Who is Criteria?

Updated by Amy Thomas

Who is Criteria? 

Criteria is a talent success company that helps organizations make more objective, evidence-based talent decisions that both reduce bias and drive better business outcomes. Their world-leading tools include a comprehensive suite of rigorously validated assessments and decision-making tools that highlight the potential in every job candidate while providing an experience that candidates love. 

Criteria’s mission is to make science more accessible to all companies who want to make better talent decisions and improve the diversity of the employees they hire. This means providing the most highly validated decision-making tools on the most user-friendly platform possible.   

What kind of companies use Criteria? 

All kinds! Over 4,500 organizations today from 60 different countries use Criteria’s talent success platform to make better and more informed talent decisions. Hiring teams use Criteria to surface the information about their candidates that best predicts performance for the roles they are hiring for, and to create a more fair and equitable hiring process.  

Explore how Criteria is helping employers all around the world make better talent decisions.  

What kind of assessments do Criteria offer and what do they measure? 

Criteria offers a robust and comprehensive portfolio of assessments and a structured interviewing solution to help employers gain a more complete picture of candidate potential. 

Get an overview of Criteria’s comprehensive suite of assessments and explore the specific areas they measure.  

Why are we using Criteria’s assessments and structured interviewing? 

Leading organizations incorporate assessments and structured interviews in their hiring to objectively assess people’s skills, abilities, and job-related competencies and traits. By incorporating science-based assessments and structured interviews into our talent decisions, we are taking a huge step towards making our hiring process more reliable, objective, and efficient. 

Here are some key benefits we can expect from using Criteria: 

  • Better hires - Criteria’s scientifically validated assessments provide us with reliable data on candidates’ skills, abilities, work preferences, and job-related behavioral competencies. This enables us to predict job performance more accurately, increasing the likelihood of hiring individuals who will excel in their roles. 
  • Reduced bias - By using assessments and structured interviews, we add fairness to the recruitment process by ensuring every person who applies for a job is considered using the same objective criteria. Using Criteria helps us to minimize unconscious bias that may influence our hiring decisions. 
  • Enhanced candidate experience - Using Criteria’s assessments and structured interviews demonstrates our commitment to providing every candidate with a fair, objective, and equitable experience.  
  • Improved efficiencies and streamlined decision-making - With Criteria’s assessments and tools, we can streamline our decision-making process. The insights provided by these assessments allow us to identify top candidates more efficiently, saving time and resources, while ensuring we do miss out on exceptional talent.  

Are Criteria’s assessments scientifically validated? 

Every Criteria assessment is rigorously validated and goes through stringent scientific standards that are backed by experts in I/O psychology.    

Criteria’s large team of I/O psychologists validate their products across multiple validity measures to ensure they accurately measure job-related competencies in a consistent and reliable way. They conduct item-level analysis to reduce bias and provide a more accurate, fair, and objective signal of candidate potential, and their product development efforts are also directed by a scientific advisory board which includes some of the world’s leading experts in statistics, psychometrics, cognitive psychology, and testing.     

Read more about Criteria’s stringent scientific standards.  

What is a structured interview and why are they important? 

A structured interview involves asking all candidates the same job-related questions, in the same order, by the same interviewers. Each answer is then evaluated using an anchored rating scale.  

Extensive research demonstrates that structured interviews are the strongest predictor of overall job performance. In fact, the research shows that structured interviews are two times more predictive than unstructured interviews.   

One of the best benefits of conducting structured interviews is that it reduces bias by cutting through the noise and providing a strong, clear talent signal. They’re more objective, fair, and have less adverse impact than unstructured interviews.   

The other major benefit in using structured interviews is that they contribute to an improved candidate experience for several reasons. When interviewers follow a structured interview guide, they become more prepared and organized, which enhances the overall interview process. This preparation allows for a more focused and efficient conversation, ensuring that job-relevant information is gathered from each candidate.  

Additionally, structured interviews demonstrate our commitment to creating an equitable hiring process. By providing every candidate with the same set of interview questions and evaluation criteria, we ensure that each individual has an equal opportunity to showcase their skills and competencies. This approach eliminates potential bias and ensures a fair and objective evaluation.  

Candidates also appreciate the transparency and consistency that structured interviews offer. They can confidently prepare for the interview knowing that the process is standardized and that all applicants are evaluated on the same criteria. This clarity enables candidates to present their best selves and feel that their abilities and qualifications are being evaluated fairly.  

Ultimately, structured interviews not only benefit the hiring team by improving objectivity and decision-making but also provide a positive experience for candidates. By demonstrating our commitment to an equitable process, we create an environment that fosters trust and engagement, attracting high-quality candidates who feel valued throughout the interview process. 


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