We are on a Big F**k!ng Mission.
Enabling individuals and businesses to identify what makes them unique and inspiring them to realise their full potential.
Our Vision.
Why we do what we do…
Today, we are living in a world where most people do not really know who they are and even less what sets them apart… As a result, they tend to make decisions – whether in their personal or professional life – which are not always the most well-informed.
Companies, for their part, often still continue to recruit and develop people using archaic methods. For example, many continue to rely on totally outdated criteria and methods, such as preselection based on CVs and cover letters. Or those who blindly rely on the feelings they get from interviews, which we know are full of bias…
Worse, under the guise of “innovative” practices, we are witnessing the development of “robotised” CV sorting and 2-minute video interviews… just quicker ways to exacerbate the fundamental problems of recruitment.
The result of all this is that the job rarely goes to the most competent person or the one with the most suitable potential. Instead it is given to whoever best constructed their CV, or the person who knew how to make the best impression during the interview.
Not only is this terribly inefficient, it also generates a host of issues and inequalities…
Moreover, it serves neither the interests of the company nor any individuals.
#LoseLoseStrategy
In our eyes, this status quo is intolerable, though much of the world is still entangled in it.
That’s why every day we devote most of our minds, energy, passion and financial resources to making a difference.
What are we doing to actually establish a new standard of recruitment – one that is more equitable – everywhere in the world?
At AssessFirst, we believe that to make things happen that will be long-lasting with impact, it is imperative that the solution we provide serves the interests of candidates, as well as those of companies. Without this fundamental balance, we believe that no meaningful and lasting change can happen.
Therefore, we have designed a solution that allows individuals and companies to get to know each other better, as well as informing them to truly make better decisions about one another based on objective facts.
- On the side of individuals (candidates and collaborators), we help them become aware of their natural talents and what makes them unique. To do this, the person just has to complete their AssessFirst profile. Automatically, they receive access to a complete report on the various aspects of their personality, as well as their motivations and even cognitive capacities. Armed with this information, they are then able to orient themselves more effectively and target jobs or companies in which they are likely to be successful and enjoy themselves on a daily basis.
- On the business side, we provide a predictive hiring and development solution boosted by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Our solution enables them to recruit and manage talent more effectively, by relying on an analysis of each individual’s potential (well beyond their CV). The result is faster, better-quality hires, that result in people performing better, faster, and staying with a company for longer. Many of our customers also use AssessFirst to manage internal mobility, to build succession plans or to build high-performance teams.
To date, over 3,500 companies in 40 countries have successfully used AssessFirst and are helping to create a more efficient and fairer world.
Who works at AssessFirst?
To accomplish our mission, we need an amazing team! Our recruitment system is one of the most crucial parts of our operation.
When you come from a more “classic” style of company, it can be quite an eye-opener to see who works at AssessFirst…
Truth be told, you won’t find the sort of profiles that you are used to encountering in most companies.
At AssessFirst, we aren’t searching for people coming out of the biggest business programs or the best schools for engineering. Obviously, we do have a few people who fit that bill… but they weren’t recruited for those reasons.
Our goal is to give everyone who applies equal footing and an equal chance from the start.
Of course, we do have to make choices and open-positions are limited. However, neither a CV nor cover letter will be taken into account when deciding who to bring in for interviews.
At AssessFirst, recruitment is based on your behaviours, motivations and reasoning abilities. This allows us to identify the fit between you, the job, your manager and the company.
The common thread we find most among our employees is that they are brilliant, passionate, incredibly committed, hardworking resourceful individuals who are devoted to our mission, as if their lives depended on it.
That may sound excessive or exaggerated… but it’s true!
If we were to characterise their profiles and had to classify them, we could say that the vast majority of them are of the “Entrepreneur” type.
Management at AssessFirst.
We invest a lot in our employees. We are committed to ensuring that each one of them is in a situation that leads to fulfilment and success.
We are attentive to everyone. We believe that listening helps build a better business, every day.
While we know that our teams are amazing, we also understand that we always have the potential to do better.
We are still at the beginning of our adventure and we strive for more.
When you join AssessFirst, we are committed to taking you higher and higher, so that you can continuously improve.
It’s a demanding model and it works best for people who seek that level of excellence.
Two main principles guide the way in which we work, and they are inseparable from one another.
#RadicalFreedom & #ExtremeResponsibility
An important point to emphasise (to give you some context) is that AssessFirst is a #FullyRemote company.
This means that we don’t have any permanent physical offices. Everyone works wherever they want. It can be from home, from a co-working space, alone or with colleagues, in France, the UK, San Francisco… Whatever!
Of course, we do everything possible to ensure that this setup does not lead to any feelings of isolation or separation from one another…
We mention going #FullyRemote because everyone will then say, “so much freedom”!
Being #FullyRemote, you can work from anywhere you want. In a big city or from the most remote corner of the planet. Our only requirement is that you have a quality internet connection so that we can communicate together effectively and that you can interact with our customers, partners and other stakeholders, without lagging too much or losing connection every 5 minutes…
#RadicalFreedom
So you can work wherever you want.
You organise your days however you desire as well.
Of course, you are still expected to attend meetings, whether internal or with customers, among other obligations. It’s also important that you define specific periods of time when your colleagues and/or manager can reach you.
But aside from that, you do as you wish. We have people who get up at 10 a.m. every day. Others prefer to work in the evening or even at night sometimes. Some are early risers who start in the wee hours and end theirs days mid afternoon.
No one will reproach you if you’re gone for half a day because you have a doctors appointment, need to hit the gym and decompress or pick your kids up from school.
In fact, we encourage that.
The only imperative is that your job gets done, and that you can communicate well and coordinate with the rest of the company.
This freedom is also reflected in the trust we give you to carry out your mission.
We are wholeheartedly against micro-management!
We believe that people thrive when you demonstrate trust and transparency with them. Even as the company grows, we are committed to keeping this freedom. We don’t want to create a process or a rule every time something goes wrong.
We are committed to remaining flexible and mobile, so as to always adjust to the world around us.
It is a constant challenge to maintain this level of freedom with the disruption that high growth can bring.
And the counterpart to this: great power means great responsibility for employees – individually and collectively.
#ExtremeResponsibility
An extreme level of responsibility is the essential counterpart to the radical amount of freedom we offer everyone in the company.
If you don’t take responsibility for yourself, or have the best interest of the company/your colleagues in mind, it will never work.
When attempting to tackle a problem as immense as the one we are working to solve, it’s just not possible to hide behind excuses. Therefore, we expect everyone to demonstrate a very high level of dedication and to hold themselves and others to the highest level of accountability within their own team.
We put much of our energy into maintaining this level of excellence with our employees and creating processes that develop team productivity.
We want managers and leaders to be role models with these responsibilities and to set good examples: striving for excellence, strong self-discipline, problem-solving (without having to ask anything) and acting in the best interests of AssessFirst.
WE ARE ASSESSFIRST
We've been writing our story since 2002.
Since 2002, we have continued to reinvent the way in which companies recruit and support talent development. In 2012, we made a major shift by developing novel predictive approaches. Today, the results we are achieving with our customers make AssessFirst one of the most innovative and influential companies in HR and Recruitment Tech.
We have impacted the life trajectory of more than 5,000,000 people. 5,000,000 individuals who have had the opportunity to be considered for who they really are as human beings, beyond their academic, professional background, age, gender, ethnicity and more.
For our customers, there are over 3,500 in more than 40 countries who use AssessFirst to build a better world. They do this by recruiting better and more equitably, by developing talent, identifying internal potential, by managing employee mobility, and also by building and managing the most efficient teams.
20
Years in existence
5M+
People impacted
3500
Customers
40
Countries
We are here because there are some massive questions that even Google can't answer.
3,500 customers, in 40 countries.
Our customers are companies of all sizes, from freelance recruiters in Santa Monica, Geneva or Bali to massive organisations of several hundred thousand people, even small businesses in the Midwest U.S. – all present in 5 continents.
.
What drives us every day.
At AssessFirst, we are driven by the unwavering desire to create a better world, in which everyone can become the best possible version of themselves, fully express their potential and contribute to our society’s evolution.
Here is what we expect from everyone at AssessFirst:
(#1)
Own Your Goals.
Your goals are what drive your actions in the company every day. This will determine how you organise yourself, who you work with and also whether you are in a position to succeed or fail at AssessFirst.
At any moment, you should know 3 key objectives that are expected of you at AssessFirst.
It is crucial that these 3 objectives are perfectly clear to you and that you have a stake in them.
We understand that our business evolves very quickly and at times it can be difficult to know what to expect.
If you can’t recognise your 3 objectives, have any doubts about them or consider the situation to be highly problematic, take a step back and speak to your manager as soon as possible.
Typical behaviours:
- You know your 3 main goals.
- You understand how they contribute to achieving AssessFirst’s mission.
- You have clearly identified the steps/actions necessary to reach them.
- You see exactly what could (potentially) prevent you from reaching them.
- You know – precisely – what to do to avoid finding yourself in that kind of situation.
(#1)
(#2)
(#2)
Get sh*t done.
Each day, you must dedicate yourself to moving things in the right direction. Don’t wait for “the right moment” to get started – just get going. Never forget that the perfect moment does not exist.
Remember one thing: the right time is now.
Put energy into it. Don’t hold back – get into your work. Often, you’ll find yourself loving what you have to do. Sometimes, though, it will drive you absolutely mad.
We all have tasks that we prefer doing. Although it is not always easy, it’s your ability to invest yourself in the parts that you enjoy less with the same determination – that’s what really proves your strength of character.
The dedication that you put into doing your job well will be a major key to succeeding with us. So don’t try to avoid certain tasks; when you have something to do in front of you, the shortest route to the end is diving in and pushing through.
Typical behaviours:
- When you know you have something to do, do it (without asking yourself a thousand questions).
- You understand that it is better to do something less-than-perfect than to do nothing at all.
- You focus on the results more than the process.
- You don’t look for bogus excuses when you didn’t do something right.
- You know how to avoid unnecessary distractions.
- You know how to identify when you are most productive for each type of task you have to do.
(#3)
Good enough is not enough.
Never settle for the bare minimum. We don’t do things here just to go through the motions.. Your job is not to tick boxes on a To-Do List.
Your job is to deliver your best, every time. Obviously we cannot ALWAYS be on top of everything. There are always some times when we are less efficient. If so, take some rest and get yourself back into good shape, whether that takes an hour or a week.
But when you’re working, strive for perfection. Give it all you’ve got. We don’t accept mediocrity. You need to be proud of your job, at all times.
Our goal is to always push our work further and always do better.
Put yourself in question and be aware that there are always things you can do better.
Typical behaviours:
- When you tackle a task, make sure to give it your best.
- It’s important for you to be able to be proud of your work.
- You couldn’t stand people thinking that you did “just the minimum”.
- You are resistant and tough, not reluctant to make an effort.
- You are constantly looking for ways to improve your results.
- You set high standards for your job performance.
(#3)
(#4)
(#4)
Never stop growing.
In a company that grows 40% per year, you can’t afford to stagnate. Each of us has to constantly ask ourselves how we can become better. And also take action to make it happen. It’s not enough to just want it…
You are responsible for continuing to educate yourself, throughout your career here (and ideally throughout your life). Just imagine the situation we would find ourselves in if everyone around you continued to make progress and you rested on your laurels… You would find yourself completely abandoned. And if there are several of us acting this way, then it’s just a matter of time until another company knocks us out with people who are more curious and hardworking.
Read the resources that AssessFirst makes available to you. Ask questions if you don’t understand. Never assume that you have a perfect mastery of a subject. Only those who have stopped working have this kind of belief… and generally these are not the kind of people who go the furthest in any company, as well as in life generally.
Even though the company and your manager are there to help you… remember: at the end of the day, you are the sole person responsible for your own learning!
You are your own teacher.
Continuously making progress requires rigor, which can only come from you.
Typical behaviours:
- You are curious and interested in diverse and varied subjects.
- You like to read up (often) on topics that affect your job.
- You are constantly looking for new ways to progress.
- You know your strengths… but also your areas for improvement.
- You take training courses or online courses.
- You understand the difference between knowledge and application.
- You are fuelled and inspired by the success of others.
- You interact with other people to understand how they got to where they are today.
(#5)
Be kind to others.
Respect is a fundamental concept. Kindness also. No one likes to be treated otherwise.
In the moment it is hurtful, while in the long term it erodes relationships and the ability to collaborate effectively…
We expect everyone to always behave with respect and kindness when talking to someone else in the company.
Please note that neither titles, seniority nor achievements are any excuses for treating others poorly. If this happens, don’t expect to be welcome in our company.
Typical behaviours:
- It is important to you that other people feel good.
- You are attentive to the feelings of others.
- When you interact with someone, you make sure you don’t hurt them unnecessarily.
- You adapt your communication to the person in front of you.
- You are able to discuss all positive and negative topics with good intentions.
- You take the time to listen well and understand before reacting.
- You don’t treat others in a way that you would not want to be treated.
(#5)
(#6)
(#6)
Think and act as one.
Nothing is worse than asking someone a question and them responding with, “That’s not my job!”
At AssessFirst, we know that we are all connected in one way or another. No ones job is completely unrelated to anyone else’s.
When someone asks you something, always try to see how you can help them. And if you don’t have the right answer, let them know who you think they should talk to. If you think the person asking is pushing it too far when they should have done the job themselves, tell them that, but always with respect and kindness.
We won’t tell you that growing a business at this rate is easy, and we understand at times there can be frustrations. However, we’re convinced that above all else, it is our team spirit and cooperation that allows us to problem-solve together, so that we can achieve exceptional results day after day, month after month, year after year.
Typical behaviours:
- You consider that your team includes THE WHOLE COMPANY, not just sales, devs, marketing, science, etc.
- You are ready to help others and give them a hand.
- You understand that by helping someone else, it is the whole company that you are helping to progress.
(#7)
Disagree openly.
When you disagree with a colleague or your manager, say it! Never hold in frustration and let it turn to resentment…
Tell yourself that when you go about it in the right way (always using respect and benevolence), we can say everything (or almost) to anyone!
Most people prefer to keep quiet even when they disagree because they figure it will get them into trouble. With us, it is the opposite. We know that by keeping quiet instead of speaking up is what leads to problems. So never hesitate to start a conversation. It also shows courage. Of course, make sure to always do it with respect and kindness.
There is no reason to be afraid to disagree. The main thing is that it is constructive. For this to happen, you have to build trust.
Discussions and questions should not be taken as personal attacks. On the contrary, we must take them as opportunities to improve our company and ourselves.
Certainly, disagreements aren’t always pleasant, but by taking the time to go through with them, it can only lead us to doing better.
Typical behaviours:
- You are comfortable with openly discussing problems you may have with others.
- You don’t let situations turn sour before saying anything…
- You refuse to spread rumours or talk behind anyones back.
- You attempt to build trust before giving feedback.
- When someone gives you feedback, you don’t take it as a personal attack.
- You understand that you can disagree with someone… and still respect them all the same.
- You know it’s through honest feedback that we all make progress.
- You know how to express your disagreement with tact and kindness.
(#7)
(#8)
(#8)
Be part of the solution.
Always make sure you approach problems constructively. Sometimes we don’t agree with this or that decision. That’s OK.
Whenever this happens to you, make sure you come up with alternative proposals and/or strong arguments as to why you don’t agree.
Every one one of us needs to strive, at our own capacity and level, to be part of the solution… not the problem.
We all know that at times it can be difficult to take a step back, but it is necessary to grow the business.
Knowing how to assess and solve problems are two skills that you can work on on a daily basis.
We will encounter difficulties throughout our whole lives so we might as well learn how tackle them effectively.
Typical behaviours:
- You do not oppose and express something just “on principle”.
- Before expressing your opposition, you take the time to understand the point of view of the person who expressed the idea or proposal.
- You are able to contextualise a problem and ask the right questions to solve it.
- You set about finding an alternative if you do not agree with something.
- If you don’t have an opinion on a topic, you don’t say something just to hear your own voice.
(#9)
Pick up the paper.
In a situation where there is a piece of paper lying on the floor, we will find 2 types of people:
Those who go their way thinking: “It’s fine, it’s just a piece of paper and I didn’t leave it on the ground…”
And then there are those who pick it up, regardless.
Always strive to be part of this second group. They are the ones who move the world forward and ultimately create differences.
If you see someone messing around in the company, tell them. If you think a process is broken, say it. If you realise that something is not working or could be improved, speak up!
We all know that this attitude takes a lot of energy and that it make take some repeating for the message to be heard.
Don’t give up! It can take time being an example for others. But someday, someone else will pick up the paper from the floor as well.
If each of us adopts this behavior consistently, then we will become #unstoppable.
Typical behaviours:
- You consider that general interests of the group Are more important than individual interests.
- If you see a person behaving inappropriately, you are able to tell them.
- If you see something wrong, speak up.
- When something goes wrong, don’t just look away.
- You inspire others with your actions.
(#9)
(#10)
(#10)
Think "AssessFirst first".
When you have a decision to make, whether about a product or tool, spending money on behalf of the company or even resolving a dispute with someone or between other people, always think about the best interests of the company above all.
No one is there to profit personally, favor a particular person or their team members. The decisions we make must always go beyond that.
A simple thing to do when you have to make a decision is to ask yourself, “Is this decision in the best interests of AssessFirst?” If the answer is YES, then GO! If the answer is NO, do not.
If you hesitate between some courses of action, think of our brand, our mission, our product, everything that we seek to develop in this world. This will help you make the best possible choices for the business.
Typical behaviours:
- You consider the company’s money as precious.
- You do what’s best for AssessFirst, not what’s best for you.
- When you have to buy something, you use common sense.
- You are not using your position to give yourself privileges or privileges that others do not have access to.
- You embody our mission and principles as much as possible.