While the core of Walden's business is still focused on computer-skills testing, the company has branched out in recent years to create tests that measure a job candidate's likelihood to succeed in a wide range of jobs, including management, sales, marketing and clerical work. Graders look not only at whether answers are right or wrong, but also at how candidates derived the answers and where they might have slipped up, he said. Tests are administered to job candidates in the client's office and are then sent, usually by fax or courier, to a scoring centre in New Milford, N.J., for grading. Within a day, the client receives a detailed evaluation report describing the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. An increasing number of tests also are available over the Internet, with the job candidates sending their answers to the scoring centre electronically.
Most tests are available in English and French.
The Wolfe Aptitude Assessment Battery Programming test, easily Walden's bestseller, is also available in Spanish and Braille. Prices include the test itself, as well as grading and the evaluation report. Graders are also available to discuss a particular individual's results. The savings from one wrong hire will pay for years and years worth of tests. Stephanie Brown, a project manager with the State of California's Employment Development Department, says her organization probably saved thousands of dollars in training costs when it used one of Walden's aptitude tests to fill eight computer-programming vacancies.