Entry Level Skills

Future-proof your organization with our new Entry Level Skills Assessment

The Entry Level Skills assessment is a brief online or paper-based behavioral and personality test designed to evaluate foundational “power skills”—the human-centered abilities like adaptability, communication, and cooperation that early-career workers need to succeed in modern, technology-driven workplaces. Taking approximately 20 minutes to complete in an unproctored format, the assessment profiles candidates across 9 core traits (such as goal achievement, rule compliance, attention to detail, and stress tolerance) to ensure new hires are reliable and ready to learn from day one. It features sophisticated anti-cheating technology to ensure scores remain reliable and predictive.

Power skills are the capabilities that help us work effectively with people, adapt to change and make good decisions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing what it means to start a career today. From how daily tasks are completed to how teams communicate and solve problems, technology is reshaping the workplace at every level.

As businesses adopt new tools and adapt to fast-changing markets, it’s becoming more important than ever for new employees to have the right skills to succeed from day one. Research highlights the essential capabilities that help entry-level workers grow and thrive in today’s technology-driven environment. The Entry Level Skills Assessment helps employers identify these key strengths in job candidates, ensuring they find dependable, adaptable people ready to learn and succeed. It also helps teams build stronger foundations for growth and continuous development across the workforce.

Primary Use: Selection
Assessment Type: Behavioural & Personality
Job Level: All
Job Type: Any
Estimated Time: 20 minutes
Administration Format: Unproctored
Norms: General Population

Available Languages

• English

Benefits

• Short – Approximately 20 minutes
• Measures skills critical to success today
• Reliable, predictive scores
• Sophisticated technology mitigates faking and cheating behaviors
• Enables informed talent acquisition decisions

What The Entry Level Skills Measures

1. Achieves Goals – Setting and achieving challenging goals; working hard; persisting in the face of significant obstacles; striving to produce high quality work.
2. Adapts to Change – Easily and effectively handling change; adapting behavior in response to new information, changing conditions, unexpected obstacles, or specific norms; working effectively with many different types of people, situations, and constraints.
3. Complies with Rules and Regulations – Demonstrating honesty and trustworthiness; trying to do what is right and ethical; following rules, laws, regulations, policies, and procedures; accepting authority.
4. Cooperates with Others – Valuing agreement, consensus, and cohesiveness in interpersonal interactions; being responsive to others’ needs, providing information and assistance to meet those needs.
5. Develops Rapport with Others – Seeking out a variety of social situations, including those requiring tact and/or discretion; being sociable, warm, likable, and cooperative; being easy to work with.
6. Pays Attention to Detail – Being thorough, precise, and organized while working; establishing and tracking details; spotting minor imperfections or errors and taking action to correct them.
7. Takes Responsibility for Actions – Being reliable, well organized, orderly, and planful; holding self accountable for results and deadlines, accepting responsibility for mistakes.
8. Tolerates Stress and Criticism – Maintaining composure in stressful situations; maintaining a positive outlook when criticized.
9. Understands Others – Recognizing and understanding others’ states of mind or emotions; demonstrating compassion toward others; taking care of others in need.

What It’s Best Used For

• Screening early-career applicants: Vetting entry-level job seekers to ensure they possess the necessary work ethic, dependability, and baseline professionalism before hiring.
• Evaluating adaptability to automated tools: Identifying individuals who can fluidly pivot their daily habits and absorb training as AI and automated workplace technologies reshape traditional processes.
• Filtering for baseline reliability and accountability: Flagging candidates who take genuine responsibility for deadlines, follow corporate protocols, and minimize errors through strong attention to detail.
• Assessing team collaboration and empathy: Measuring a candidate’s natural capacity to cooperate with coworkers, build functional rapport, and handle constructive workplace criticism calmly.
• Structuring foundational onboarding tracks: Helping training coordinators identify individual skill gaps across a new hiring cohort to build stronger frameworks for continuous workforce development.

© Pearson Assessment, Inc.