Testing is an integral part of any course regardless where it is taken, from classrooms to the workplace. As we all know testing is primarily used as an assessment tool that allows decisions to be made.

Traditional methods used the pen and paper strategy while during the early 1990s that transitioned to computers for many. Late 1990 saw the emergence of online training and testing so the aspect of courseware, LMS etc etc came of age.

At the time due to bandwidth restrictions, corporate platforms were needed for some while others tried to work in reducing data to allow for the restrictions. This produced a plethora of online courses that were text based and really offered long winded and very unexciting features.

From the time of 2005 the movement toward larger bandwidths started to become more of a reality as Telco providers started to open up new cable infrastructures to allow for faster and larger downloads.

From here multiple users not just the elite were allowed to receive their online courses with much more "real content". However, the testing area resided in the old stream of things. Why?

Well you hear the assertion that tests are specific or conform to standards so we have to keep them as they are.Hmm.. sounds like the platforms created did not encompass 360 degree ( a hot word) tests, so the easiest theme is to state "we already have the best". This stopped many normal HR managers and trainers from arguing the point as doing so would work against their current investments.

During 2007 a company, Super Candidate Inc, started to tout a technology they had been developing since 2003 to a market they believed would truely be there one day. The day had arrived - the bandwidth day of fast stream MYSPACE, YouTube and others alike.

As the popularity of video content is abundantly clear, this company hopes to change the way people in the testing arena envisage tests. Why not add video, sound, images, Pdf,doc and all sorts of other media to test questions.

Just image the number of test question in areas such as technical, call center,languages, life sciences, legal etc etc could do to your questioning quality. Like pick it up 10 fold as pictures speak a thousand words and no doubt video and sound combined speak a million pictures...

The aim of Super Candidate was not just a rash jump on the bandwagon of training like the likes of Adobe with products that only work with their platforms, if you pay them through the nose or add multiple servers etc etc to make a credible product. It was a design of a company that had won several awards from the likes of PC Magazine, Computer Shopper and even QVC for products that are actually user friendly and can be deployed in lightening time.

For example, their is about a 5 minute learning curve to creating tests including step by step video tutorials. How about integration to virtually any online courseware meaning that within a few steps it could be linked to anyones website that has courseware to offer.

The abilty to allow users to create tests that required only typing skills opened the door for many of those who are not programmers as well as those who require short learning curves.

Adding video and soundbite questions increases the power of your tests and you should be fast in adopting this method in this changing age to offer your candidates and companies alike a higher quality of testing. Place the ease of use, unlimited tests, unlimited reports, data sharing with 99% of corporate databases and even cell phone notification for those who are busy throughout the day, makes the product supercandidate a tool that you cannot do without.

Author's Bio: 

Tricia Deardry is a core expert in employee testing for over 14yrs. She is a graduate of business Bristol business School ( the top business school in the UK). She also has a Masters in human resource management from Yale. Her key aim is to allow the best form of testing to get optimal results and has done so in over 80 leading firms in the US and Europe. Currently she works with critical video,sound and other media implementations related to the explosion of the net and its uses to HR.