Vervoe vs McQuaig—Which Is the Superior Assessment Software?

Vervoe and McQuaig differ in many ways, but they share the same purpose—they’re assessment platforms aimed at evaluating candidates and helping recruiters make better hiring decisions.

McQuaig’s beginnings date back to the 1950s, when a Canadian industrial psychologist Jack McQuaig founded the McQuaig Institute of Executive Development, a consulting agency assisting corporations in hiring salespeople and managers. The first McQuaig assessment was published in 1967 and has since been digitalized to become one of the most sought-after online assessment platforms. It consists of a suite of empirically validated pre-hire surveys and solutions.

Vervoe was founded by Omer Molad and David Weinberg with the goal of ensuring fair, skills-based evaluation for all candidates. Although launched less than a decade ago, Vervoe has already become a major name in the candidate assessment industry. With its AI-powered grading system, Vervoe has a more modern take on pre-employment assessments.

If you’re in two minds about which software to choose, check out our Vervoe vs McQuaig Assessments breakdown. We’ll analyze their assessment and feature variety, cost, ease of use, and more.

Source: Vervoe	Source: McQuaig Assessments

Vervoe vs McQuaig Assessments—Criteria for Comparison

Which of these two platforms will better suit your business largely depends on your recruitment needs and process. To help you choose the right one, we’ll sum up all the information on Vervoe and McQuaig, answering the following questions:

• What kind of assessments do they offer?
• How customizable are the assessments?
• How intuitive are they for the hiring team, as well as for the candidates?
• Do they integrate with other HR tools?
• How much do they cost and is the price justified?

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, here’s a quick overview:

McQuaig Is Better in Terms of Assessment Quality, but Vervoe Has More Features

Vervoe offers a wide range of options, from technical and soft skill assessments to realistic job simulations. It has over 300 templates constructed and reviewed by leading industrial psychologists. It also supports numerous question and answer types, including text, video, and audio, all available in multiple languages. 

Vervoe can randomize questions and answers to prevent cheating and flag plagiarism and unusual behavior. That’s all possible due to its AI grading system, which not only curbs bias and inconsistencies but also saves employers time.

Although it doesn’t offer as much diversity as Vervoe, McQuaig’s assessment has undergone extensive validation research. In the UK, certain tests have been accepted by and registered with the British Psychological Society and the Psychological Testing Centre.

McQuaig’s platform is also available in multiple languages and comprises various tools, including:

• Job Profile—used to determine critical skills needed for the role
• Personality survey—measures key personality traits and how the candidate behaves
• Cognitive Agility test—tests for speed of thought and other indicators of “intelligence”
• Advanced Analysis—deep insight into the candidate’s character, values, motivation, and more 

Each McQuaig survey yields detailed reports that you can use to make informed hiring decisions. The platform also has interview guides and post-employment assessment tools, such as the 360 leadership review, team effectiveness, and personalized employee development plans. Besides the cognitive agility test, it lacks specific skill tests.

Vervoe may be the better option if you need to recruit high volumes of candidates for specific roles, as it has more assessment variety, as well as an AI grading and cheating prevention system. On the other hand, if you need to test for high-level positions and your primary goal is test quality, consider McQuaig instead.

Vervoe Offers More Customization Opportunities

Vervoe gives you complete control of the assessment customization process, as you can select one of the ready-made templates and modify it, or create an assessment from scratch.

Even the AI scoring model can be customized to reflect your company values, but you’ll need to spend some time and effort training it first. Employers who deal with a large number of candidates daily will profit from this feature the most, as it can weed out the most unsuitable contenders right away. 

Both platforms allow you to personalize the assessment with your company logo to stay consistent with the branding. Vervoe also lets you customize the chat function and add video assessment introductions.

McQuaig’s validity comes at the expense of flexibility. Its tests don’t provide any room for improvisation when it comes to questions and scoring. Still, the Job Profile survey will help you identify the ideal profile for each specific role in your company and create a benchmark that you can later use to evaluate all subsequent candidates. 

If the roles you’re hiring for require specific knowledge and special skills, Vervoe is the better option due to its customizability. And if you prioritize reliable, high-quality assessments over customizable ones, we recommend McQuaig.

McQuaig Provides a Smoother and More Consistent User Experience

Vervoe is easy to set up and use for all hiring team members. It’s also mobile-friendly, which makes it appealing to a broader audience. The support is also said to be responsive and helpful. 

Still, users have complained about certain features and reported several technical issues. For instance, applicant tracking is limited and there’s no way to delete candidate profiles, while reordering questions can be tedious. Candidate experience could also be better, with some test-takers coming across bugs, lagging, and issues with video uploading.

McQuaig is straightforward and intuitive for both administrators and candidates, with some companies using the platform for over a decade. There was no mention of bugs or other technical problems in any of the reviews. Still, one reviewer stated that the terminology could be difficult to understand for some candidates.

For those who need assistance or want to learn to make the most of it, McQuaig offers several levels of interpreter training. Users were satisfied with its customer support as well. 

You or your applicants likely won’t experience any issues with either platform, but McQuaig seems more reliable and consistent.

Vervoe Excels at Integrations

When it comes to integration with other HR software, Vervoe takes the cake. Currently, it supports integrations with 19 different tools. That includes Slack, Gmail, Oracle, and LinkedIn, as well as numerous applicant tracking systems, such as:

• Recruitee
• Breezy
• Workable
• ZohoRecruit
• JobAdder
• BambooHR

You can request a custom integration if your ATS is not on the list. Vervoe has an API that allows you to embed it into your existing workflow, whatever tools you use. Keep in mind that integrations come with the annual plan only, and some of them (SmartRecruiters, Oracle, and others) are considered “premium features” and cost extra.

McQuaig has fewer ready-made integration options than Vervoe, but it also supports custom integrations via API, which will likely affect the pricing. The available ATS integrations include:

1. JazzHR
2. Workable
3. Greenhouse
4. Cornerstone (soon)
5. Teamtailor (soon)

Compared to McQuaig, Vervoe gives you more options, and besides ATSs, it can integrate with Gmail, Slack, and LinkedIn.

McQuaig Is More Expensive, but Its Pricing Model Is More Flexible

Vervoe has a 3-month free trial, which you can get instantly by signing up. It offers 3 pricing options:

1. Pay & Go—$228 a year 
2. Skills-based Hiring—annual, custom pricing
3. Skills Validation via API—usage-based pricing, available upon request  

The Pay & Go tier is budget-friendly, but also limiting. You get access to only one assessment and can evaluate up to 100 candidates. It includes templates, up to 5 custom questions, bulk invitations, AI grading, and a company welcome video. 

Users noted that this model is quite inflexible. Once you hit the 100-candidate threshold, you can only access assessment outcomes if you upgrade to the yearly plan. Additionally, there is no option to purchase results or features individually.

The annual and API plans are more customizable and can unlock features such as integrations, assessment modification, company branding, and an anti-cheating system. The subscription can be paused in case of a dry spell.

Source: Vervoe

McQuaig is the more expensive option of the two. It offers a free demo and 4 yearly membership plans:

1. Basic—$250 per assessment
2. Starter—pricing available upon request
3. Professional—pricing available upon request
4. Scale—pricing available upon request

Source: McQuaig 

The Basic membership is ideal for small businesses and those who want to explore the platform before committing to the higher tiers. It entails a single assessment, technical support, and access to the knowledge base and upcoming beta features.

The Starter membership includes:

• Up to 10 assessments
• Benchmarking
• A dedicated CSM
• Onboarding and success planning
• Limited access to Hiring Workflows
• McQuaig University Learning Path for one learner

With the two highest plans, you can unlock up to 500 assessments, full access to Hiring Workflows, and McQuaig University Learning Paths for up to 4 people. You can also purchase additional assessments, workflows, learners, and training.

The Takeaway

If test quality is your objective and pricing is not something you’re worried about, then McQuaig might be a better choice. It’s also the more reliable of the two since some Vervoe users have experienced technical issues. 

Still, if you need to assess specific skills and knowledge, consider Vervoe due to its customization options and assessment variety. Vervoe also has the benefit of AI grading, which can save you a lot of time once you’ve figured out how to use it.

All in all, both platforms are widely used and effective at assessing potential employees, but McQuaig’s is a long-standing, generalized assessment, while Vervoe’s is more affordable, customizable, and contemporary. It all depends on your hiring needs and budget. 

For additional Vervoe comparisons, refer to the table below:

Workello gives you the best of both worlds, and then some. With Workello’s easy-to-use platform, you can start assessing candidates using expert-made tests in only a few clicks and provide them with an engaging experience with status pages and automatic responses. Sign up for Workello today and enjoy hiring in its simplest and most efficient form—without breaking the bank.