Client: International Organization

Problem: Candidates for this International Organization's field operations roles are subject to a three-step hiring process. The third step, Assessment of Knowledge, is essentially a multiple-choice test, comprised of questions of varying levels of difficulty (i.e. from ’beginner’ to ‘advanced’), which assess the test-taker’s technical knowledge of their area of expertise. For the Finance Occupational Group, the same, standard assessment has been used for an extended period of time and has become predictable and widely available to those being assessed, thereby decreasing its effectiveness in supporting effective hiring practices.

Solution: As the North American representative of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), Nīewe Consulting (formerly Baiame) provided oversight in the development of a bank of 100 ‘beginner,’ ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’ level questions pertaining to financial management, IPSAS and other knowledge expected of professionals in the Finance Occupational Group. Nīewe conducted a detailed review of the current questionnaire, hosted interviews with key stakeholders and applied CIPFA expertise and best practices to develop the 100 questions, which was provided to the client, broken down by level of difficulty, and included detailed solutions to questions.

Impact: Nīewe enabled the client better visibility of the objectives of the Knowledge Assessment and provided an aligned set of questions for future use.