Pre-Employment Skills Testing for a Small Business, Without HR Software

How a small business can skills-test admin hires without HR software or a subscription: a ten-minute supervised screen and a simple process you run yourself.

What the Admin Skills Screen is: a supervised, recorded ten-minute exercise of real admin tasks, with single-use codes, that gives your team a score and a plain description, never a verdict. What the screen covers and how it works · All guides

A small business can run a sound pre-employment skills test for admin hires with nothing more than a video call, a browser and a pay-per-candidate screening tool: no applicant tracking system, no HR department and no subscription. The method is a ten-minute supervised work sample of real admin tasks, given to every shortlisted candidate at the same stage, with the result read by the owner next to the interview. It takes about fifteen minutes of your time per candidate and replaces guesswork with one observed fact.

This page lays out a simple hiring process a small business can run alone, sample tasks, how to read results, and how to set it up with ScreenYourAdmin.

Why small businesses skip testing, and why that is backwards

Larger companies test because they have the systems. Small businesses usually do not test because they assume testing needs those systems: an applicant tracking platform, an HR manager, an annual contract with an assessment vendor. So the small business hires on a resume and a conversation, which is the least reliable combination available.

The logic should run the other way. In a company of five, one wrong admin hire consumes a large share of the owner's week in checking and correcting. A large company absorbs a bad hire; a small one feels it immediately. We set out the arithmetic in the real cost of a bad admin hire. The smaller the business, the more one bad hire costs relative to everything else, and the more a ten-minute check is worth.

What you need, and what you do not

You need:

• A laptop or desktop and a browser.
• A video-call link you can create in a minute, such as Google Meet.
• About fifteen minutes per shortlisted candidate.
• Credits for the screen, bought in packs as you need them.

You do not need:

• HR software or an applicant tracking system. Your inbox and a simple list of candidates are enough.
• A subscription or annual contract. Credits come in packs of 5, 20 and 50.
• Anything installed on the candidate's computer. Candidates need no account; they use a link and a code.
• A testing specialist. The supervisor is you or someone on your team, and the screen is scored automatically.

A hiring process a small business can run alone

1. Write the advert with the screen in it. Say plainly that shortlisted candidates take a ten-minute supervised exercise of everyday admin tasks on a video call, recorded with camera and screen. Candidates who know what is coming perform as they will on the job, and the notice itself is useful: it is a reasonable expectation set at the start.

2. Shortlist on the basics. Read applications for the non-negotiables: availability, location or time zone, any essential experience. Do not try to judge detail-orientation from a resume; every resume claims it.

3. Run a short screening call. Ten minutes to confirm the basics, explain the role and answer questions. If it goes well, schedule the screen. Some owners run the screen at the end of this same call.

4. Run the supervised screen. Ten minutes on the video call, with the candidate sharing their screen. Details below.

5. Interview the candidates worth interviewing. Use the breakdown to shape the questions. If a candidate missed the reordered instruction, ask how they handle instructions that change. Our guide to why interview questions don't predict admin performance explains why this order works better.

6. Check references or run a short paid trial. For important roles, a paid trial task of an hour or two adds a further signal.

7. Decide. You decide. The screen is one input.

The same steps, in the same order, for every candidate. That consistency is what makes results comparable, and it is fairer.

Sample tasks from the screen

The Admin Skills Screen is built from small everyday tasks. Every attempt draws its own words, numbers, days and names, so the examples below are illustrations.

Follow an instruction in a stated order. "Do the following in the order 1, 3, 2, 4: (1) type 'blue', (2) type 'green', (3) type 'red', (4) type the total number of words you have typed so far."

Follow an instruction with a conditional skip. A four-step instruction where one step applies only if something has not already been done, and the last step inserts a word in front of what came first.

Remember a short schedule. Three day-and-task pairs for fifteen seconds, then hidden. Which task was on Monday? Which came last in the week?

Fix a stated error. A sentence with a wrong weekday, with the prompt naming the wrong and right days, to be retyped correctly.

Apply a simple rule. A weekday-or-weekend call ("open" or "closed", then the day's name), or a rule based on the length of the candidate's first name.

Carry a figure forward. Sort three numbers and name the middle one; several items later, recall it.

Each item has its own generous time limit; speed is not scored. The screen takes about ten minutes.

Running the screen with ScreenYourAdmin

1. Create your account and buy a pack. The owner account buys credits, invites anyone else who will run calls, and sees every score, recording and signed consent.
2. Create a code for the candidate. Type their name. A single-use code appears on your dashboard; do not send it ahead. If the candidate has asked for extra time as an accommodation, set 1.5x or 2x time on the code.
3. Send the two links. The video-call link and the test link. Tell the candidate: laptop or desktop, Chrome, a quiet room, about fifteen minutes in total, recorded with camera and screen.
4. On the call, read the code aloud. Once the candidate is visibly alone with their entire screen shared, read the code. They sign the consent and start. Stay on the call, muted, for the whole attempt.
5. Read the result. The score, band, item breakdown and both recordings appear on your dashboard when the candidate finishes. The candidate is told the exercise is complete and never sees a score.

If you have a manager or assistant who will run calls for you, invite them as a proctor. A proctor creates codes and runs the call, and sees that an attempt completed but not the score. The minute-by-minute screening call guide covers the call in detail.

What to look for in results

You get a score out of 17 as a percentage, a band (Strong, Borderline or Below benchmark) and an item-by-item breakdown with a plain description of each item. For a small business, three habits help.

Read the pattern, not just the number. Two candidates at the same percentage can have opposite profiles: one exact with instructions and weak on arithmetic, one fine on arithmetic and lost on every twist. For most admin roles, the first is the safer bet.

Use it to plan the first month. A clean breakdown means instructions can be given once. One weak category means a specific habit to put in place from day one, such as written read-backs for anything with more than two steps.

Watch the recording when something surprises you. If a candidate you rated highly scored poorly, the recording often shows why: a dropped connection, a misunderstanding of the format, or exactly the gap the screen exists to find.

Hiring a bookkeeper as well?

If you are hiring someone to keep the books, there is a separate Bookkeeping Skills Screen: about 15 to 20 minutes covering bank-feed coding, journal entries, a loan payment split, a bank reconciliation and month-end adjustments, accrual basis and software-neutral. The same account and the same credits cover both screens; one credit is one attempt on either.

Keeping it fair and simple

Small businesses rarely have an HR adviser on call, so a few habits matter:

• Give the same screen, at the same stage, under the same conditions, to every candidate for the role.
• Tell candidates in advance what the screen is and that it is recorded.
• Offer extended time or read-aloud instructions to anyone who asks, and do not penalize them for asking.
• Never make the score the only reason for a decision.

Our overview of pre-employment testing legal basics explains, in general terms, why job-related tests used consistently are the safer practice. It is general information, not legal advice.

Benchmark yourself first

Before you use the screen on a candidate, take it yourself, or ask an existing assistant you trust to take it. Ten minutes shows you what the candidate experiences and what a clean breakdown looks like in your business. The values you see will never appear for a candidate.

Common objections, answered

"I can't afford to lose good candidates by testing them." Capable candidates generally welcome a short, transparent chance to show what they can do, especially when it is explained in the advert. Ten minutes on a video call is a small ask compared with a long take-home assignment.

"I'm not a testing expert." You do not need to be. The screen is scored automatically, and your role on the call is to be present, check the candidate is alone with their screen shared, read the code and stay on the call.

"My candidates are overseas." The exercise is identical wherever the candidate sits and needs only a stable connection, a laptop or desktop and Chrome.

"I already have a good feeling about this candidate." That is the most common reason owners skip the check, and the most common story behind a hire that goes wrong. A good feeling and a clean breakdown together are a far stronger basis for an offer than either alone.

Get started

Credits are sold in packs of 5, 20 and 50, with no subscription, and larger packs cost less per candidate. See the credit packs on the pricing page, or see how the screen works on the home page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need HR software to use ScreenYourAdmin? No. You need a browser, a video-call link and an employer account. Candidates need no account and install nothing.

Is there a monthly fee? No. Credits are bought in packs of 5, 20 or 50, and one credit is one supervised attempt. A credit is spent when you create a code for a candidate.

How much of my time does each candidate take? About fifteen minutes: a couple of minutes of setup on the call, about ten minutes while the candidate works, and a few minutes reading the breakdown.

Can someone else on my team run the calls? Yes. Invite them as a proctor. They can create codes and run the supervised call, and see that an attempt completed, but only the owner sees scores and recordings.

Can I test candidates in other countries? Yes. The exercise is identical wherever the candidate sits and runs in the browser, so it needs only a stable connection. Schedule it at a reasonable local time for the candidate.

Does the screen decide who I should hire? No. You receive a score, band and plain description of each item. The software never accepts or rejects anyone; you decide.