“Strong candidate” (phrase): says a lot. Proves nothing.
Real behavior, scored consistently.
Not personality. Not guesswork.
Behavioral Assessments score what a candidate actually says and does in the interview against the S9 45 Performance-Based Skills™ framework across Career, Role, and Culture. No personality typing, no resume keyword matching. Just observable evidence, reviewed by a person before it counts.
What gets measured. What doesn’t.
Three categories, one picture of the candidate
Career skills, Role skills, Culture skills — three lenses on the same conversation, not three separate tests.
Each skill scored is drawn from the ones selected for this role — and how much each category counts toward the final score is adjustable, not fixed. A senior leadership hire and an entry-level technical role shouldn’t be weighed identically.
How a skill actually gets scored
Each skill is scored from the evidence a candidate actually provides in the interview — graded from limited or unclear evidence up to strong, consistent evidence across multiple responses. A skill isn’t marked present or absent. It’s marked by how much real, specific evidence backs it up. Those per-skill scores combine — weighted by category, adjustable per role — into a single Stratum Score, with the reasoning behind each one attached and reviewable — not a black box, a shown-your-work box.
Why "more" isn't always "better"
A simple checklist can’t catch this: a skill can be over-used to the point of becoming counterproductive. More of a good skill isn’t automatically a better score — it’s read in context, the way a good manager would read it.
Reviewed by a human, every time
Every skill score. Every piece of supporting evidence. The final Stratum Score. All of it gets reviewed by a person before it affects a hiring decision. The assessment hands a hiring team a documented, evidence-based starting point — it doesn’t make the call for them. For the full methodology and validation approach, see Our Science and Research & Validation.
Frequently asked questions
No. Personality tests sort people into fixed types based on self-reported preferences. Behavioral Assessments score specific, observable behavior demonstrated in the actual interview — tied to what the role requires, not a general personality profile.
A high score reflects strong, consistent evidence of that skill applied within the role. The framework also accounts for a skill being over-used to the point of becoming counterproductive — so scoring rewards effective application, not just "more."
A resume match checks whether certain words appear on a document. This framework scores what a candidate actually demonstrates in real time, responding to real questions — evidence a keyword search has no way to evaluate.
Every score comes with its receipts attached.
See the full methodology behind how a Stratum Score gets built — the framework, the categories, and where human review fits in.
Still here? Respect.
You've read more than most interviewers read job descriptions.
Take five, here's something to listen to that isn't a cue card.