Pre-Employment Assessment Design and Vendor Selection
Pre-Employment Assessment Design and Vendor Selection
Outside assessment expertise for talent teams at growing companies.
I design and implement hiring assessments: the cognitive ability, skills, and personality tests candidates take when they apply. I also evaluate assessment and AI interview vendors and measure whether your test scores and interview ratings predict job performance.
- Assessments matched to what each role requires
- Vendor and AI interviewer reviews before you sign or renew
- Quality-of-hire evidence for your leadership team
- Job-relevance documentation your legal team can review
Dave Dubin, PhD
I/O Psychologist and Founder, People Strategies
Services
Engagements range from a single vendor review to a full assessment program.
Assessment Design and Implementation
For teams adding assessments for the first time or rebuilding a process that is not working. I define what each role requires, choose or build the assessments, set passing scores, and train recruiters and hiring managers to use the results.
Vendor Selection
For teams choosing or renewing an assessment or AI interview vendor. I review the evidence behind each vendor’s claims, sit in on demos, and translate what they tell you into a written recommendation for your roles before you sign.
Quality-of-Hire Studies
For assessments in use or under consideration. I compare scores with job performance and retention to show which assessments predict success. A concurrent validity study gives you that answer early: your current employees take the assessment, and I compare their scores with how they perform.
AI Interviewer Scoring
For teams using or piloting an AI interviewer. I check whether its scores reflect what the role requires and predict performance, and rebuild the scoring when they fall short.
Interviewer Calibration
For teams that rely on interviews. I measure how consistently your interviewers rate candidates and whether those ratings predict performance, and show which interview steps improve your hiring decisions and which only add time.
Leadership Assessment
For senior hires: an in-depth interview and assessments, with a written report for the people making the decision. More on leadership assessment
Approach
1
Consultation
A 30-minute conversation about your roles, hiring volume, and current process.
2
Job Analysis
Interviews with hiring managers and strong performers to define what separates successful hires in each role.
3
Assessment Selection
The assessments you already use, off-the-shelf options, or custom ones built from the job analysis, tried on current employees first when possible.
4
Implementation
Passing scores, a rollout plan, and training for recruiters and hiring managers, who keep the final decision.
5
Quality-of-Hire Review
Once enough people are hired, an analysis of whether scores predicted performance and retention, with recommended adjustments.
About Dave Dubin, PhD
I hold a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Houston and have spent about 15 years designing hiring assessments and testing whether they predict job performance.
From 2024 to 2026, I ran Coinbase’s company-wide pre-hire assessment program, covering cognitive, fit, and coding assessments. I also evaluated AI hiring and assessment vendors and rebuilt the scoring for the company’s AI interviewer.
I lead every engagement myself, from the first consultation through the final report. My full background is on LinkedIn.
Start With a Consultation
A 30-minute conversation about the roles you are hiring for, the assessments you use now, and where outside expertise would help.
If a colleague referred you, please mention their name when you book so I can thank them. You can also reach me at David@People-Strategies.com.
Disclosure: I resell some assessment tools and have partner terms with some vendors. If any of them are among your options, I will tell you before we begin.