A communication skills test helps you see whether a candidate can make a point clearly, listen well and adjust to the person in front of them, which a resume line like "excellent communicator" can't tell you. This page is for recruiters and hiring managers in any function. It covers what to measure, 10 original sample exercises with what a good response looks like, a comparison of assessment formats and a scoring rubric.
What a communication skills test should measure
Test the kind of communication the job actually uses. A support role lives on writing and calm under pressure. A team lead lives on group conversations and hard news. Drop the rows that don't apply rather than scoring everyone on everything.
Sample communication skills test exercises
These are short exercises, not "tell me about a time" questions. For those, use our behavioral interview questions. Each one takes two to five minutes.
1. Junior, written: rewrite this message so a customer can act on it: "Per our system, your request has been escalated and is pending further review by the relevant team."
What good looks like: the rewrite tells the customer what happens next, when, and whether they need to do anything. For example: "Our billing team is looking at your refund now. You'll hear from us by Thursday, and you don't need to do anything else." Score plain words, a real time frame and one clear ask, or a clear "nothing needed".
2. Junior, listening: the interviewer reads a request aloud once: move the review to Thursday, add Dana, send the slides a day early, and keep it to 30 minutes. Play it back.
What good looks like: all four parts come back, in an order that makes sense, with a question about anything unclear, such as which Thursday or which time zone. Missing one detail is common. Inventing a detail that wasn't said is a bigger concern.
3. Junior to mid, explaining: in 90 seconds, explain a process you know well, such as handling a return or closing the books, to someone who has never seen it.
What good looks like: starts with why the process exists, walks through three to five steps in order, uses one concrete example, and stops on time. Strong candidates check understanding at the end instead of piling on more detail.
4. Mid, bad news: a project will be two weeks late. Write the first three sentences of the email to the client.
What good looks like: the delay is in the first sentence, not the third paragraph. The reason takes one line, without blaming a teammate, and the new date and what's being done about it follow. Watch for burying the news under pleasantries.
5. Mid, summarizing: here is a 600-word email thread between four people. Write a three-bullet update for a busy executive.
What good looks like: the first bullet says what decision or action is needed from the executive, if any. The others cover where things stand and the main risk. No names of who said what unless it matters. Good summaries are shorter than the candidate expects to write.
6. Mid, clarifying: a sales leader asks you for "a dashboard for the team." What do you ask before you start?
What good looks like: questions about use, not design: who will look at it, how often, which decisions it should help with, what they use today and what's wrong with it. A strong candidate restates the need in one sentence and confirms it before building anything.
7. Mid, live response: the interviewer plays a colleague who says, "You never loop me in on anything." Respond.
What good looks like: acknowledges the frustration without getting defensive, asks for a specific example, owns any real miss, and agrees a concrete fix, such as adding them to a weekly update. Arguing about the word "never" is a sign of trouble.
8. Senior, audience: explain one change, such as a new returns policy, three ways: to frontline staff, to a customer and to the finance lead.
What good looks like: the content changes, not just the tone. Staff need the new steps and what to say. The customer needs what it means for them. Finance needs cost, risk and timing. Weak answers say the same thing three times in different voices.
9. Senior, group: you're running a meeting where one person keeps talking over others. What do you say in the moment?
What good looks like: something short and neutral that moves the floor, such as "Let's hear from Sam first, then come back to you." Then a private, specific conversation afterward. Strong candidates protect quieter voices without embarrassing anyone.
10. Senior, written: write a five-sentence message announcing a change people won't like, such as a new on-call schedule.
What good looks like: what is changing, why, when it starts, what was done to reduce the pain, and where to raise concerns. No spin. Readers should finish knowing exactly what to do differently and who to talk to.
Test formats compared
A situational judgment test is cheap to run at scale, but it only shows that someone can recognize a good reply. Pair it with something where the candidate has to produce one, such as a short written exercise or a spoken interview.
Scoring rubric
Be careful not to score accent, fluency in a second language or speaking style as communication skill unless the role truly needs it. Score clarity, structure and listening, and write down the evidence.
Running a communication test with NTRVSTA
Communication is part of NTRVSTA's soft-skills exam library. The live AI interviewer, as a video avatar or audio only, asks behavioral questions with the STAR method and adapts as the candidate talks, so a vague answer gets a follow-up asking what they actually said and to whom. You can add your own questions for the role, and candidates take the interview whenever suits them. Interviews can run in multiple languages.
The score breakdown covers communication and English proficiency alongside technical skills, with video snippets of key moments and a shareable report, so you hear the candidate yourself before deciding. Written exercises like the first one above can run as a separate step. To compare other assessment tools, see our guide to pre-employment assessment software. Related tests: problem-solving and leadership. Hiring for support? Use our customer service representative job description.
Questions
How long should a communication skills test take?
Fifteen to 30 minutes is enough for three to five exercises. Mix at least one spoken and one written task if the job uses both, and keep the prompts the same for every candidate so scores are comparable.
Can you test communication skills fairly for non-native speakers?
Yes, if you separate clarity from accent and polish. Score whether the point lands, the structure holds and the candidate listens. Only score language proficiency on its own line, and only when the job requires it.
Is a communication test useful for technical roles?
Very. Engineers explain trade-offs, write design notes and talk to non-technical colleagues. Pick the exercises that match, such as the three-audience explanation or the executive summary, and keep them short.
Want to hear how an adaptive interview probes a vague answer? Book a 20-minute demo, or try a sample interview and listen for the follow-ups.
