Technical skills assessment for performance-based testing

A technical skills assessment is built to test role-specific capabilities, often in a practical and simulated environment, with the end-result being a defensible, audit-ready score that holds up to internal or regulatory scrutiny.

The skill sets measured are typically hard skills, like UX design, coding, technical support, etc. and can be validated via role-specific testing methods, from computer-based exams for IT to scenario-based assessments for healthcare triaging tests.

Questionmark’s range of skill assessment software is designed to validate  range of skills across multiple industries, from high-stake L&D programs to global certifications.

1. Authentic lab environments for accurate skill assessment: assess practical skills accurately and make more informed decisions about employees and candidates.
2. Protect against test fraud: while not impossible, the ability to commit test fraud via performance testing is much more difficult, adding an extra layer of validity to test results.
3. Scale your organization: build and scale your performance testing alongside other assessment types in one easy-to-use platform.
4. Manage tests with ease: easily schedule, track and report on lab-based assessments.
5. Grow and globalize: deliver anywhere, without the need for physical test centers, including in new markets across the globe
6. Enjoy high-value certifications: offer higher value credentialing and certifications with well-designed and high-fidelity performance tests that show not only if a candidate has the appropriate knowledge, but if they also can apply that knowledge in a real-world setting

Performance-based testing is an essential part of learning and skills validation for many employers, credentialing organizations, and educators. Performance tests require participants to demonstrate competence in environments that duplicate or closely approximate a real-world setting. For example, performance-based tests for IT and technical professionals can require them to perform hands-on tasks within virtual, cloud-based lab environments configured identically to the actual, on-the-job performance environments.

The benefit of performance testing is that—generally speaking— it is a more authentic and valid way of measuring a candidate’s practical skill level as they are completing tasks within a true-to-life lab environment, rather than simply demonstrating recall.