Vervoe vs Mercer Mettl—Which Candidate Assessment Platform is Right for Your Business

If you’re trying to decide between Vervoe vs Mercer Mettl for your candidate assessment needs, you’re not alone. Both tools are excellent options for selecting top-quality candidates, but choosing the right one for your organization might come down to the platforms’ specific features and your personal preferences. 

Vervoe was founded in Australia in 2016 and is known for its immersive, interactive skills assessments and AI-powered grading and anti-cheating technology. Meanwhile, Mercer Mettl was established as Mettl in 2010 before being acquired in 2018 by Mercer, a US-based global consulting firm. It is recognized for its comprehensive range of assessments, including personality, behavioral, cognitive, and coding tests, as well as its remote proctoring service that helps prevent cheating.

To help you choose between these two platforms according to your company’s specific needs, we’ve reviewed and compared their respective features, pricing, integrations, and more. 

Source: Vervoe	Source: Mercer Mettl

Vervoe vs Mercer Mettl at a Glance

To evaluate and compare these two assessment tools, we’ll consider the following factors:

• Types of assessments offered
• Available customization options
• User experience for employers and candidates
• Pricing and value for money
• Integration with other HR software

The following table provides a comparative overview of what Vervoe and Mercer Mettl have in store for you:

Mercer Mettl Provides a More Thorough Candidate Evaluation

Vervoe offers a template library with over 300 assessments created by industry experts and the option to create custom assessments. The questions used in assessments are immersive rather than quiz-like, so there are usually less than 10 of them per assessment. 

The type of question depends on the role—there can be live presentations recorded on video, live spreadsheets, or coding challenges. There is also a growing library of job simulations, which mimic the systems the employer uses, and require candidates to complete tasks they may encounter at work. 

Soft skills are evaluated alongside technical skills, such as the knowledge of necessary products, tools, and techniques required to execute the job. In fact, Vervoe includes soft skills testing as part of technical skills assessments, with one or two questions per assessment related to communication, attention to detail, and teamwork.

Mercer Mettl also has a library containing over 300 assessments, which are divided into 6 groups: 

1. Personality
2. Behavioral
3. Cognitive
4. Technical
5. Coding
6. Communication Skills

A combination of assessments is utilized for each role, evaluating different qualities of a candidate to determine their suitability for the position. For instance, the Content Writer assessment evaluates not only writing skills but also cognitive abilities like abstract reasoning. Assessments generally employ multiple-choice questions, while coding assessments also incorporate simulators. Some technical skills assessments feature case studies as well.

While personality, cognitive, and behavioral assessments concentrate on innate traits, mental abilities, and behavioral patterns, Mercer Mettl’s soft skills assessments specifically target the skills necessary for successful interaction and collaboration. The platform has dedicated tests to evaluate a candidate’s aptitude, intelligence, behavioral style, and personality traits based on the Big Five model (extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism). 

Compared to Vervoe, Mercer Mettl offers a broader range of assessments, particularly in the areas of personality and behavior traits. This comprehensive approach ensures that candidates are evaluated thoroughly on all necessary aspects, making Mercer Mettl the preferred choice for businesses seeking a more complete assessment of their candidates.

Preventing Cheating, or Protecting Candidates’ Privacy? It’s a Tie

Mercer Mettl offers a sophisticated AI-based technology called “Auto-proctoring,” which utilizes candidates’ webcams and microphones to provide automatic monitoring during assessments. The Auto-proctoring system includes Video Proctoring, Audio Proctoring, and Image Proctoring, which can detect any suspicious activity, such as a candidate looking away from the screen or talking to someone. The AI proctoring feature can be combined with live proctors to minimize the chances of cheating.

While Vervoe doesn’t offer online proctoring tools, it still takes candidate privacy and anti-cheating strategies seriously. Vervoe utilizes AI technology to analyze candidates’ keystroke patterns, which can detect potential cheating. For example, if a candidate makes long pauses or clicks away and returns, Vervoe’s system can flag it. Additionally, questions are presented randomly to each candidate, and geolocation detection ensures that candidates complete assessments from a single location.

Vervoe’s AI analyzes candidates’ responses for signs of plagiarism to further prevent cheating. The system can detect if a candidate has copied and pasted from external sources or previously submitted answers. Overall, Vervoe’s approach strikes a balance between candidate privacy and anti-cheating measures.

Mercer Mettl’s online proctoring tools might be more intrusive but also potentially more effective in preventing cheating. However, even honest candidates could feel uncomfortable with these measures due to privacy concerns. Vervoe provides a less intrusive, yet reasonably effective alternative. In our view, the choice is a tie, and your decision depends on personal preference.

Mercer Mettl Offers More Customization Options

Vervoe allows you to create custom assessments tailored to specific roles or skills. The process involves selecting desired skills from the platform’s library, which then generates relevant questions. Alternatively, users can write their own questions for a more personalized approach. Vervoe gives you much control over the assessment customization process, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking for flexibility in their hiring process.

Mercer Mettl allows you to customize assessments in 4 ways:

1. Set the difficulty level by choosing easy, medium, or hard questions from the library
2. Combine multiple skills into one test. For example, if you are hiring for a remote-based Customer Support role, you might want to add a Remote Work assessment to the preexisting Customer Care assessment
3. Add your own questions—for example, questions specific to the projects the candidate will be working on
4. Request a tailor-made test by contacting Mercer Mettl directly

With Mercer Mettl, you have more ways to customize an assessment, so it wins this round. Although it doesn’t give you as much freedom as Vervoe does, it ensures that customized assessments maintain a high level of quality.

Vervoe Stands Out with Its Focus on User Experience

Mercer Mettl’s assessments typically take over 40 minutes to complete and contain over 100 quiz-type questions, making them less appealing to candidates. To address this, Mercer Mettl has added coding and case study simulators to create dynamic assessments.  Still, users have reported occasional slowdowns and freezing issues with the platform. Additionally, there have been instances where its online proctoring system has raised false alarms. Employers are generally happy with the features this platform offers, although some find it could be more user-friendly. Another frequent complaint by employers is that it is rather expensive.

Vervoe stands out by offering concise assessments that engage candidates with immersive question types like live spreadsheets and code challenges. The platform boasts a 98% satisfaction rating from candidates hired through it. However, some employers have criticized Vervoe for difficulties in managing and filtering applicants.

Both platforms prioritize positive candidate experience, have high ratings for ease of use (9.0 for Vervoe and 8.8 for Mercer Mettl on G2), and are mobile-friendly. However, Vervoe emphasizes user experience more, resulting in slightly better ratings.

Both Offer Free Trials, but Vervoe Has More Transparent Pricing

Vervoe offers a 3-month free trial and 3 pricing options:

1. Pay & Go—$228 per year; provides one assessment for up to 100 candidates
2. Skills-based hiring—custom pricing
3. Skills validation via API—custom pricing

All 3 plans include:

• Access to the assessment library
• Candidate report cards with in-depth insights into each candidate’s performance
• Branding options, with introduction videos and employer profiles

In addition to that, the plans with custom pricing offer: 

• Creating custom assessments
• ATS integration
• Advanced employer branding

Source: Vervoe

Mercer Mettl, on the other hand, offers a free trial of unspecified duration, and personalized pricing plans, so you would have to contact them for a quote.

We are fans of transparency, especially regarding pricing, so we have to commend Vervoe in that respect. Without knowing what you get at what price, it’s hard to decide whether a product is right for you, and Vervoe saves you time by being (relatively) upfront with its pricing.

Mercer Mettl Offers More ATS Integrations

In addition to integrating with 9 software solutions for various purposes, Vervoe offers integration with 10 ATS platforms, including: 

1. Bamboo HR
2. BreezyHR
3. Recruitee
4. Workable 
5. Zoho

Mercer Mettl integrates with 11 ATS platforms, such as:

1. Freshteam
2. Lever
3. TurboHire
4. Workable 
5. Zoho

Besides their native integrations, both Vervoe and Mercer Mettl provide an API (Application Programming Interface) that enables developers to create custom integrations between their skills assessments and other systems. However, Vervoe charges an additional fee for custom integrations, whereas Mercer Mettl’s pricing for custom integrations through its API is not publicly disclosed, similar to its other pricing details.

Vervoe’s native integrations with collaborative tools like Gmail and Slack can improve team communication and collaboration. However, when it comes to streamlining the hiring process, integrating with ATSs is crucial. In this aspect, Mercer Mettl emerges as the better choice, despite lacking integrations with collaborative and communication tools.

Vervoe or Mercer Mettl: Which One Suits Your Needs Best?

If you require assessments specifically tailored to the tech industry, Mercer Mettl’s expertise in this area makes it a superior option. Additionally, if maintaining the integrity of the assessment through proctoring is a key concern, then Mercer Mettl is the clear choice.

On the other hand, if providing a positive candidate experience is a top priority, and you prefer a straightforward and time-efficient assessment process that won’t overwhelm your candidates, then Vervoe is the way to go for you.

If you’re interested in exploring more assessment tools beyond Vervoe and Mercer Mettl, take a look at some of the other options we’ve covered:

Another option worth checking out is Workello. As an easy-to-use and affordable ATS, it allows you to set up an automated hiring funnel to make the recruitment process faster and more efficient. Workello also acts as a candidate assessment platform, offering an extensive library of templated skills tests created by industry experts as well as an assessment builder. Originally a platform for writing skills assessments, it now provides assessments for any role, including Marketing, Sales, and Customer Support.

The platform also provides a unified dashboard that enables companies to track candidates from various job boards and platforms and see where each candidate is in the hiring process. Workello helps reduce hiring costs by 50-75% and prevents companies from missing out on top candidates or sending an offer or rejection to the wrong person.

Click here to try it for free.