Why we do what we do…

We currently live in a world where most individuals don’t really know who they are, much less what makes them unique… So they have a tendency to make decisions – in both their personal and professional lives – that are not always the best for them.

Then we have companies, which continue to hire or guide people in an archaic way. For example, many of them still rely on completely outdated criteria and methods such as pre-selection based on a CV or cover letter. And then there are the companies that rely blindly on a “feeling” they may get during an interview, and we know very well that those feelings are full of biases.

Worse yet, under the guise of innovative practices, we’ve witnessed the development of “automated” CV sorting and 2-minute video interviews… which is just a faster way to exacerbate the underlying problems of the hiring process.

The result of all this is that it’s rarely the most skilled person or the one with the best potential who gets the job, but rather the person with the most “flamboyant” resume or the one who knows how to make the best impression in an interview.

This is a horribly ineffective way of doing things and it generates a whole host of injustices…

Furthermore, it doesn’t serve the interests of the company or the individuals concerned.

#LoseLoseStrategy

We find it intolerable that most people are stuck in this status quo.

That’s why, every day, we devote most of our brain power, energy, passion and financial resources to changing the system.

 

How are we taking concrete action, around the globe, to establish a new hiring standard that is fairer?

At AssessFirst, we believe that in order to sustainably change things on a deep level, it is imperative that the solution we provide serve the interests of both job applicants and of companies. Without this fundamental balance, we do not think that any significant or lasting change is possible.

We therefore designed a solution that allows individuals and companies to better understand themselves and truly make the best decisions in a very real way.

For individuals (applicants and employees), we allow each person to gain an understanding of the natural talents that make them unique. The person simply has to complete their profile on AssessFirst. They automatically have access to a complete report on the various aspects of their personality, but also on what motivates them and their cognitive abilities. Armed with this information, they can more effectively direct their efforts to target the jobs and companies where they truly have a chance of succeeding and enjoying themselves on a daily basis.

For companies, we provide a predictive solution that is turbo-boosted by AI. This solution gives them the ability to hire and manage their talent more effectively, basing their decisions on the analysis of each person’s potential (well beyond what their CV tells us). The result? Faster, higher quality hiring situations where people deliver better performance sooner and generally stay in their job longer. Many of our customers also use AssessFirst to manage internal mobility of employees, build succession plans or even to create teams that will provide the best possible performance.

So far, more than 3,500 companies across 40 countries have used AssessFirst successfully and therefore participated in the creation of a more efficient and equitable world.

 

Who works at AssessFirst?

To achieve our mission, we need a big team! Our hiring system is of the utmost importance to us.

It can definitely be “disorienting” to see who works at AssessFirst when you come from a “traditional” company…

Here, you’ll find profiles that you don’t normally see in most companies.

At AssessFirst, we don’t employ entire classes of people who just graduated from the best business or engineering schools. Of course, some of our colleagues have those backgrounds, but we didn’t hire them exclusively for that reason.

Our objective is to allow each person who applies to start with the same opportunities at the outset.

Of course, we have to make choices, and there is limited space. However, neither your CV nor your cover letter will help us decide whether or not we ask you for an interview…

Hiring at AssessFirst is based on your personality, motivations and reasoning abilities in order to identify how well you fit with the job, your manager and the company.

The thing that the people here have in common is that they are brilliant, passionate, committed, hard-working and creative problem solvers who care so much about achieving our “Mission”, it’s as if their lives depended on it.

It may sound excessive to say it that way… but it’s true!

If we tried to characterise these profiles, to give them a name, we could say that – for the most part – they are “Entrepreneur” types.

 

In the span of a few years, the increased power of algorithms, automation and robotics has deprived humans of a growing number of tasks and activities that were reserved to them previously. While it has been a form of liberation in many respects, it also makes us rethink our place in the word and the future of work.

If we aren’t careful, large numbers of people will find themselves sidelined in the near future, as they become unable to contribute in ways that distinguish them from automated systems…

 

Management at AssessFirst.

We invest heavily in our employees. It is important to us for each employee in the company to succeed and feel fulfilled by their work.

We listen to each person. We believe that listening helps make our company better, every day.

While we know that our teams are incredible, we also understand that we can always do better.

We are still at the beginning of our journey and we aspire to more.

When you join AssessFirst, we will do everything we can to help you go higher, to continuously progress.

It’s a demanding way of working and it works best for people who are seeking that level of excellence.

Two major principles guide our way of working, and they work hand in hand.

Something important we should mention (to give you the necessary context), is that AssessFirst is a #FullRemote company.

This means we have no physical office. Everyone works where they want. That might be at home, at a coworking office, alone or with colleagues, in France, or abroad… Whatever!

And of course, we’ve done everything in our power to make sure this setup does not feel depressing or isolating for anyone.

If you want to learn more about what we’ve implemented to make sure everyone can live the #FullRemote experience as happily and enthusiastically as possible, check out this link.

We bring up #FullRemote, because #FullRemote means “major freedom”!

In #FullRemote mode, you can work wherever you want. From a big city or from the most isolated spot on Earth. The only requirement is a high-quality internet connection so we can communicate efficiently and so you can interact with our customers, partners and other stakeholders without experiencing lag or being disconnected every 5 minutes…

So, you can work from wherever you want.

You can organise your days however you want, too.

Of course, we expect you to be at meetings, whether they are internal or with customers. It’s important for you to specify certain time slots where your colleagues and/or manager can reach you.

But beyond that, you do you! We have people who wake up at 10am every day. Others prefer to work at night. Some morning people start at dawn and finish early in the afternoon.

No one will scold you or give you side eye if you go to the doctor, head to the gym to blow off some steam or pick up your kids from school without taking a half-day off.

We really couldn’t care less, actually.

The only requirement is that you do your work, communicate well and coordinate with the rest of the company.

This freedom is also a sign that we trust you to carry out your mission.

No micromanagement around here!

We believe that people are most fulfilled at work when we trust them and communicate transparently. The company is growing, but we care about maintaining this freedom. We don’t want to create a process or rule every time there’s an issue.

We want to remain flexible and mobile, so we can always adjust to the world around us.

It’s a constant challenge to preserve this freedom in a context of major growth, which can feel destabilising.

The trade-off? With great power comes great responsibility, and that applies to our employees on both an individual and collective level.

Extreme responsibility is the necessary counterweight to radical freedom, which we offer everyone within the company.

If you are not responsible, if you don’t have the interests of the company at heart, but also the interests of your colleagues or people on other teams, it can’t work.

When you decide to confront a problem as huge as the one we’re attempting to solve, you can’t hide behind excuses of any kind. So we expect everyone to be demanding of themselves, but also to guarantee this expectation is met within their own team(s).

We put all our energy into maintaining the excellence of our employees and creating processes that develop the productivity of our teams.

We want our managers and leaders to model this responsibility by ensuring they provide good examples: excellence, a high level of self-discipline, problem-solving (without having to ask) and acting in the best interest of AssessFirst.