How chatAssess works
chatAssess simulates a chat app in the style of WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Messages arrive from different colleagues with questions or requests for advice, and you answer each by choosing one of several predefined replies. What happens next depends on what you chose: the colleague reacts, and different follow-up threads appear.
Because several colleagues are messaging you, part of the task is prioritising. The release that launched chatAssess said each colleague is usually facing a different issue, and the candidate has to prioritise the tasks and manage their commitments.
Built for each employer
Scenarios are client-specific and job-related, according to Aon’s Norwegian help centre. The launch release went further: the context, the colleagues, their messages, the reply options and when messages are triggered can all be customised to the role, and graphs or charts can be added.
So two candidates applying to different employers can see quite different conversations. The release said the test was designed mainly for early screening in graduate and apprentice recruitment, though the content can suit any role at any level, and that it can be developed in any of 40 languages.
How it is scored
Aon does not publish a scoring key for chatAssess. Its help centre says the test measures behaviour, personality and abilities through the replies you choose, and the launch release describes reporting options that the employer configures.
The practical advice is to answer as you would actually handle the message at work. Read each one in full before replying, and keep track of which colleagues are still waiting on you.
How our practice version works
Our chatAssess practice puts you in a graduate engineering role. Four colleagues, drawn from eight scripts, each send three messages, and you choose a reply to each; their next message depends on your choice. One colleague starts messaging part-way through.
It is untimed and skips the tutorial. Each reply is rated from 0 to 3 under six competencies of our own, because Aon does not publish its key, so treat the feedback as a guide to your judgement rather than a prediction of your Aon result.