Initiative & Proactivity Assessment for Hiring
Assess a candidate’s tendency to act without being told, spot opportunities, and follow through on improvements before making a hiring decision.
- Duration: approximately 11 minutes
- Questions: 22
- Format: Multiple choice, situational and self-report
- Measures: Self-starting behavior, opportunity identification, follow-through, improvement orientation
- Best for: Sales, product, founder-track, marketing, and operations roles
What is an initiative and proactivity assessment?
An initiative and proactivity assessment is a pre-employment test that evaluates how likely a candidate is to act on their own judgment, spot opportunities before being asked, and follow through on improvements without close supervision. It measures a behavioral tendency rather than a specific technical skill.
Employers use it because self-starting behavior is difficult to assess from a resume alone, and hiring for roles that require independent judgment without verifying this tendency is a common source of underperformance.
This assessment is typically used early in the hiring process, alongside role-specific skills assessments, especially for roles with limited day-to-day oversight.
What does the assessment measure?
Self-Starting Behavior
Willingness to begin action without explicit instruction once a need is identified.
Opportunity Identification
Ability to notice gaps, risks, or opportunities that are not explicitly flagged.
Follow-Through
Consistency in completing self-initiated actions rather than letting them stall.
Improvement Orientation
Tendency to look for better ways of doing routine or established work.
What candidates can expect
Candidates complete 22 questions in approximately 11 minutes, combining short workplace scenarios with self-report statements about typical behavior. Instructions are shown before each section, the assessment can be completed on desktop or mobile, and progress is saved automatically.
Initiative & Proactivity Assessment sample questions
Representative examples created for this page, not questions from the live assessment bank.
Question 1
You notice a recurring small error in a weekly report that nobody has flagged. What do you do?
- Wait to see if someone else notices and raises it
- Mention it casually if it comes up in conversation
- Flag it to the right person and suggest a fix (correct)
- Fix it yourself without telling anyone
This response reflects strong opportunity identification and follow-through without overstepping ownership of the process.
Question 2
I often start improving a process before anyone asks me to.
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neutral
- Agree
- Strongly agree (correct)
Agreement reflects strong self-starting behavior and improvement orientation.
Question 3
A useful idea comes up in a meeting but nobody is assigned to own it. What do you typically do?
- Assume someone else will pick it up
- Wait for a manager to assign it
- Volunteer to take the first step and report back (correct)
- Bring it up again at the next meeting
This response reflects strong self-starting behavior paired with follow-through.
Question 4
When I start something on my own initiative, I usually see it through to completion.
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neutral
- Agree
- Strongly agree (correct)
Agreement reflects strong follow-through, distinguishing initiative from simply having ideas.
When to use an initiative and proactivity assessment
Before interviews
Identify candidates likely to need close supervision before investing interview time.
During candidate screening
Screen for roles where independent judgment and follow-through are essential to success.
When comparing finalists
Compare finalists on likely self-direction in ambiguous or fast-moving situations.
Roles where initiative and proactivity matter
Sales Representative, Entrepreneur/Founder-track hires, Product Manager, Operations Coordinator, Marketing Specialist, Consultant, Business Development Representative, and Account Manager.
How the Initiative & Proactivity Assessment is scored
Correct and best-practice responses contribute to a raw score. Questions are grouped according to the four dimensions measured, allowing results to be interpreted overall and by dimension.
- Overall performance: Strong
- Self-Starting Behavior: Strong
- Opportunity Identification: Strong
- Follow-Through: Moderate
- Improvement Orientation: Strong
What you receive after a candidate completes the assessment
You receive a candidate report containing:
- An overall result
- A result for each of the four dimensions
- Strengths relevant to independent, self-directed work
- Areas to verify further in interviews
- A plain-language interpretation of the overall result
- Suggested interview questions tied to the results
How should employers interpret initiative and proactivity results?
Strong indicates the candidate consistently identifies opportunities and acts on them without prompting. Moderate indicates this shows up situationally, often depending on context or confidence in the domain. Developing indicates a stronger preference for clear direction before acting, which suits some roles well.
A lower result should not automatically determine a hiring decision. Assessment results should be considered alongside interviews, experience, and other job-relevant information.
Interview questions for evaluating initiative and proactivity
- Self-starting behavior: “Tell me about a time you started something at work that nobody asked you to do.”
- Opportunity identification: “Describe a problem you spotted before anyone else noticed it.”
- Follow-through: “Tell me about a self-initiated project. How did you make sure it actually got finished?”
- Improvement orientation: “Describe a routine process you improved without being asked to.”
- General: “Tell me about a time you waited for direction when, looking back, you probably should have acted sooner.”
- General: “How do you decide when to act on your own judgment versus checking in first?”
Assess initiative and proactivity alongside other skills
- For sales and business development hiring: Initiative & Proactivity, Sales Aptitude, Business Development, and Negotiation.
- For product and strategy roles: Initiative & Proactivity, Problem Solving, Strategic Thinking, and Decision Making.
- For early-stage or founder-track roles: Initiative & Proactivity, Adaptability, Learning Agility, and Big Five Personality.
How the assessment is developed
This assessment is developed using established principles of job-relevant item design, built around four defined initiative-related dimensions and realistic workplace scenarios involving ambiguity, unassigned problems, and self-directed follow-through.
We do not currently have a formal independent psychometric validation study, an established normative sample, or a published reliability coefficient for this assessment.
Results reflect behavior in structured scenarios and self-reported tendencies, which may differ from real-world context, incentives, and organizational culture.
Frequently asked questions
What is an initiative and proactivity assessment?
A pre-employment test that measures how likely a candidate is to act without being told, spot opportunities, and follow through on improvements.
How long does the assessment take?
Approximately 11 minutes to complete 22 questions.
What does an initiative and proactivity test measure?
Self-starting behavior, opportunity identification, follow-through, and improvement orientation.
Which jobs require strong initiative and proactivity?
Sales, product, founder-track, marketing, and operations roles with limited day-to-day oversight.
How are candidates scored?
Responses are grouped by dimension and reported as Strong, Moderate, or Developing, alongside an overall result.
Can I use this assessment before an interview?
Yes, it is commonly used early in the hiring process to decide which candidates need more probing on self-direction.
Should assessment results determine whether someone is hired?
No. Results are one source of structured evidence and should be considered alongside interviews, experience, and other relevant information.
Can I combine this with other candidate assessments?
Yes. Initiative & Proactivity is commonly paired with assessments such as Sales Aptitude, Problem Solving, or Adaptability depending on the role.
Assess initiative and proactivity before you hire
Invite candidates to complete the assessment and receive clear results you can use to guide interviews and hiring decisions.