Pre employment testing software for small business hiring
SkillsValidator is pre employment testing software for small business owners and HR generalists who hire a few roles at a time and cannot afford a bad hire. You describe the role, candidates complete a realistic work sample and answer follow-up questions about their own submission, and you read a Skills Report with a score per skill and quoted evidence. Plans start at 99 USD per month, there is no sales call, and candidates never pay.
Skills Validation Report
Senior customer support specialist
One wrong hire costs a small team more than a year of testing
In a company of 15 people, one person who cannot do the job is a large share of the output. The salary, the onboarding time, the manager's hours and the work other people quietly redo all land on a small team. A test that costs 99 USD per month is cheap next to that, if it tells you something real.
Many small businesses skip testing because the tools look built for enterprise recruiting: annual contracts, quote-only pricing, a library of hundreds of tests nobody has time to sort through. SkillsValidator is set up the other way around. You pick one role, review a drafted task and rubric, and invite your finalists the same day.
What a small business gets in the Starter plan
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Role-specific work samples drafted from your job description, with a rubric per skill you can edit.
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Explain-back follow-ups, so a candidate has to defend the answer they submitted, not just paste one.
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A Skills Report your hiring manager can read in two minutes, with scores, quoted evidence and recommended interview questions.
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Integrity signals such as paste events and time-on-task, sent to human review and never used for automatic rejection.
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3 active roles, 50 candidates validated each month, report PDF and share links, and CSV export.
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Published monthly pricing and a yearly option at half price.
From open role to evidence in four steps
1. Describe the role, the skills that matter, and the seniority. Roles like office manager, bookkeeper, customer support lead, sales rep, developer or marketing coordinator all work.
2. Review the drafted tasks and rubric. Edit anything that does not match how your business works.
3. Send candidates a link. They complete the work and answer follow-up questions in about the time you set.
4. Open the Skills Report, share it with the owner or hiring manager, and use the evidence to plan the final interview.
Test finalists rather than every applicant, and your monthly allowance goes a long way. See how skills validation works for the full workflow.
Choosing a testing approach as a small business
| Question | Test library platform | Quote-only enterprise suite | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical buyer | Teams screening many applicants | Large HR departments | Small teams testing finalists |
| Pricing | Varies by vendor, often credits or annual terms | Quote after a sales call | Published plans from 99 USD per month |
| Setup effort | Pick and combine tests | Implementation project | Describe the role, review a draft |
| What you see | Test scores | Scores and benchmarks | Score per skill with quoted evidence |
| AI-assisted answers | Depends on tests and settings | Depends on the product | Explain-back questions on the candidate's own work |
| Where it wins | Breadth of ready-made tests | Deep ATS and compliance tooling | Proof of the actual job skills, fast to start |
Check each vendor's own site for current terms before you decide. If a test library is the better fit for high-volume screening, say so to yourself honestly. For a head-to-head view, read the TestGorilla alternative page.
Roles small businesses test most
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Customer support and operations: write a reply to a hard ticket and explain the decision.
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Finance and bookkeeping: reconcile a short data set and say what looks wrong.
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Sales and marketing: draft an outreach sequence or campaign brief and justify the choices.
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Engineering: fix or extend a small piece of code and explain the tradeoffs, see the technical assessment platform.
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Existing staff: validate skills for promotion, see employee skills assessment.
Published plans, no sales call
Starter is 99 USD per month (49 USD per month billed yearly) for 3 active roles, 50 candidates validated each month and 1 seat. Growth is 249 USD per month (124 USD per month billed yearly) for 15 active roles, 300 candidates, 5 seats and branded reports. Scale is 599 USD per month and Enterprise is 1 499 USD per month. Work out your own cost per candidate in the pre employment testing cost guide, or compare every inclusion on the pricing page.
What is the best pre employment testing software for a small business?
The best choice is one you can start this week and afford without a contract. For roles where proof of real work matters, SkillsValidator uses work samples with explain-back questions from 99 USD per month. For high-volume screening of entry-level applicants, a library of standard tests may fit better.
How much does pre employment testing cost for a small business?
It ranges from a few dollars per candidate to several hundred dollars per month, depending on the pricing model. SkillsValidator Starter is 99 USD per month for 50 candidates, so about 2 USD per candidate at full use. Compare that with the cost of one wrong hire.
Do I need an HR department to use it?
No. A business owner or office manager can build a validation in minutes. The role description drives the tasks and rubric, and the report is written for a non-specialist hiring manager. You stay responsible for the hiring decision and for fair, job-related use of any test.
Can I try it before I pay?
Yes. The home page has a one-time free demo with no card. It shows a sample Skills Report so you can judge the evidence before you create an account and invite candidates.
Do candidates have to pay or create an account?
No. The employer pays the subscription. Candidates open a link, complete the work and answer the follow-up questions at no cost.
Keep comparing before you buy
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Pre employment testing software pricing
Review pre employment testing software pricing.
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Pre employment assessment
Read the pre employment assessment page for how work samples are scored.
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Pre employment testing companies
Compare pre employment testing companies with a buyer checklist.
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Skills based recruiting playbook
Read the skills based recruiting playbook for a 50-person company.
Test your next hire on real work
Define one open role, review the drafted tasks, and invite your finalists. You will see what each person produced and where the interview should dig deeper.