Early Careers Assessment

The Sova Early Careers Assessment is a comprehensive solution designed to support inclusive, data-driven hiring of graduates and apprentices.

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Developed through rigorous research and in collaboration with early careers experts, this assessment evaluates a candidate’s readiness to succeed in today’s dynamic and fast-evolving work environments and their potential to grow into future leadership roles.

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The assessment framework is grounded in a robust foundation of:

• Quantitative research with subject matter experts. ‍
• Analysis of early careers hiring frameworks across industries. ‍
• Review of published research and literature. ‍
• Insights from Sova’s client base and internal talent strategy expertise.

At the heart of the assessment is the Sova Early Careers Model, which measures seven key skills essential for early career success:

• Teamwork – Collaborating effectively with others to achieve shared goals. ‍
• Influencing – Persuading others using clear, credible, and compelling arguments. ‍
• Analytical Thinking – Breaking down complex information to extract insights. ‍
• Innovating – Generating novel ideas and solutions beyond traditional approaches. ‍
• Adaptability – Adjusting effectively to changing environments, tasks, and people. ‍
• Drive – Demonstrating energy, determination, and motivation to achieve goals. ‍
• Learning Focus – Eagerness to grow and develop, embracing learning opportunities.

To evaluate these skills holistically, the assessment incorporates a diverse set of interactive, scientifically validated question formats:

• Personality Questionnaire (Compulsory) - Assesses behavioural preferences across key work-related traits to predict how candidates may perform on the job. ‍
• Situational Judgment Test (SJT) (Compulsory) - Evaluates decision-making through realistic scenarios by asking candidates to choose the best and worst responses. ‍
• Numerical Reasoning (Optional) - Tests ability to interpret numerical data like charts and tables, measuring accuracy and speed with numbers. ‍
• Gamified Numerical Challenge (Optional) - Interactive number puzzle that measures numerical reasoning in a fun, drag-and-drop game format. ‍
• Logical Reasoning (Optional) - Assesses pattern recognition and abstract thinking using shapes and sequences. ‍
• Gamified Pattern Challenge (Optional) - Engaging shape-based game testing a candidate’s ability to spot visual patterns and logical rules.
• ‍Learnability (Optional) - Measures how quickly a candidate can learn and apply new patterns and problem-solving rules.

By combining these tools, the Sova Early Careers Assessment offers a well-rounded, engaging candidate experience while enabling organisations to:

• Improve quality-of-hire through evidence-based insights.
• Promote diversity and fairness, with minimal group differences observed across demographic variables.
• Strengthen succession planning and identify long-term leadership potential.
• Boost candidate engagement, supporting employer branding and early retention.

Reliability:

• Average internal consistency across scales: 0.74
• Learnability, Pattern Challenge, and Number Challenge: 0.71–0.76
• SJT: 0.47 (consistent with industry benchmarks)

Test-Retest Reliability:

• Personality Questionnaire: 0.69–0.86
• Cognitive Reasoning: 0.75–0.78

Fairness:

• SJT effect size differences were small (e.g. Gender 0.13, Age -0.03 and Ethnicity -0.28)
• ‍PQ Skills average effect size was 0.07 for gender, 0.12 for age and -0.04 for ethnicity

Candidate Feedback Scores:

• Candidates generally reported a positive experience and perception of relevance, fairness, and engagement in the assessment

Sova's assessments are created by our in-house team of esteemed occupational psychologists, specialists in psychometric and skills assessment. Built on scientific research and industry best practices, each assessment is peer-reviewed, validated with real-world data, and continuously refined to ensure fairness, accuracy, and predictive power.

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With Al-driven analytics and rigorous validation, Sova delivers assessments that help organisations make confident, data-backed hiring decisions.

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