LinkedIn skills assessments are a critical part of the LinkedIn recruiting and hiring process. They allow employers to evaluate a candidate’s skills and abilities in a particular area through a standardized online test. The number of questions on a LinkedIn skills assessment can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the skill being tested.
Overview of LinkedIn Skills Assessments
LinkedIn offers over 140 different skills assessments in areas like computer programming, data science, design, marketing, sales, software, and more. The assessments are created by industry experts and are regularly updated to align with the latest best practices and technologies in each field.
Each skills assessment tests a candidate’s knowledge in a specific skill area, such as Python programming, graphic design, SQL, or JavaScript. The tests allow employers to quickly evaluate and compare candidates at scale during the hiring process. From an applicant’s perspective, performing well on skills assessments can boost their visibility and credentials on the LinkedIn platform.
Length of LinkedIn Skills Assessment Tests
The number of questions on LinkedIn skills assessments varies across the different test categories and difficulty levels. Here are some guidelines on the typical length of LinkedIn skills tests:
- Programming skills assessments generally contain 15-25 questions.
- Software and tools assessments, such as Excel and Google Analytics, usually have 10-20 questions.
- Design skills assessments tend to have 5-15 questions testing abilities in graphics, user interfaces, and more.
- Marketing assessments often have 10-15 questions on topics like digital marketing, email marketing, SEO, and advertising.
- Data science and analytics assessments can have 15-30 questions testing statistics, data visualization, SQL, data modeling, and more.
- Sales assessments typically contain 15-25 questions on sales methodology, prospecting, account management, and other topics.
The assessments are generally focused on testing core knowledge and applied skills rather than obscure trivia. The questions are designed to be answered in a minute or two based on a competent practitioner’s capabilities.
Factors that Determine the Length
Several factors account for the variations in the length and number of questions across different LinkedIn skills assessments:
- Breadth of the skill – Assessments for broad skill areas like programming cover a wide range of topics and tend to have more questions.
- Technical complexity – Sophisticated, constantly evolving skills like data science require more questions to fully assess competency.
- Practical testing – Skills that emphasize real-world application like design tend to focus more on scenario and example-based questions rather than pure trivia.
- Optimal testing time – LinkedIn aims to keep the assessments short enough to be completed quickly but long enough to reliably evaluate abilities.
As a rule of thumb, technical skills like coding and software tools require lengthier, more rigorous testing, while soft skills like marketing and sales use slightly shorter assessments.
Difficulty Levels
LinkedIn skills assessments are designed to test skills at different experience levels. There are often separate sets of questions targeting beginner, intermediate, and advanced practitioners of a skill. For example:
- Beginner SQL assessment: 10 basic SQL queries to write
- Intermediate SQL assessment: 15 moderate SQL queries involving joins, aggregation, subqueries
- Advanced SQL assessment: 20 complex SQL queries with window functions, CTEs, and optimization
Higher difficulty assessments will naturally require more questions to fully test the candidate’s expertise in a skill area. The number of questions generally increases with the level of proficiency being evaluated by the skills assessment.
Consistency Across Assessments
While the number of questions on LinkedIn skills assessments varies across different tests, candidates can expect consistency and standardized benchmarks within each unique assessment. Some measures LinkedIn takes to ensure consistency include:
- Uniform difficulty level – The beginner SQL assessment will be similar in scope and difficulty each time it is taken by a candidate.
- Regular updates – Assessments are refreshed regularly to keep them consistent with the latest industry standards.
- Quality assurance – Questions are thoroughly vetted internally for clarity, relevance, and accuracy before being added to an assessment.
- Randomized questions – The specific questions are randomly selected from a broader pool for each attempt, but maintain consistent overall scope and difficulty.
These methods allow candidates to be evaluated objectively and fairly on their true skills and abilities in a consistent manner.
Other Assessment Guidelines
In addition to the number of questions, LinkedIn skills assessments follow other standardized guidelines:
- Time limits – Assessments must be completed within specific time limits, usually around 1-2 minutes per question.
- Passing scores – A percentage-based passing score is set by experts for each assessment at each difficulty tier.
- Retake policy – Candidates can retake assessments after a waiting period to improve their scores.
- Proctoring – Assessments use advanced statistical algorithms to detect cheating and maintain integrity.
Adhering to these guidelines allows LinkedIn to reliably benchmark candidates and provide opportunities to demonstrate skills proficiency using fair, consistent, and unbiased assessments.
Preparing for LinkedIn Assessments
With some skills assessments containing just 5-10 questions and others having 25+ questions, it’s important for job seekers to properly prepare to perform well. Here are some tips:
- Review key concepts – Study the core principles and latest best practices that are relevant for the skill being assessed.
- Practice similar tests – Take practice tests online to experience the format and pace of skills assessments.
- Sharpen skills – Consider taking online courses or classes to fill in any knowledge gaps before taking an assessment.
- Watch time management – Take timed practice tests since you will need to answer questions quickly during the real assessment.
- Relax and focus – Get plenty of rest to be refreshed for the assessment and tune out distractions to sustain focus.
With practice and preparation, job seekers can feel ready to demonstrate their best on LinkedIn’s skills assessments, whether they are 5 questions or 50 questions long.
Conclusion
LinkedIn skills assessments can contain anywhere from 5-30+ questions depending on the skill, difficulty level, and desired testing time. Technical skills like programming tend to have lengthier assessments while soft skills like design use fewer questions. Regardless of length, LinkedIn aims to keep the tests short enough to complete quickly but long enough to thoroughly assess capabilities. With proper preparation, job seekers can perform their best and showcase skills accurately, whether completing a brief 5-question test or an intensive 30-question test.