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FAQs

You will find answers below to common questions regarding the Berke Assessment’s advantages and administration. The following answers are filled with links to more in-depth content regarding the topics discussed. If you would like additional information, call us at 1-888-220-7611 or use our online form.

1. What is the Berke Assessment?
The Berke Assessment is a web-based assessment tool designed specifically for managers' use during the hiring and selection process. It contains 10 unique sections that measure a number of key personality traits and natural talents that can have a dramatic impact on job performance. The Berke Assessment allows managers to measure specific candidates against specific jobs and allows them to tailor the assessment's job targets so that candidates are measured against the attributes necessary for success based on an organization's top performers.

Get more information on the Berke Employment Test.

2. Why do I need the Berke Assessment?
The Berke Assessment increases your organization's productivity and profitability by helping you match the right people to the right jobs, thereby increasing your employees' effectiveness and reducing costly turnover.

Get more information on the value of pre-employment testing in the hiring process and learn how the Berke Assessment can help your organization reduce costs and increase profits.

3. How can the Berke Assessment help my company?
Although the Berke Assessment is best known for its unequalled value in the hiring and selection process, it is also a powerful tool in the development of an organization's employees, the assessment and strengthening of its teams, and the overall evaluation of its human capital and management practices.

Employee Selection: The Berke Assessment's analysis of a candidate's personality traits and natural talents, and its measurement of the strength of fit between a specific candidate and a specific job allows managers to investigate with care the compatibility of a candidate's attributes with a given position.

Employee Personality Testing: The Berke Assessment provides managers with insight into their current employees and the strengths and weaknesses of their innate behaviors and talents. Using the Berke, managers can provide candid feedback to their employees regarding their strengths and future opportunities within the organization for which they are well-suited.

Team Building: The Berke Assessment provides insight into the behaviors and talents of a team's individual members. The resulting reports, tailored for employee review, can be used in group settings to explore team member differences and to talk through how these differences impact work relationships. The Berke also provides managers with much-needed understanding regarding their employees' "fit" with their current positions.

Company Evaluation: The Berke Group offers an "x-ray" of your organization using comprehensive research tools, including the Berke Assessment, to provide an in-depth examination of your organization from structural, attitudinal, and behavioral perspectives. The organizational evaluation provides valuable feedback regarding your organization's strengths, problems, management practices and team members, along with a comprehensive list of recommendations to improve its people management practices and systems.

4. What key areas does the Berke Assessment measure?
The Berke Assessment contains 10 unique sections that measure a number of key personality traits and natural talents that can have a dramatic impact on job performance. To fully understand the power of the Berke, it's helpful to understand the difference between Personality Traits and Natural Talents.

Personality Traits describe a person's habit or preference in interpersonal situations. A strong preference for working with others or a strong preference for order and predictability are examples of personality traits.

Natural Talents are inborn or hardwired abilities. Talents make it easy for some people to think through a complicated problem logically or easy for others to come up with a quick and immediate solution to a problem.

The Berke Assessment measures a number of key personality traits, including Assertiveness, Sociability, Responsiveness, Structure, Social Adaptability, Emotional Intensity and Optimism. The Berke measures key talents, including Logical Problem Solving, Rapid-Fire Problem Solving, Idea Productivity and Generalist. The Berke also evaluates a combination of an individual's personality traits and natural talents to determine his/her Leadership and Persuasion Styles.

Get more information on the key personality traits and talents measured by the Berke.

5. How should the Berke Assessment be used in the hiring process?
The Berke Assessment is designed to be used as part of a structured hiring process and is best used following an initial screening process but prior to reference checking and a comprehensive interview. The Berke Group does not recommend that a hiring decision be made based on the results of the Berke alone, but rather that the resulting Berke Profile be used by managers to properly direct their questions in a comprehensive interview.

The Berke Profile highlights a candidate's personality traits and natural talents and describes the strength of fit between a specific candidate and a specific job. The information provided in the Berke Profile and its recommended "probing suggestions" allows your managers to interview with greater objectivity and attention the compatibility of a candidate's attributes with a given position.

6. Is the Berke Assessment compliant with EEOC and ADA guidelines?
Ability and personality pre-employment tests are permissible as long as the tests are valid, non-discriminatory and job-related. The Berke Assessment is in full compliance with these criteria. Furthermore, the training we provide your managers as well as our ongoing system of validation ensure the appropriate interpretation and application of Berke Assessment results tied to actual job performance.

7. How do I know the results of the Berke Assessment are valid?
The Berke Group has a long-standing, ongoing and comprehensive research program to ensure the reliability and validity of the Berke Assessment. Every time the Berke is used, data is automatically collected and categorized for the purpose of ongoing psychometric research and statistical comparison to ensure validity. In addition, The Berke Group regularly conducts studies of specific occupational groups to ensure the validity of the Berke scales and the Berke job targets compared to actual job performance.

8. Can the Berke Assessment be administered for any role?
Yes. The Berke Assessment is designed to measure the strength of fit between a specific person and a specific job. The Berke Group provides its clients with easy-to-use tools to identify the core requirements, as well as the personality traits and talents, necessary for success in a given position. We use the input of your managers, along with our extensive knowledge base of similar positions, to establish "job targets" for each position for which you're testing. Using this process, the Berke can be effectively administered for positions ranging from the President of a company to its Receptionist.

9. How is the Berke Assessment delivered?
The Berke Assessment is web-based and is self-administering as each section of the assessment has its own set of online instructions.

10. Can the Berke be administered to off-site candidates?
Because the Berke Assessment is web-based, it can be administered anywhere with a web-based connection. The Berke Group, however, recommends administering the test on-site whenever possible so that managers can ensure a quiet, undistracted testing environment.

11. How long does the Berke Assessment take?
The Berke Assessment typically takes 60 minutes to complete.

12. How long does it take to get the results?
Once the Berke Assessment is completed, the resulting report is e-mailed to the requesting manager immediately. All completed profiles are available for review at any time in The Berke Group's online system.

13. What does a Berke Profile look like?
The Berke Profile is written in plain English and describes the fit between a specific candidate and a specific job based on his/her personality traits and natural talents. The Berke Profile contains a Descriptive Summary of the test taker's personality traits, problem-solving style, persuasive style and leadership style written in a traditional paragraph format, and also includes:

A Job/Person Graph, providing managers with a visual snapshot of both the person and the job. Personality traits and talents are listed in order of their importance to the job.

A Job Compatibility Review, highlighting the compatibility of the test taker with the specific job in question.

Probing Suggestions, highlighting potential mismatches between a person and a job. The report provides managers with areas to explore further in a comprehensive interview.

Background Information, summarizing self-reported historical information about the person, including his/her education, work history over the last 10 years, and self-described strengths and weaknesses.

Get more information on the resulting report, or sign up for the Berke Assessment now.

14. What do I do if I have questions about a specific report?
You can call or e-mail us directly! The Berke Group is dedicated to your success and to ensuring the Berke Assessment is being used effectively within your organization. We believe customer care should be personal and accessible, and our team is committed to providing premier support for all questions relating to the Berke, including interpretation of the results and any technical support needed during or after the administration of the Berke. Help is just a phone call or mouse-click away via our toll-free number (888-220-7611) or our online form.

Get more information on The Berke Group's support services.

15. What training is provided regarding the administration and use of the Berke Assessment?
The Berke Group offers training programs tailored to your organization to ensure your managers are effectively trained in the proper administration and use of the Berke Assessment. Although the Berke requires very little set-up and is essentially a self-administering assessment, we ensure your managers fully understand the personality traits and natural talents it measures, as well as how to use the resulting report to explore a candidate's "fit" within the context of a comprehensive interview. Whether via a conference call, webinar or an on-site training session, The Berke Group works with you to ensure the successful implementation of the Berke Assessment within your business practices.

Get more information on The Berke Group's support services.

16. Can I take the Berke Assessment to see what it's like?
Yes. To take the Berke Assessment and view the resulting report, sign up or call 1-888-220-7611.

17. How much does the Berke Assessment cost?
One of the Berke’s many advantages is its affordability. The Berke is one of the most affordable instruments of its caliber available in the market today. Just consider – the cost of a Berke is less than an employee's compensation for one day, whereas the turnover cost for one poor hire can range between 1.5 to 4 times an employee's annual compensation.

Several factors are used to determine the pricing of the Berke Assessment for an individual company. Download our free brochure with pricing or call 1-888-220-7611 to get additional information.

18. How long does it take to get my company set up for the Berke Assessment?
The set-up process is typically under a week. We work with you to ensure we fully understand your needs and how the Berke Assessment will be used within your organization. The process also includes training for those managers within your organization who will be administering the assessment.

19. What consulting services does The Berke Group offer?
Although the Berke Assessment is a powerful tool for ensuring the right people are being selected for the right jobs, great organizations aren't built on good hires alone. The effectiveness of your employees will only be as good as your management practices, which include your new hire training programs and your systems for managing, motivating and developing your employees to help them reach their full potential.

The Berke Group offers a comprehensive, integrated suite of services to assist client organizations and their managers in recruiting, selecting, training, managing, motivating, and leading their team members to ensure maximum productivity and profitability. Our consulting services include an in-depth organizational evaluation from structural, attitudinal and behavioral perspectives to help your organization better understand its strengths and weaknesses, team members and management practices. We deliver a comprehensive list of recommendations to improve your organization's people management practices and systems, and offer the services of a talented team of consultants to help you implement best practices within your organization.

Get more information on The Berke Group's consulting services.

20. What are the main differences between the various pre-employment tests available today?
The world of pre-employment testing can prove daunting for a company exploring it for the first time. Numerous terms are tossed about such as "personality," "skills," "intelligence," "cognitive ability" and "talents." But at the end of the day, what are the tests measuring and what are their advantages and disadvantages? Review our hiring test guide for some of the most popular types of tests in the marketplace today as well as their strengths and weaknesses in measuring a candidate's "fit."