Job search diagnostic
Passing the screen and failing the assessment
The answer above holds regardless of your situation. The questions below narrow it to the one cause your own answers point at, which is a different and more useful thing than a list of possible reasons.
Why am I getting rejected after online assessments?
Assessments filter against a threshold set before you took them, and that threshold is usually invisible and sometimes strict enough that strong candidates fail it. The three common types fail for different reasons: timed aptitude tests fail on pace rather than ability, work-sample and technical tests fail on unfamiliarity with the format rather than on competence, and personality or situational judgement questionnaires fail on inconsistency, because they check whether your answers agree with each other. Preparing for the wrong one of those is the usual mistake.
- Timed tests measure pace
- Most aptitude tests are not designed to be completed. Speed under pressure is part of what is being measured, and practising the format improves scores substantially.
- Situational questionnaires check consistency
- Answers are cross-checked against each other. Trying to give the answer you think they want tends to produce contradictions that the scoring detects.
- Format familiarity is a real advantage
- Work-sample and technical tests reward knowing the shape of the exercise. Candidates who have seen the format perform better at equal ability.
- What this page cannot do
- It cannot tell you the threshold or your score. Most employers never release either, and any page claiming typical pass marks is inventing them.
Source and method
RoleSprint, from the structure of the job-search process rather than from a dataset. Verified 2026-08-30. This page carries no third-party statistics, because the honest ones for this question do not exist in a citable form. What it holds is a decision tree over facts you report about your own search, and the reasoning behind each branch is stated on the page so you can disagree with it. Nothing you select is transmitted anywhere.
Narrow it down
3 questions you can answer without looking anything up. Nothing you select leaves your browser.
What this page will not claim
Stated here rather than in a footer, because the value of a diagnostic is entirely in knowing what it cannot see.
- This page cannot see your results or the employer's cut-off.
- It reasons about what each assessment type measures.
- Some assessments are poor predictors of job performance, and failing one is not a verdict on your ability.
Every outcome this page can reach
Published in full so the tool cannot be a black box. If none of these describes your situation, the page is the wrong one and says so rather than forcing a fit.
Pace rather than ability is failing you
Practise the specific format under timed conditions until the pace is familiar. Answer order and knowing when to move on matter more than the underlying maths.
The format is unfamiliar, not the content
Do three practice runs of the same assessment type before your next one. Publishers and employers frequently provide samples.
Inconsistent answers are the likely cause
Answer as yourself, quickly and consistently. Where the honest profile does not fit the role, the assessment has told you something worth knowing.
You may be meeting the bar and missing a strict threshold
Target employers whose process starts with a conversation rather than a test. The assessment-first pipeline suits a specific kind of candidate and it is not a judgement on the rest.
What to do next
This page narrows one symptom. The full diagnostic looks at the whole search at once, which matters when more than one thing is wrong.