What is a Berke Assessment? Questions, FAQs, Alternatives & More

During the hiring process, recruitment teams are tasked with gathering as much information as possible regarding the abilities of candidates to fill specific roles. That can be a tall order, as the traditional ways hiring teams collect information– resumes, cover letters, and interviews– often leave teams lacking the desired insight.

Not only is the information presented in these venues limited, but research has found that 46% of resumes contain lies while 78% contain misleading statements. Cover letters are hardly any more reliable than resumes, while interviews aren't great predictors of an individual's performance in a given role.

For these reasons, employers are increasingly turning to assessments and tests to gather data and job-related information about applicants when filling an open role. The objectivity introduced by pre-employment tests can help make the hiring process more efficient and effective, allowing hiring teams to make better-informed decisions more quickly.

One pre-employment test used by many large organizations is the Berke assessment. In this guide, we'll look at what you need to know about the test components, the reports they generate, and more.

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What Is a Berke Assessment?

Administered by Berke Assessment, the Berke assessment test intends to accurately predict job performance through psychometric assessment. Each organization can customize these assessments based on their roles, culture, and specific needs, allowing them to receive targeted insight.

There are two kinds of assessments contained within the Berke assessment test:

• Cognitive ability test
• Personality test

The first part of the assessment– the cognitive ability test– focuses on the applicant's ability to process written, numerical, and diagrammatic information. From the results of this portion of the test, the extent to which a candidate possesses key skills can be identified, including critical thinking, problem-solving ability, and attention to detail.

The personality test helps to offer insight into motivational drivers and behavioral traits individuals have. That can help organizations make hiring decisions incorporating information about the individual from a personality standpoint and whether they will be a good fit with organizational values and the culture as a whole.

Berke assessment tests attempt to provide a rounded assessment of the skills, competencies, and nature of prospective candidates.

Understanding the Structure of the Berke Assessment

If candidates are going to be required to take a Berke assessment test, they will typically be notified ahead of time. That allows them to learn more about the assessment and prepare.

The first things that candidates will want to understand are the two primary test sections and their purposes. At the same time, it's important to note that these tests are customizable by each organization, meaning that there can be quite a bit of variety in terms of the content and the length of each section.

Depending on how a company customizes the course, the test could take a candidate only ten minutes or as long as one hour. 

Cognitive Test

There are many different skills that Berke's cognitive tests can score in each candidate. Regarding problem-solving traits, the cognitive tests will assess each candidate's task preference and natural abilities.

Three specific traits are tested for in the realm of problem-solving, which are:

• Logical problem solving: The extent to which an individual is able to approach a complex problem in an analytical, successive, and structured way
• Spatial visualization: The ability of a candidate to solve spatial problems by visualizing dimensions, engaging with theoretical 3D objects, and manipulating diagrams
• Rapid problem solving: A candidate's ability to quickly, intuitively, and accurately solve problems under pressure

Additional Skills Assessments

If an organization feels that additional assessments are necessary for a specific role, there are also hard skills assessments and integrity tests offered through the Berke assessment.

Some of the hard skills that can be tested using this assessment include:

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Powerpoint
• Cash handling
• HTML
• Typing
• Customer service
• Weights and measures
• Basic mathematics
• English fluency
• Computer literacy

The integrity test is an assessment of a candidate's attitude and work ethic. Candidates can receive a low or a high score for integrity, which measures their perspective on issues involving work ethics, such as honesty, attendance, and theft.

Personality Test

The main goal of the personality test section of the Berke assessment is to discover how candidates relate to and interact with other people, specific circumstances, and the world at large. The test explores seven personality traits, and a personality profile will be generated based on the candidate's answers to the questions in this section.

The seven personality traits that are measured in the Berke assessment are:

1. Adaptability: A person that is found to have low adaptability is understood to be more independent, while a person that has high adaptability is more accommodating
2. Assertiveness: People that rank low in assertiveness are more reserved, while individuals that score high in assertiveness are more aggressive
3. Intensity: Low-intensity individuals are more relaxed, while high-intensity candidates are more high-energy
4. Optimism: Candidates that are low in optimism are much more skeptical, while those high in optimism have a rosier outlook
5. Responsiveness: People that score low in responsiveness are calmer, while those that score high in responsiveness are more expressive
6. Sociability: Individuals with a low sociability score are more task-oriented, while highly sociable people are more people-oriented
7. Structure: Candidates that rank low on the structure spectrum are more flexible, while those that rank highly in structure are more comfortable with strict rules

Are you searching for a personality assessment that will help participants make the best use of their strengths and limit their weaknesses when it comes to their personality style? If so, you'll want to take a look at our personality style assessment, What's My Style, which is ideal for management development training. You can also learn more about different personality assessments in our guide comparing Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, and DISC assessments and understand the importance of understanding one's personality style in our post outlining how successful communication styles start with knowing your personality style.

What Kind of Questions Appear on the Berke Assessment?

The specific questions on a Berke assessment will vary depending on the customization chosen by a given organization and the particular job requirements. For example, candidates for one role might be presented with cognitive skills tests, hard skills tests, and personality tests, while individuals applying for another role might only be assessed for personality and integrity. Individual questions might be tailor-made to relate directly to a specific work environment or role.

The following types of questions are found in the cognitive tests:

• Identifying collections of related words
• Completing sentences with missing words from a list of words
• Numerical questions that involve simple math
• Being provided with information and then being asked whether statements are true, false, or unknown based on this information
• Questions that require candidates to visualize and select the correct outcome when presented with 3D objects
• Spatial questions involving selecting the next shape in a series of shapes

When it comes to the personality test, the questions involve being presented with a statement about a course of action or behavior and then being asked to choose whether they agree or disagree. A series of options might also be presented that individuals are asked to rank based on their preferences.

For the hard skills test, the questions will be based on the skill being evaluated. For example, individuals taking the typing test will be given 30 seconds to transcribe a specific paragraph. The accuracy of their typing and the number of words they were able to complete in the time frame will factor into their assessment. The material used in hard skills tests can be content specific to the company itself, such as using a relevant case study.

Berke Assessment FAQs

Choosing a pre-employment test to use as a part of your hiring process can be a big project, so let's look at some of the frequently asked questions about this specific assessment to help you understand whether it's right for your organization.

How Long Does the Berke Assessment Take?

Since companies can customize their Berke assessments for a given role, the length of time it takes to complete them can vary.

The shortest Berke tests will only take ten or twelve minutes, while the longest assessments can take 55 minutes to an hour.

Who Is the Berke Assessment Designed For?

The Berke assessment is a test administered as a part of the recruitment process. A pre-employment assessment, it is used to evaluate the individual strengths of each candidate and the talent pool as a whole.

Organizations will use this assessment to incorporate data-driven and objective information into their hiring decisions. Using tests and assessments like the Berke assessment can help streamline the recruitment process, allowing it to be more effective and efficient.

Employers are always taking a bit of a gamble when they take on a new hire, but this type of pre-employment test can help indicate the potential future performance of candidates in specific roles.

Employees might encounter this test immediately after applying for a role online, or it can be presented much later in the hiring process.

What Reports Are Produced By a Berke Assessment?

Several different assessment reports are produced after a candidate takes the test. These include job fit reports, spotlight reports, Berke participant reports, and interview guides.

Job Fit Reports

A job fit report is generated once a candidate has completed their assessment. If a job fit report has already been created, their score will appear next to their name in the employer's Berke account.

The assessment results of a prospective candidate will be broken down visually and matched against the target ranges designated for the position they applied for. This will be displayed with a gray bar representing these target ranges for each trait, while black squares will indicate where the candidate falls within this spectrum.

The report further helps to indicate whether or not the applicant is a good match by using a green check mark for solid matches, a red X for a significant mismatch, and a yellow exclamation point for a candidate that is a slight mismatch based on the score results.

Spotlight Reports

Spotlight reports also become available after a candidate has finished their assessment.

These reports aren't comparing the applicant against a specific role but instead look at the individual and their prospects as an employee. 

Berke Participant Reports

The participant report is non-technical and positive and can therefore be shared with the assessment participants. This can be sold as an incentive for completing the assignment and can also be very useful for team building and coaching.

These reports aren't intended to be used by hiring managers but are written to the candidate themselves.

Interview Guides

The job fit interview guide contains additional explanations regarding the traits that weren't a strong match, helping hiring managers understand what this might mean for their work style and ability.

Spotlight interview guides will offer suggested questions for a follow-up interview and other potential topics of discussion.

What Companies Use the Berke Assessment For Evaluation?

There are many large companies that use the Berke assessment as a part of their hiring process.

Examples include Milwaukee, DHL, Forward Air Transportation Services, and Goodwill.

Alternatives to the Berke Assessment Test

The Berke assessment test is by no means the only pre-employment test out there. Recruitment assessment tools come in all shapes and sizes, with some designed specifically for specific industries and others based on philosophical ideas surrounding what qualities make an individual good at their job.

For example, the Athena Assessment is another pre-employment test that evaluates applicants' judgment based on the notion that people with good judgment are most effective at their jobs. Adaface, on the other hand, is specifically designed for hiring people to fill software roles, while Saberr is an assessment that allows employers to evaluate the potential cultural fit of candidates.

If you're searching for tests that can help your organization find the best people for open roles and nurture the abilities of your existing employees, HRDQ offers a wide range of assessments and workshops that support this aim. With online assessments available regarding topics including emotional intelligence, personality styles, decision-making, communication, and more, as well as a library of best-selling training tools, HRDQ is a one-stop-shop for all your assessment, test, and workshop needs.

Do you have any questions about the Berke assessment, alternatives to the Berke assessment, or anything else we mentioned in this article? If so, please be sure to leave us a comment down below, and we'll get back to you within a day or two! We make it a point to reply to each and every one of your comments, and we'd be more than happy to help you out however possible.

Recommended Assessment

What's My Style?

• Identifies your personality style
• Improves people skills
• Learn how personality drives behavior

Learn more