Representative, and Executive Assistant.

How the Communication Skills Assessment is scored

Each correct response earns one point. Questions are mapped to one of four dimensions, and performance is calculated overall and by dimension. Results are shown as descriptive performance bands rather than percentile rankings.

These bands describe performance on this assessment. They are not population percentiles and do not predict job performance on their own.

  1. Strong

    Consistently clear, well-adapted communication across the assessed tasks.

  2. Moderate

    Generally clear communication, with some inconsistency in clarity or audience adaptation.

  3. Developing

    Communication was harder to follow or poorly matched to the audience in several tasks, an area that may be worth verifying further.

How should employers interpret communication skills results?

A strong result suggests the candidate consistently produced clear, well-adapted messages across the assessed tasks. A moderate result suggests generally clear communication with some inconsistency worth exploring. A lower result does not automatically mean a candidate should not be hired. It is a signal worth discussing in the interview, not a decision by itself.

Assessment results should be considered alongside the requirements of the role, structured interviews, experience, and other relevant hiring evidence.

What you receive after a candidate completes the assessment

View Sample Candidate Report

    Interview questions for evaluating communication skills

    1. “Tell me about a time you had to explain something complex to someone with no background in the topic.”

    2. Explores audience adaptation and verbal clarity in practice.

    3. “Describe a message or email you wrote that didn’t land the way you intended. What would you change?”

    4. Explores written clarity and self-awareness about communication gaps.

    5. “Tell me about a time you misunderstood what someone needed from you. How did you find out, and what did you do?”

    6. Explores active listening and recovery from miscommunication.

    7. “How do you adjust the way you explain something depending on who you’re talking to?”

    8. Explores audience adaptation directly.

    9. “Describe a situation where clear communication prevented a bigger problem.”

    10. Explores overall communication impact in a real work context.

    Assess communication skills alongside other skills

    • For customer-facing hiring: Communication Skills, Customer Service, Emotional Intelligence, and Situational Judgment.
    • For leadership hiring: Communication Skills, Leadership, Teamwork & Collaboration, and Emotional Intelligence.
    • For administrative hiring: Communication Skills, Attention to Detail, Administrative Skills, and Verbal Reasoning.

    How the assessment is developed

    This assessment is developed using established principles of job-relevant item design. Its questions are built around four defined communication dimensions and realistic workplace scenarios, such as rewriting unclear messages, interpreting spoken instructions, identifying the intent behind a statement, and adapting an explanation for a different audience.

    We do not currently have a formal independent psychometric validation study, an established normative sample, or a published reliability coefficient for this assessment.

    Results are intended to provide one source of structured evidence, and should be interpreted alongside interviews, experience, references, and other job-relevant information. We will add reliability, validity, normative, and fairness evidence to our methodology documentation as those studies and datasets become available.

    Related reading

    Frequently asked questions

    What is a communication skills assessment?

    A pre-employment test that measures how clearly a candidate writes, speaks, listens, and adapts messages for different audiences in realistic work scenarios.

    How long does the assessment take?

    Approximately 12 minutes for 24 multiple-choice questions.

    What does a communication skills test measure?

    Written clarity, verbal clarity, active listening, and audience adaptation.

    Which jobs require strong communication skills?

    Customer-facing, cross-team, and people-management roles, including customer service, account management, administrative, and team-lead positions.

    How are candidates scored?

    Correct responses are calculated overall and by dimension, then summarized as Strong, Moderate, or Developing.

    Can I use this assessment before an interview?

    Yes. Results are available as soon as a candidate completes the assessment, so you can review them before scheduling an interview.

    Should assessment results determine whether someone is hired?

    No. Results are one source of structured evidence and should be considered alongside interviews, experience, references, and other relevant information.

    Can I combine this with other candidate assessments?

    Yes. Communication Skills is commonly paired with assessments such as Customer Service, Leadership, or Emotional Intelligence depending on the role.

    Roles that commonly use this assessment

    This assessment is most useful when its evidence matches a role requirement. These role guides already include Communication Skills in a broader hiring plan.

    Use it in context. Match every assessment to a job requirement, combine complementary evidence, and verify important gaps in a structured interview. How to choose a focused battery.

    Explore Communication Skills before the interview.

    Contact our team to start your Communication Skills assessment and get structured results for more focused interviews.

    View all assessments
    Start assessing