Hiring Graduates and Interns: How to Assess Potential Without Experience
Ali Guliyev7 min read
Entry-level hiring has an obvious problem: candidates have almost nothing to compare. CVs list the same universities, similar grades and the same student activities. Interviews favour confident speakers, not necessarily fast learners. And popular graduate programmes receive hundreds or thousands of applications for a handful of places.
A well-designed online assessment solves this by measuring what actually matters at entry level: ability to learn, core skills and motivation.
What to assess when there is no experience
- Learning ability and reasoning: critical thinking or other reasoning tests. These are the strongest signal for people without a track record.
- Core tools: Excel or Google Sheets, basic data literacy, writing. Things every office junior uses from day one.
- Role-specific foundations: SQL basics for a data intern, coding for a developer intern, accounting basics for a finance trainee.
- Communication: a short essay or one or two video answers.
- Practical conditions: screening questions on availability, start date and work permit.
An example graduate assessment (35–40 minutes)
| Section | Time | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Critical thinking (express) | 10 min | Ability to learn and reason |
| Excel / Sheets core skills | 10 min | Everyday tool for any office role |
| Role test (e.g., SQL fundamentals, accounting basics) | 10–15 min | Foundation for the specific track |
| One video question | 3 min | Communication and motivation |
| Screening questions | 2 min | Availability, start date |
Keep it under 45 minutes. Graduates apply to many programmes at once, and long assessments are abandoned first by the candidates with the most options.
Use "entry-level" tests, not senior ones
Testing interns with tests designed for experienced professionals just produces low scores across the board and no useful ranking. Use tests built for entry level. TheyTest's library includes entry-level versions of tests such as Critical Thinking, Data Literacy and SQL Fundamentals, many of them in several languages.
Fairness at entry level
- Don't filter on university name or GPA first. Let everyone who meets the basic requirements take the test, and you will find strong candidates from less famous schools.
- Test in the candidate's working language unless the language itself is a job requirement.
- Explain the format in advance and offer a practice question.
- Use the same assessment for every candidate in the same track.
Running campus campaigns at scale
- One link per programme: share it on your careers page, job boards, university portals and LinkedIn.
- A clear deadline, so candidates finish within a week or two.
- Clear stages: filter by score, move the top group to the interview stage and send the rest a polite rejection in bulk.
- Analytics: see completion rates and score distributions and adjust the threshold for next year.
Watch out for AI-assisted answers
Graduates are fluent with AI tools, which is fine on the job but not during a test of their own ability. Randomised questions, time limits, full-screen mode, copy-paste detection and a full session recording keep results trustworthy without treating every candidate as a suspect.
After the assessment
Use the results to make the next stage better, not just to filter:
- Invite the top group to an assessment centre or a structured interview.
- In the interview, ask candidates to talk through one question they found difficult.
- Share brief feedback with finalists. It strengthens your employer brand on campus.
Build your graduate assessment
TheyTest lets you combine reasoning tests, skills tests, essays, video questions and screening questions in one assessment link, in 9 interface languages, with unlimited candidates on monthly billing.
FAQ
What is the best test for graduate hiring?
There isn't one single test. A combination works best: a reasoning test such as critical thinking, a core tools test such as Excel, and one role-specific test.
How long should an internship assessment be?
35–45 minutes in total. Shorter if you are running a very large campaign.
Should we test interns for non-technical roles?
Yes. Reasoning, Excel and communication matter in almost every office role, and a short test is far more informative than a CV with no work experience.
