Are You Missing Part of the Picture When Reviewing Candidates?

When reviewing assessment results, it’s natural to focus on the outcomes — skills, ability, and personality insights.

These are valuable and play a key role in hiring decisions.

But there’s another part of the process that often doesn’t get the same level of attention, and it can make a meaningful difference: the proctoring report.

Results Tell You What — Proctoring Helps Explain How

Assessment results show you what a candidate achieved.

Proctoring helps you understand how they got there.

It provides insight into things like focus, engagement, and overall test behaviour — giving you additional context around the results you’re reviewing.

It can also highlight whether the assessment conditions aligned with your expectations, including how the test was completed and whether there were any notable interruptions or external activity during the process.

Why This Extra Context Matters

Two candidates might achieve similar results, but their approach to the assessment — and the conditions under which it was completed — can be quite different.

For example:

• One candidate may complete the test with consistent focus and steady engagement
• Another may show signs of distraction or inconsistent attention
• There may be indicators of movement between screens or other activity during the assessment
• In some cases, patterns may suggest the assessment was not completed entirely under typical test conditions

Without proctoring, those differences aren’t always visible.

With it, you gain a clearer view of both behaviour and conditions — which can significantly influence how results are interpreted.

Strengthening Confidence in Your Results

Assessment results are most valuable when you can trust not only the outcome, but the way it was achieved.

Proctoring adds an important layer of reassurance by helping you confirm:

• The candidate completed the assessment independently
• The person taking the test is consistent with the individual you are progressing
• The testing environment remained appropriate throughout
• There were no significant irregularities in how the assessment was completed

Without this visibility, there is always an element of uncertainty around the result.

With it, you can move forward with greater confidence.

A Small Step That Can Strengthen Decisions

In a busy hiring process, it’s easy to move quickly from results to decisions.

But taking a moment to also review the proctoring report can add valuable perspective.

It’s not about adding complexity — it’s about ensuring you have complete information before making a decision.

Getting the Most from Your Assessments

To make the most of your assessment data, a simple approach works best:

• Review the assessment results
• Check the proctoring report
• Consider both together

This ensures your decisions are informed not just by outcomes, but by the full context behind them.

Final Thought

Hiring decisions are rarely based on one piece of information alone.

By including proctoring as part of your standard review process, you add an extra layer of insight — helping you make more confident, informed, and reliable hiring decisions.

Want to see if Accountests will work for your firm? 

Donna Roughan  |  Donna brings decades of expertise in accounting and business advisory, having held pivotal roles including Director at PwC, and offers extensive executive experience spanning both finance and operations.

Accountests  |  Accountests deliver the world’s only online suite of annually updated and country-specific technical skills, ability and personality tests designed by and for accountants and bookkeepers.