# Skills-Based Hiring and Pre-Employment Tests > Skills-based hiring for engineering roles: send a pre-employment skills test, then review a scored, levelled result with integrity signals before the interview. Source: https://getlemma.io/solutions/technical-hiring Skills-based hiring means judging candidates on what they can do, not on titles or degrees. Send a candidate an assessment invite for the skill the role needs, and get a scored, levelled result with integrity signals before the first interview. [See how assessments work](https://getlemma.io/product/assessments) ## Every CV says “advanced TypeScript”. Screening on CVs rewards whoever describes their work best. Take-home tasks help, but they cost candidates an evening and your engineers an afternoon of marking, and you still cannot see how the work was done. An assessment invite puts one consistent measure in front of every candidate. The questions adapt to each answer, the scoring follows a published [methodology](https://getlemma.io/methodology), and the result arrives with the context you need to read it. ## What changes in your hiring loop The stages stay familiar. What changes is what you know at each one, and how much of your team's time it takes to find out. Typical technical hiring compared with hiring using Lemma assessment invites | Stage | Typical process | With Lemma | | --- | --- | --- | | Screening signal | CV keywords and job titles | A scored assessment in the skill the role needs | | Skill check | A take-home task your team marks by hand | An adaptive assessment scored the same way for every candidate | | Integrity | Hard to tell who did the work, or how | Integrity signals recorded during the attempt and reported with the result | | Wider evidence | Whatever the candidate chooses to describe | Skill records with their source, date and verification state, if the candidate shares a Passport | | Interview time | Spent establishing basic ability | Spent on depth, judgement and fit | ## How an assessment invite works One invite covers one candidate and one skill. The result is the same shape whichever skill you choose. 01 ### Choose the skill Pick it from the shared skill catalogue, so every candidate is measured against the same definition rather than a phrase in a job ad. 02 ### Send the invite The candidate receives a link. The invite expires if it is not started within 72 hours by default, so stale invites do not linger in your pipeline. 03 ### The candidate takes an adaptive assessment Questions get harder or easier based on each answer. Tab switches, pasted text and similar signals are recorded during the attempt. 04 ### Review the result You see a score, a level, a pass or fail outcome and an integrity decision: clean, needs review or flagged. Then you decide who to interview. ## What a hiring team gets Built on the same assessment engine and Skills Passport that individuals use, so the evidence means the same thing on both sides. ### Assessment invites One link per candidate and skill, with an expiry. Track whether each invite was started, completed or expired. ### Adaptive scoring The assessment adjusts to each answer, so it measures level rather than whether a candidate memorised a fixed question set. ### Integrity signals Behaviour during the attempt becomes a clear decision you can act on, with the underlying signals available for review. ### Passport context When a candidate shares their Skills Passport, you also see live sessions, projects and earlier assessments behind each skill. ### Shared skill definitions Skills come from one canonical catalogue, so a TypeScript result means the same thing for every candidate and every role. ### API and webhooks Invites, results and Passport verification are available through an API in early access, with webhooks for each invite status. ## Questions hiring teams ask ### What is skills-based hiring for engineers? Skills-based hiring judges engineers on evidence of what they can do rather than on degrees, job titles or years of experience. In practice that means a consistent skill check early in the process, such as an adaptive assessment in the skill the role needs, read alongside any work the candidate shares. ### Does an assessment invite replace the technical interview? No. It replaces guesswork at the screening stage. You still meet the candidate, but you start the conversation knowing how they performed in the skill the role needs, so interview time goes on depth, judgement and fit. ### What does the candidate need to do? Open the invite link, sign in to Lemma and take the adaptive assessment for the skill you chose. Each invite is for one candidate and one skill, and it expires if it is not started in time (72 hours by default). ### How does Lemma handle cheating during an assessment? Questions adapt to each answer, so candidates do not share a fixed question set. Integrity signals such as tab switches and pasted text are recorded during the attempt and reported with the result as clean, needs review or flagged. ### Can results go straight into our own hiring tools? The assessment and verification API, including webhooks for invites that are started, completed or expired, is in early access. Ask for access and we will tell you what is available for your setup. ### How is this different from a coding test platform? A coding test gives you one score from one sitting. A Lemma result sits next to the candidate's wider Skills Passport, where assessments, live sessions and shipped work stay connected to the skills they support. ## Go deeper before you decide [Adaptive assessmentsHow questions are selected, how a level is formed and what the candidate experiences.](https://getlemma.io/product/assessments)[Verification APISend invites and read results from your own systems. Currently in early access.](https://getlemma.io/developers)[Lemma and CodilityA timed coding test compared with an adaptive assessment backed by a wider skill record.](https://getlemma.io/compare/codility)[Lemma and TestGorillaA pre-employment test library compared with evidence that stays with the candidate.](https://getlemma.io/compare/testgorilla)[Skills tests by skillWhat each skill's assessment covers, from React and Python to SQL and system design.](https://getlemma.io/skills)[Lemma and HackerRankA fair look at where a coding test platform fits and where a Skills Passport adds context.](https://getlemma.io/compare/hackerrank) ![Painting of a waterfall pouring into a clear pool among mossy rocks and ferns](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/islu4peo/production/76223a89ee5f00ffa62886801dd86be45a0ca233-1680x1120.jpg?w=1080&fm=webp&q=68&fit=max) ## Hire on evidence you can read. Lemma is opening access to hiring teams gradually. Join the list, or write to hello@getlemma.io about the roles you are filling.