Accountability

Accountability skills are important to assess during the pre-employment stages of hiring. Use this test to assess a candidate's level of accountability.

  • What is an accountability test?

    Accountability is all about how well you take responsibility for things. An accountability test, therefore, examines the human character in a bid to understand how good an individual is at being accountable.

    This test is a really useful one for screening candidates before the interview stage, as it gives hiring employers and recruiters a good sense of someone's approach to accountability.

    There are many different accountability tests available, but in most tests candidates will be faced with a series of hypothetical scenarios designed to assess accountability. They'll be asked to either select a response that feels most aligned with how they'd act in real life, or rank a series of responses in order.

Jump to a section on this page:

  1. What is an accountability test?
  2. Why is an accountability test so important when hiring?
  3. How to assess accountability skills using our test
  4. Accountability FAQs

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    Select the assessments that match the skills or behaviours for the position. You can test for software or coding competency, soft skills like teamwork, or personality traits, to be sure those who pass have high potential.

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    All your candidates take the assessments on a level playing field. Only their results determine whether they get shortlisted.

  • Why is an accountability test so important when hiring?

    Assessing someone's character before hiring them is becoming an increasingly important part of the recruitment process. The accountability test can give employers and recruiters extra peace of mind and offers a deeper look at the characters of the people applying for the role.

    Companies that invest in staff with high levels of accountability could expect to foster a more welcoming and progressive workplace, better staff morale, increased learning opportunities, and a sense of togetherness that can be important when it comes to retention.

    The test can also help you to differentiate between candidates who have similar levels of experience and expertise. With the results of the test, you'll be able to see which person or people are seemingly most aligned with the business in terms of accountability.

    Soft skills tests can also help remove unconscious bias from the hiring process by giving you clear and comparable data to make decisions on.

    The accountability test would be a useful hiring resource for many roles, including:

    • Management or leadership positions
    • Public-facing roles
    • HR
    • Any role with a high level of responsibility

    As a soft skill, accountability can be difficult to assess without specific questions, so the test is an essential addition to your recruitment process if you want to hire employees that will take ownership and responsibility in their given area.

More Soft Skills Tests

Sample Accountability question

Your company has recently introduced a new computer system which you are unfamiliar with. The system helps in information sharing and collaboration. Your lack of knowledge is affecting this, and the team leader wants to discuss this with you. How do you respond?

  • Ask the team leader whether he can assign a colleague to show you how to operate the system.

  • Stay after work and familiarise yourself with how the system works.

  • Apologise to the team leader and promise to make an effort to improve.

  • Inform the team leader that you will need some time to become familiar with the system.

How to assess accountability skills using our test

Our accountability skills test asks a variety of questions that vary in difficulty level. Candidates who demonstrate strong accountability skills should be able to answer most of the questions correctly.

The accountability skills test provides valuable data insight into the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate. The test is structured using multiple-choice questions: a familiar format for most test-takers, that allows for instant and objective scoring.

As well as the correct answer, there are typically 2-3 distractors, representing common misconceptions and mistakes. This helps make the test more challenging, so a candidate's ability can be measured more accurately.

Test scores are provided to the user and can be compared to other test-takers in your talent pool, to see how they perform relative to each other.

Each test has been thoroughly reviewed to ensure accuracy and validity in line with industry standards. It has been written, examined, and edited by I/O psychologists and psychometric professionals. It has also been reviewed by a diverse sample of job seekers to check for any issues including sensitivity, face validity, fairness, and accessibility.

This test is continually monitored so our team can optimize performance and regularly assess fairness issues.

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  • Analytics

    An array of candidate metrics

    For each of your candidates, you’ll be given a comprehensive report. Included will be all the metrics you need to build a detailed picture of each candidate and ensure you’re making the right hiring decisions.

“The platform is so simple to use. I had used competitor providers for over six years and will never go back. Fast, efficient and friendly!”
Greg Chambers, HR Business Partner, Littlefish Ltd
Greg Chambers, HR Business Partner, Littlefish Ltd

Accountability FAQs

Is the accountability test hard?

The test isn't designed to be hard and candidates can't prepare for it in advance. It's all about critically assessing the given response options and choosing the ones that'd be most effective to solve the situation.

How does an accountability test work?

The test will contain multiple hypothetical scenarios or statements and ask candidates to select the responses that are the most and least effective courses of action.

The answers build up a picture of that candidate's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to accountability.

What is the benefit of using an accountability test?

The accountability test can bolster the recruitment process and help you find out more about the pool of people you're assessing for a certain role. It can help you to pick an individual based on the needs of your team or business.

When should I use an accountability test?

Tests such as these are best used earlier on in the hiring process. They can act as a screening device to ensure you only spend time interviewing or meeting with candidates who are serious about the job.

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Laurence Fishman, Partner, NLPCA
Laurence Fishman, Partner, NLPCA

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