Candidate FAQ

Gradient overview

What is a Gradient assessment?

A Gradient assessment is a chance to work through a realistic business scenario alongside an AI assistant and produce a short piece of work, like a memo or an email.

Each assessment opens with an untimed onboarding tour and a five-minute practice session, so you can get comfortable with the tools before anything counts. From there, you'll move through a few timed phases, each with a task to work on alongside the AI, and most assessments end with a chance to step back and reflect on your work.

We'll evaluate both the quality of your work and how you use AI throughout the exercise. This includes how you guide the AI, evaluate information, make decisions, and apply sound judgment. Our goal is to better understand how you approach real-world business scenarios and collaborate with AI tools in a work setting.

Is the information in the assessment real?
No. Every scenario, company, document, and figure in a Gradient assessment is fictional and created just for the exercise.
How long does it take?
Most assessments take about 45 minutes and are meant to be done in one sitting. You choose when to start, any time before your due date. When you open your assessment link, you will be able to preview each phase and its allotted time limit without starting the assessment timer. The onboarding tour is untimed.
What do I need to have ready?
  • A laptop or desktop computer
  • Reliable internet connection
  • An up-to-date web browser

Choose a quiet location where you can focus without interruption. Once started, the assessment timer runs continuously and cannot be paused. No other preparation is needed.

Am I allowed to use AI?
Yes! The exercise is designed for you to use the Gradient AI assistant to help analyze information, identify key insights, and organize your recommendations. We encourage you to leverage the AI tool throughout the task.
Can I use my own AI tools, like ChatGPT?
We encourage you to use the AI assistant provided within the Gradient assessment environment, which includes all the tools needed to successfully complete the exercise. We ask that you refrain from using external AI tools or resources, as their use may impact your score.
What if I have never used an AI assistant before?
No prior experience with AI is required. The Gradient assessment begins with an onboarding tour and an ungraded five-minute practice session to help you become familiar with the tools before the timed work begins. No advance preparation is necessary.

After the assessment

How are Gradient assessments evaluated?
This assessment helps us better understand how you approach solving problems, making decisions, and using AI effectively in a business setting. In addition to your final deliverable, reviewers may consider your prompts, edits, and interactions within the assessment environment as part of their evaluation.
Does AI decide whether I get hired?
No. If you complete a Gradient skills assessment, your results are reviewed by the company's hiring team as one part of a broader evaluation that also considers your skills, experience, qualifications, and other interactions throughout the hiring process.

Data and privacy

What is recorded during the exercise?
To support the review process, activity within the assessment platform is captured and shared with our review team, including copy-and-paste activity within the assessment environment. The assessment does not record you, your desktop, or activity in other browser tabs.
What data is collected, and who sees it?
Gradient assessments track the work you produce, your interactions with the assistant, and activity within the exercise tab. This data will be visible to the hiring team reviewing your assessment. Nothing you do during the five-minute practice session is recorded, saved, or shared with reviewers.

Accessibility, adjustments, and technical help

How do I ask for more time or an accommodation?
To request extra time or another accommodation, please reach out to the hiring team at the company you're interviewing with before beginning the assessment.
Something went wrong during my exercise. What do I do?
Email support@trygradient.ai with the email on your Gradient account, the assessment you are working on, what you expected, and what happened instead. A screenshot helps.
I have a question about the company's hiring process.
Gradient does not make hiring decisions. For anything about a company's process, timeline, or roles, contact the company's recruiting team directly.

Still stuck? Email support@trygradient.ai. For questions about a company's hiring process, please contact the company directly.