Pre-Screening Job Candidates
For decades, BART has required job candidates to take tests before they can be hired. When Anthony Cooper, a digital media specialist for BART's Training Department, started at BART, test questions for candidate pre-screening were handwritten on 3x7 cards and stored in a vault called Big Bertha.

Even once BART began to automate, the process of testing potential hires was cumbersome. With about 60 people a month to test, there was no time to update test questions. Union rules required two people to be in the room for any test, and a test facility for 70 people had to be maintained. It took three to four days to grade tests, and even when the agency began to use Scantron sheets, it still took an additional day.

Perception has made the whole testing operation much more efficient and quick. Candidates can begin their tests as soon as they arrive, without having to wait for a whole group to get settled. Cooper no longer has to carry 60 pounds of test booklets to different buildings -- or sharpen pencils.

"Since we get instant test results, the HR department gets those results right away," Cooper says. "Also, when candidates log into the system, they confirm their address so that we don't have any bad addresses and they get their results immediately."

Because these candidates are often very tech-savvy, Cooper uses Questionmark Secure to make sure that they aren't instant-messaging with someone or using Google to get answers. The software locks the desktop so that none of these applications can be used during the test.

Cooper says that Perception integrates very smoothly with BART's learning management system. The system greets each student by name, sends them e-mails with status reports, and delivers courses. It also serves up an assessment at the end and displays the student's score.