Using Indeed Assessments to Administer Candidate Skills Tests [This major job site has dumbed down scoring for "equity" sake]

Indeed.com ^ | 04/27/2023 | fwdude commenting on Indeed.com

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Indeed:

When a candidate has the opportunity to respond to short skills-based quizzes and tests, it can help you narrow down your applicant pool to identify your top candidates. This is helpful for two reasons. First, when a candidate takes a skills assessment, it indicates that they’re interested in your job opportunity and willing to put in the work. Second, these short tests can help you see the applicant’s skills, experience and knowledge in practice.

Below, you’ll learn what Indeed Assessments are, how they can help you filter and screen applicants and how to add them to your job posts. (We also offer screener questions to help you quickly determine whether or not applicants meet your hiring criteria upfront.)

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I have been using Indeed as a career advancement tool for almost a decade and have only recently become aware of a fundamental change, reflecting the coarsening and dumbing down of modern culture. It was a shocking revelation, not because it was unexpected, but because this resource had been a reliable tool for competent employers to assess candidates' skill levels at the front end, which has now largely been taken away.

Skills assessment tests have been available to take for several years. The graduated grading levels were, from lowest to highest (and I'm quoting this from memory), "familiar," "proficient," "highly proficient" and "expert."

I had scored "expert" on several of the exams in the areas of my career training and experience. The tests were short and fairly straightforward, without a lot of subtle nuance to throw the candidate off on advanced concepts, but with a few trickier questions included to separate the cream from the whey.

When I recently checked my scores after requests by employers to share them for consideration for a job, I found all of them graded as "proficient." When I contacted Indeed support to inquire about this grade change, this is the reply I received:

I would like to share with you that the scoring for this assessment has now been updated to reflect only Completed or Proficient scores. This new scoring applies to all assessments. Therefore, previous scores like Expert and Highly Proficient are no longer in use, and this will be the same for any user taking assessments.

Employers have been informed of this fact and are aware that Proficient now represents the highest score achievable for this assessment.

Indeed's website posted this explanation in the linked article to this post:

Indeed Assessments have two score levels: Completed or Proficient. A score of “incomplete” will be given when a candidate has started but not completed an assessment yet.

Skills test scores can be a great indicator of a candidate’s ability to perform a certain job. However, consider taking a holistic view of candidates through resumes, cover letters, phone screens and interviews to get a full understanding of candidates’ skills and abilities.

Sound familiar? Is this not the same trajectory an increasing number of colleges and professional graduate schools are taking with prospective students who would otherwise never "qualify?"

I contend that not enough "grievance group members" could cut the mustard on many of these exams and complained, or were embedded in the system at Indeed and demanded the change to dumb everyone down to their level.

Will employers buy it as the website claims? Would you?