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About the test:

The CISCO Data Center Online Test evaluates a candidate's knowledge and skills related to various aspects of data center operations. It covers topics such as data center networking, Cisco UCS, storage area networks, data center security, virtualization and network architecture.

Covered skills:

  • Data Center Networking
  • Storage Area Network
  • Virtualization
  • Network Services
  • Data Center Automation
  • Cisco UCS
  • Data Center Security
  • Network Architecture
  • Data Center Management
  • Data Center Troubleshooting

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9 reasons why
9 reasons why

Adaface CISCO Data Center Test is the most accurate way to shortlist CISCO Network Engineer - Data Centers



Reason #1

Tests for on-the-job skills

The CISCO Data Center Online Test helps recruiters and hiring managers identify qualified candidates from a pool of resumes, and helps in taking objective hiring decisions. It reduces the administrative overhead of interviewing too many candidates and saves time by filtering out unqualified candidates at the first step of the hiring process.

The test screens for the following skills that hiring managers look for in candidates:

  • Ability to configure and troubleshoot Cisco data center infrastructure
  • Knowledge of computer networks and network architecture
  • Understanding of data center management and automation
  • Experience with virtualization technologies in a data center environment
  • Skills in data center networking and troubleshooting
  • Knowledge of Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System)
  • Understanding of storage area networks (SAN)
  • Ability to implement and manage data center security measures
  • Experience with data center troubleshooting
  • Proficiency in data center services and network protocols
Reason #2

No trick questions

no trick questions

Traditional assessment tools use trick questions and puzzles for the screening, which creates a lot of frustration among candidates about having to go through irrelevant screening assessments.

View sample questions

The main reason we started Adaface is that traditional pre-employment assessment platforms are not a fair way for companies to evaluate candidates. At Adaface, our mission is to help companies find great candidates by assessing on-the-job skills required for a role.

Why we started Adaface
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Reason #3

Non-googleable questions

We have a very high focus on the quality of questions that test for on-the-job skills. Every question is non-googleable and we have a very high bar for the level of subject matter experts we onboard to create these questions. We have crawlers to check if any of the questions are leaked online. If/ when a question gets leaked, we get an alert. We change the question for you & let you know.

How we design questions

These are just a small sample from our library of 10,000+ questions. The actual questions on this CISCO Data Center Online Test will be non-googleable.

🧐 Question

Medium

BGP Path Selection
BGP Configuration
BGP Troubleshooting
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You are a senior network engineer analyzing a BGP configuration issue in a Cisco router. The router is receiving multiple routes to a particular network, 192.168.100.0/24, from different BGP peers. Your task is to ensure that the router always prefers the path through the neighbor 10.10.10.1, irrespective of other path attributes like AS path length, MED, or local preference. Currently, the BGP configuration includes several route maps and prefix lists but doesn't enforce this specific requirement.

Given this scenario, which of the following additions to the BGP configuration would ensure that the route through 10.10.10.1 is always preferred?
A: Apply a route map to neighbor 10.10.10.1 setting a lower MED value for 192.168.100.0/24.
B: Set a higher local preference for routes received from 10.10.10.1 using a route map.
C: Use a prefix list to filter all routes to 192.168.100.0/24 except those from 10.10.10.1.
D: Implement an AS path access list to prepend fake AS numbers to routes from other neighbors.
E: Modify the existing route maps to set a higher weight for routes from 10.10.10.1.
F: Adjust the BGP router ID to a lower value than that of the other BGP peers.

Medium

OSPF Inter-Area Route Filtering
OSPF Configuration
Route Summarization
Routing Control
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In a large service provider network, five OSPF areas are configured: Area 0 (Backbone), Area 1, Area 2, Area 3, and Area 4. Area 1 is a normal area, Area 2 is configured as a stub area, Area 3 is a totally stubby area, and Area 4 is an NSSA (Not So Stubby Area). Each area has multiple routers and networks. Router X in Area 1 has an external route (E2) to the network 172.30.0.0/16 and is connected to Area 0. Router Y in Area 2 summarizes its internal routes to 192.168.0.0/18. Router Z in Area 3 has a default route to Area 0 and an external route to 10.20.0.0/16 redistributed as an N2 route in Area 4.

Given this configuration, which of the following statements is true when a packet is routed from a network in Area 4 to 172.30.0.0/16?
A: The packet will be dropped because NSSA does not allow external routes to be advertised into the area.
B: The packet will be routed to Router X via Area 1, as Area 4 allows the redistribution of external routes into the area as N2 LSAs.
C: The packet will traverse through Area 0 to reach Router X, which advertises the external route to 172.30.0.0/16.
D: The packet will take a default route from Area 3 to Area 0, as Area 3 is a totally stubby area and does not have specific route information for 172.30.0.0/16.
E: The packet will be routed directly to Router Y in Area 2 due to the summary route, which incorrectly captures the 172.30.0.0/16 network.
F: The packet will be routed to Router Z in Area 3, which has a specific external route to 172.30.0.0/16.

Medium

OSPF Network Analysis
OSPF Configuration
OSPF Troubleshooting
Routing Loops
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As a senior network engineer, you are investigating an issue in an OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) network. The network consists of various routers configured in multiple areas, with Area 0 as the backbone. Recently, intermittent routing loops and instability have been reported. Upon reviewing the configurations and logs, you notice the following key points:

1. Area 0 is functioning normally with stable LSA (Link State Advertisement) exchanges.
2. A non-backbone area (Area 1) is showing frequent LSA refreshes and topology changes.
3. Routers in Area 1 have multiple OSPF neighbors, including an ABR (Area Border Router) connecting to Area 0.
4. The ‘show ip ospf database’ command reveals numerous LSA types 3 (Summary LSAs) and 5 (External LSAs) being frequently updated in Area 1.

Which of the following actions is most likely to resolve the routing instability and loops in Area 1?
A: Redistribute static routes into the OSPF process on the ABR, focusing on stabilizing Area 1.
B: Configure Area 1 as a stub area to reduce the number of Type 5 LSAs.
C: Implement route summarization on the ABR between Area 0 and Area 1.
D: Increase the SPF algorithm calculation timers to reduce LSA refresh frequency.
E: Convert Area 1 to a Totally Stubby Area to filter out Type 3 and Type 5 LSAs.
F: Adjust OSPF priorities on routers in Area 1 to elect a more stable DR (Designated Router).

Medium

Routing Protocols Configuration
Routing Configuration
OSPF
EIGRP
Network Design
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A network engineer is configuring a new routing protocol setup for a large enterprise network. The network has multiple subnets and requires both OSPF and EIGRP protocols for different segments. The primary data center uses OSPF with an OSPF area ID of 0, while branch offices use EIGRP with an autonomous system number of 100. The network requirements are as follows:

1. OSPF must have a router ID of 10.10.10.10.
2. EIGRP needs to be optimized for low bandwidth consumption.
3. Redistribution between OSPF and EIGRP is required, with route filtering to prevent routing loops.
4. OSPF areas other than area 0 will be stub areas.

Considering these requirements, which of the following configurations is most appropriate?
A: Configure OSPF area 0 with router ID 10.10.10.10 and use default EIGRP settings.
B: Configure EIGRP with bandwidth optimization and OSPF with router ID 10.10.10.10, without route redistribution.
C: Set OSPF area 0 with router ID 10.10.10.10, configure EIGRP for bandwidth optimization, and enable mutual redistribution with proper route filtering.
D: Use OSPF with area ID 100 and EIGRP with autonomous system 0, with mutual redistribution.
E: Configure OSPF in all areas as stub and set EIGRP to use the lowest bandwidth setting.
F: Implement OSPF with router ID 10.10.10.10 and EIGRP with bandwidth optimization, but without any redistribution or filtering.

Medium

Mac address and IP on router hop
Routers
Switches
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Refer to the following exhibit:
 image
Host A is sending a packet to Host B. 

1. What is the source and destination MAC address at point PA?
2. What is the source and destination IP address at point PB?
// Option A
PA: source MAC - Mac-A
PA: destination MAC - Mac-B
PB: source IP - 192.168.1.1
PB: destination IP - 192.168.3.1

// Option B
PA: source MAC - Mac-A
PA: destination MAC - Mac-RA
PB: source IP - 192.168.3.3
PB: destination IP - 192.168.3.1

// Option C
PA: source MAC - Mac-A
PA: destination MAC - Mac-B
PB: source IP - 192.168.3.3
PB: destination IP - 192.168.3.1

// Option D
PA: source MAC - Mac-A
PA: destination MAC - Mac-RA
PB: source IP - 192.168.1.1
PB: destination IP - 192.168.3.1

Easy

MX Record, DMARC and Email Authentication
DNS
MX Records
DMARC
SPF
DKIM
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You work as a network administrator for a company, "example.com", that recently started experiencing issues with email spoofing. To mitigate the problem, you decide to implement DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) in addition to existing SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) records.

Your current DNS records for example.com include the following:

- MX 10 mail.example.com (IP address 203.0.113.10)
- TXT "v=spf1 ip4:203.0.113.10 -all"
- TXT "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=public-key-here"

You add the following DMARC record:

- TXT "_dmarc.example.com" "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; pct=100; rua=mailto:report@example.com"

After implementing the DMARC record, an external mail server sends an email to your domain. The email passes the SPF and DKIM checks but fails the DMARC check.

What will likely happen to the email?
A: The email will be accepted and delivered to the recipient's inbox.
B: The email will be rejected and returned to the sender as undeliverable.
C: The email might be delivered to the recipient's spam or junk folder.
D: The email will be accepted, but a report will be sent to the sender.
E: The email will be silently discarded, and the sender will not be notified.

Medium

Remote network resources
Gateway
Routing protocols
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Review the following exhibit:
 image
Angelina noticed that the computers on 192.168.10.0/24 network can ping their default gateway. But they found that these computers cannot connect to any remote network resources. Which of the following is the most likely reason for this?

Medium

SSL Certificate Expiry
SSL/TLS
Network Security
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You are a network administrator for an e-commerce company. The company's online store allows customers to browse products and make purchases securely over the internet. The online store uses SSL/TLS for secure communication. You receive reports that some customers are seeing a security warning in their web browsers when trying to access the online store. Upon investigation, you discover the following information:

- The SSL certificate used by the online store's web server is valid for one year and is due to expire in two days.
- The web server is configured to automatically redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS.
- The SSL certificate was issued by a trusted certificate authority (CA), and all major web browsers have the CA's root certificate in their trusted certificate stores.
- The SSL certificate includes the correct domain name for the online store.

Given the above information, which of the following steps should be taken to resolve the issue and prevent customers from seeing the security warning?
A: Extend the validity of the current SSL certificate by one year.
B: Obtain a new SSL certificate from the same CA and install it on the web server before the current certificate expires.
C: Remove the automatic redirect from HTTP to HTTPS on the web server.
D: Ask customers to ignore the security warning and proceed to the online store.
E: Replace the SSL certificate with a self-signed certificate.
🧐 Question🔧 Skill

Medium

BGP Path Selection
BGP Configuration
BGP Troubleshooting

2 mins

CISCO
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Medium

OSPF Inter-Area Route Filtering
OSPF Configuration
Route Summarization
Routing Control

3 mins

CISCO
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Medium

OSPF Network Analysis
OSPF Configuration
OSPF Troubleshooting
Routing Loops

2 mins

CISCO
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Medium

Routing Protocols Configuration
Routing Configuration
OSPF
EIGRP
Network Design

2 mins

CISCO
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Medium

Mac address and IP on router hop
Routers
Switches

2 mins

Computer Networks
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Easy

MX Record, DMARC and Email Authentication
DNS
MX Records
DMARC
SPF
DKIM

2 mins

Computer Networks
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Medium

Remote network resources
Gateway
Routing protocols

3 mins

Computer Networks
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Medium

SSL Certificate Expiry
SSL/TLS
Network Security

2 mins

Computer Networks
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🧐 Question🔧 Skill💪 Difficulty⌛ Time
BGP Path Selection
BGP Configuration
BGP Troubleshooting
CISCO
Medium2 mins
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OSPF Inter-Area Route Filtering
OSPF Configuration
Route Summarization
Routing Control
CISCO
Medium3 mins
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OSPF Network Analysis
OSPF Configuration
OSPF Troubleshooting
Routing Loops
CISCO
Medium2 mins
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Routing Protocols Configuration
Routing Configuration
OSPF
EIGRP
Network Design
CISCO
Medium2 mins
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Mac address and IP on router hop
Routers
Switches
Computer Networks
Medium2 mins
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MX Record, DMARC and Email Authentication
DNS
MX Records
DMARC
SPF
DKIM
Computer Networks
Easy2 mins
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Remote network resources
Gateway
Routing protocols
Computer Networks
Medium3 mins
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SSL Certificate Expiry
SSL/TLS
Network Security
Computer Networks
Medium2 mins
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Reason #4

1200+ customers in 75 countries

customers in 75 countries
Brandon

With Adaface, we were able to optimise our initial screening process by upwards of 75%, freeing up precious time for both hiring managers and our talent acquisition team alike!


Brandon Lee, Head of People, Love, Bonito

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Reason #5

Designed for elimination, not selection

The most important thing while implementing the pre-employment CISCO Data Center Online Test in your hiring process is that it is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. In other words: you want to use the test to eliminate the candidates who do poorly on the test, not to select the candidates who come out at the top. While they are super valuable, pre-employment tests do not paint the entire picture of a candidate’s abilities, knowledge, and motivations. Multiple easy questions are more predictive of a candidate's ability than fewer hard questions. Harder questions are often "trick" based questions, which do not provide any meaningful signal about the candidate's skillset.

Science behind Adaface tests
Reason #6

1 click candidate invites

Email invites: You can send candidates an email invite to the CISCO Data Center Online Test from your dashboard by entering their email address.

Public link: You can create a public link for each test that you can share with candidates.

API or integrations: You can invite candidates directly from your ATS by using our pre-built integrations with popular ATS systems or building a custom integration with your in-house ATS.

invite candidates
Reason #7

Detailed scorecards & benchmarks

View sample scorecard
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Reason #8

High completion rate

Adaface tests are conversational, low-stress, and take just 25-40 mins to complete.

This is why Adaface has the highest test-completion rate (86%), which is more than 2x better than traditional assessments.

test completion rate
Reason #9

Advanced Proctoring


Learn more

About the CISCO Data Center Assessment Test

Why you should use Pre-employment CISCO Data Center Online Test?

The CISCO Data Center Online Test makes use of scenario-based questions to test for on-the-job skills as opposed to theoretical knowledge, ensuring that candidates who do well on this screening test have the relavant skills. The questions are designed to covered following on-the-job aspects:

  • Designing and implementing data center networking solutions
  • Managing and configuring Cisco UCS infrastructure
  • Administering and troubleshooting storage area networks
  • Securing data center infrastructure and implementing security measures
  • Deploying and managing virtualization technologies in a data center
  • Designing and implementing network architecture for data centers
  • Configuring and managing network services in a data center environment
  • Managing and automating data center operations and processes
  • Troubleshooting data center issues and resolving them in a timely manner
  • Implementing data center automation tools and methodologies

Once the test is sent to a candidate, the candidate receives a link in email to take the test. For each candidate, you will receive a detailed report with skills breakdown and benchmarks to shortlist the top candidates from your pool.

What topics are covered in the CISCO Data Center Online Test?

  • Data Center Networking

    Data Center Networking is the practice of designing, implementing, and managing a network infrastructure specifically for data centers. It involves configuring switches, routers, and other network devices to provide reliable and high-performance connectivity between servers, storage systems, and other components within the data center. This skill is measured in the test to assess the candidate's knowledge and proficiency in building and maintaining robust and efficient data center networks.

  • Cisco UCS

    Cisco UCS (Unified Computing System) is a converged infrastructure solution that integrates computing, networking, storage access, and virtualization into a single platform. It enables organizations to streamline data center operations, improve resource utilization, and simplify management. Measuring this skill in the test helps recruiters evaluate the candidate's ability to work with Cisco UCS and leverage its features to optimize data center infrastructure.

  • Storage Area Network

    A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a specialized high-speed network that facilitates the connection of computer systems to storage devices, such as disk arrays and tape libraries. SANs provide centralized storage management, scalability, and data protection. Including this skill in the test allows recruiters to assess the candidate's understanding of SAN architecture, configuration, and troubleshooting, which are critical for effective data center storage management.

  • Data Center Security

    Data Center Security involves implementing measures to protect data centers from unauthorized access, breaches, and data theft. This includes implementing firewalls, intrusion detection systems, access controls, and encryption protocols. Evaluating this skill in the test helps recruiters gauge the candidate's knowledge of data center security best practices and their ability to design and implement robust security measures to safeguard sensitive data and infrastructure.

  • Virtualization

    Virtualization refers to the abstraction of computing resources, such as servers, operating systems, and storage, from the underlying physical hardware, allowing for greater flexibility, scalability, and resource efficiency. Measuring this skill in the test helps recruiters assess the candidate's understanding of virtualization technologies and their ability to deploy and manage virtualized environments in data center settings.

  • Network Architecture

    Network Architecture encompasses the design and implementation of the network infrastructure, including the selection of network devices, protocols, and topologies, to meet the requirements of an organization's data center. This skill is measured in the test to evaluate the candidate's ability to design scalable, reliable, and high-performance network architectures that enable efficient data flow and communication within the data center environment.

  • Network Services

    Network Services refer to the various protocols, applications, and functionalities that are provided by a network infrastructure, such as DHCP, DNS, load balancing, and VPN services. Assessing this skill in the test allows recruiters to gauge the candidate's knowledge and proficiency in configuring and managing network services critical to the efficient operation of a data center.

  • Data Center Management

    Data Center Management involves overseeing the day-to-day operations, maintenance, and administration of a data center, including tasks such as capacity planning, resource allocation, performance monitoring, and incident management. Measuring this skill in the test helps recruiters evaluate the candidate's ability to effectively manage and optimize data center resources and ensure the smooth functioning of critical infrastructure components.

  • Data Center Automation

    Data Center Automation refers to the use of software and tools to automate routine tasks and processes in a data center. This includes tasks like provisioning, configuration management, and system monitoring. Including this skill in the test allows recruiters to assess the candidate's knowledge and experience in implementing automation solutions to improve operational efficiency and reduce human errors in data center environments.

  • Data Center Troubleshooting

    Data Center Troubleshooting involves identifying and resolving issues or incidents that occur in a data center environment, such as network connectivity problems, application performance issues, or hardware failures. Evaluating this skill in the test helps recruiters gauge the candidate's problem-solving abilities, technical expertise, and familiarity with troubleshooting methodologies and tools specific to data center environments.

  • Full list of covered topics

    The actual topics of the questions in the final test will depend on your job description and requirements. However, here's a list of topics you can expect the questions for CISCO Data Center Online Test to be based on.

    Data center networking
    Cisco UCS
    Storage area network
    Data center security
    Virtualization
    Network architecture
    Network services
    Data center management
    Data center automation
    Data center troubleshooting
    Routing protocols
    Switching technologies
    Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols
    VLANs
    Spanning Tree Protocol
    Ethernet
    Fibre Channel
    iSCSI
    NFS
    SAN zoning
    Storage arrays
    RAID levels
    Data replication
    Data center access control
    Firewalls
    Intrusion prevention systems
    Network segmentation
    Virtual machines
    Hypervisors
    Server virtualization
    Virtual networks
    Load balancing
    Network virtualization
    Data center architecture
    Data center design principles
    Disaster recovery
    Backup and restore
    Capacity planning
    Change management
    Server provisioning
    Application delivery controllers
    Content switching
    TCP/IP
    DNS
    DHCP
    Routing protocols
    IP addressing
    Network troubleshooting
    Monitoring and alerting
    Performance optimization
    Troubleshooting methodologies
    Analyzing network traffic
    Packet capturing
    Troubleshooting hardware failures
    Security incident response
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What roles can I use the CISCO Data Center Online Test for?

  • CISCO Network Engineer - Data Center
  • Data Center Networking Engineer
  • Cisco Data Center

How is the CISCO Data Center Online Test customized for senior candidates?

For intermediate/ experienced candidates, we customize the assessment questions to include advanced topics and increase the difficulty level of the questions. This might include adding questions on topics like

  • Analyzing and optimizing data center network performance
  • Integrating storage technologies with data center infrastructure
  • Implementing and managing data center security policies
  • Planning and executing data center migration and consolidation projects
  • Designing and implementing disaster recovery solutions for data centers
  • Configuring and managing virtual machine environments in data centers
  • Monitoring and analyzing data center network traffic and performance
  • Implementing and managing data center backup and recovery strategies
  • Deploying and managing network virtualization technologies
  • Designing and implementing scalable and high-performance data center architectures
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The hiring managers felt that through the technical questions that they asked during the panel interviews, they were able to tell which candidates had better scores, and differentiated with those who did not score as well. They are highly satisfied with the quality of candidates shortlisted with the Adaface screening.


85%
reduction in screening time

CISCO Data Center Hiring Test FAQs

Can I combine multiple skills into one custom assessment?

Yes, absolutely. Custom assessments are set up based on your job description, and will include questions on all must-have skills you specify. Here's a quick guide on how you can request a custom test.

Do you have any anti-cheating or proctoring features in place?

We have the following anti-cheating features in place:

  • Non-googleable questions
  • IP proctoring
  • Screen proctoring
  • Web proctoring
  • Webcam proctoring
  • Plagiarism detection
  • Secure browser
  • Copy paste protection

Read more about the proctoring features.

How do I interpret test scores?

The primary thing to keep in mind is that an assessment is an elimination tool, not a selection tool. A skills assessment is optimized to help you eliminate candidates who are not technically qualified for the role, it is not optimized to help you find the best candidate for the role. So the ideal way to use an assessment is to decide a threshold score (typically 55%, we help you benchmark) and invite all candidates who score above the threshold for the next rounds of interview.

What experience level can I use this test for?

Each Adaface assessment is customized to your job description/ ideal candidate persona (our subject matter experts will pick the right questions for your assessment from our library of 10000+ questions). This assessment can be customized for any experience level.

Does every candidate get the same questions?

Yes, it makes it much easier for you to compare candidates. Options for MCQ questions and the order of questions are randomized. We have anti-cheating/ proctoring features in place. In our enterprise plan, we also have the option to create multiple versions of the same assessment with questions of similar difficulty levels.

I'm a candidate. Can I try a practice test?

No. Unfortunately, we do not support practice tests at the moment. However, you can use our sample questions for practice.

What is the cost of using this test?

You can check out our pricing plans.

Can I get a free trial?

Yes, you can sign up for free and preview this test.

I just moved to a paid plan. How can I request a custom assessment?

Here is a quick guide on how to request a custom assessment on Adaface.

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40 min tests.
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