Most recruitment technologies operate like isolated islands—brilliant at their individual functions but terrible at working together. Candidates jump between different platforms, losing momentum with each transition. Recruiters juggle multiple dashboards, struggling to piece together coherent candidate profiles. The result? A fragmented experience that drives away top talent and exhausts hiring teams.
During a recent conversation with The Selection Lab’s leadership team, I was impressed by their approach to solving this perennial challenge. Rather than building yet another assessment tool, they’ve created something more intriguing: an AI-powered platform that seamlessly connects 200 different assessments from the best vendors around the world. Founded in 2020, they focus on automating everything from first contact up until the live interview with candidates. Their approach to combining the best assessment tools in one seamless experience suggests a company serious about solving platform fragmentation while maintaining assessment quality.
The Integration Imperative Nobody Talks About
Traditional recruitment suffers from what The Selection Lab team calls “platform proliferation syndrome.” Organizations accumulate best-of-breed tools — cognitive assessments from one vendor, personality tests from another, video interviews from a third — only to discover these tools don’t communicate. As Stefan van Duin, Head of Partnerships at The Selection Lab, explains: “What we’ve seen in the market is that there are a lot of people who are psychologists who build a test and then bring it to market. The usability of those tests is not really great, but the tests behind it are really great with all the validation and everything what’s needed.”
A Look at the Current Market
HireVue — The industry’s most recognized video interviewing platform with AI-powered assessments and multilingual support across 40+ languages
- Strengths: Massive scale, extensive enterprise adoption, robust security including FedRAMP authorization
- Limitations: Primarily video-focused, limited third-party assessment integration, historically high candidate anxiety rates
TestGorilla — Comprehensive skills testing with 350+ science-backed tests and AI-powered candidate recommendations
- Strengths: Extensive test library, strong anti-cheating measures, good ATS integrations
- Limitations: Primarily standalone platform, limited ability to combine with external assessment tools
Pymetrics (now Harver) — Neuroscience-based gamified assessments measuring cognitive and emotional attributes through 12+ interactive games
- Strengths: Science-backed bias reduction, engaging candidate experience, strong predictive validity
- Limitations: Fixed game-based format, limited customization for specific roles, acquisition uncertainty
Criteria Corp — Cognitive aptitude testing specialists with the widely-used CCAT measuring critical thinking and problem-solving abilities
- Strengths: Scientifically validated assessments, quick 15-minute testing, strong predictive correlation with job performance
- Limitations: Narrow focus on cognitive ability, limited soft skills assessment, rigid format
Vervoe — AI-powered job simulations platform with customizable skill assessments and automatic ranking
- Strengths: Role-specific simulations, strong customization capabilities, effective skills-based matching
- Limitations: Requires significant setup time, limited global language support, primarily video-centric
The Orchestration Advantage: Beyond Single-Point Solutions
The Selection Lab’s approach differs fundamentally from these competitors. Instead of forcing organizations to choose one assessment methodology, they’ve built what amounts to an AI-powered conductor for the entire assessment orchestra.
Three core innovations distinguish their platform:
- Assessment Integration Engine: “We combine 200 different assessments out there in the field,” according to van Duin. They license assessments from the best vendors and integrate them into one seamless candidate experience. This addresses the primary frustration point that causes qualified candidates to abandon applications mid-process—drop-offs between different testing platforms.
- AI-Powered Flow Optimization: Rather than generic assessment sequences, their system analyzes role requirements, candidate demographics, and organizational culture to recommend optimal assessment combinations. For every customer, “the starting point is what do you want to measure and who is your target audience? And based on that, we propose them two or three different flows which would fit best.” This eliminates the manual configuration typically required by HR teams while ensuring each assessment journey is mobile-first and tailored to specific roles.
- WhatsApp Integration for Real-Time Engagement: Their AI bot enables candidates to move through the hiring process “every minute of the day, also in the evening and also in the weekends.” Candidates receive immediate WhatsApp responses and can ask questions about applications or vacancies while completing screening questions. A recent implementation demonstrated this capability—processing thousands of applicants for dozens of positions, identifying hundreds of qualified candidates in just one week using this WhatsApp-first approach.
Who Actually Needs Assessment Orchestra Conductors?
The Selection Lab’s integration approach resonates with specific organizational profiles:
Global Enterprise Recruiters (1,000+ employees)
- Primary need: Standardized assessment experiences across multiple regions and languages
- Key benefit: Video-based assessments utilizing company-branded videos uniquely enhanced with generative AI, enabling automatic translation into 40 different languages
- ROI driver: Reduced candidate drop-off rates and improved hiring manager confidence in assessment data
High-Volume Recruitment Teams (staffing agencies, retail chains, contact centers)
- Primary need: Processing thousands of candidates efficiently while maintaining quality
- Key benefit: Complete automation from first contact through to live interview, with mobile-first assessment flows that prevent candidate drop-offs
- ROI driver: Dramatic reduction in manual screening time through streamlined high-volume processing capabilities
Professional Services Firms (law firms, consultancy, accounting)
- Primary need: Comprehensive evaluation combining cognitive ability, cultural fit, and role-specific competencies
- Key benefit: The company started with law firms, which van Duin notes “are really critical about how the thing needs to be really detailed focus,” ensuring the platform meets exacting professional standards
- ROI driver: Higher quality hires and reduced early-tenure turnover through precise competency matching
Technical Recruiting Organizations (software companies, engineering firms)
- Primary need: Balance between technical skills validation and soft skills assessment
- Key benefit: Integration of coding challenges with communication assessments in unified workflows
- ROI driver: More accurate technical hire predictions and improved team integration outcomes
Scale-Up Companies (50-500 employees)
- Primary need: Professional-grade assessment capabilities without enterprise-level complexity
- Key benefit: Whether you’re a team of one or a thousand, Selection Lab puts the power of automation and AI in your hands—no coding required
- ROI driver: Faster scaling of recruitment capabilities as organization grows
Strategic Market Positioning: The Integration Play
The Selection Lab occupies a unique position in the recruitment technology landscape. While competitors focus on perfecting individual assessment types, The Selection Lab has identified that the real competitive advantage lies in seamless integration and candidate experience optimization.
Their approach addresses three critical market gaps that traditional vendors struggle with:
Platform Fragmentation: Most organizations use 3-5 different assessment tools, creating disjointed candidate experiences and incomplete data pictures. The Selection Lab’s integration layer solves this without requiring organizations to abandon existing tool investments.
Candidate Experience Deterioration: About 62 percent of assessments on the platform are completed by women, indicating that thoughtful assessment design can actually improve diversity outcomes rather than hinder them. The Selection Lab’s unified approach maintains engagement throughout longer assessment processes.
AI Implementation Complexity: Many assessment platforms offer AI features, but few make them accessible to non-technical recruitment teams. The Selection Lab’s conversational AI interface democratizes advanced assessment optimization.
Looking ahead, the recruitment assessment market is moving toward platform consolidation and improved candidate experiences. Organizations that can successfully balance comprehensive evaluation with candidate engagement will capture the most value. The Selection Lab’s orchestration approach positions them well for this evolution, particularly as remote and hybrid work continues to increase the importance of thorough pre-hire assessment.
The question isn’t whether AI will transform recruitment assessment—it’s whether that transformation will happen through monolithic platforms or intelligent integration layers. The Selection Lab is betting on integration, and their early traction with major European employers suggests they may be onto something significant.
