The Kenexa assessment was IBM's suite of hiring tests. IBM exited in 2021 and SHL now runs the tests. What candidates face today and how scoring works.
Dr. Russell T. WarneChief Scientist
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The Kenexa assessment is a suite of pre-employment tests, best known for its verbal, numerical, and logical reasoning tests and the "Prove It" job-skills library, developed by Kenexa and run by IBM after its 2012 acquisition. If you have been invited to take one today, the most important thing to know is that IBM no longer runs these tests: IBM discontinued its Kenexa Assess testing platform at the end of 2021, and SHL purchased the rights to the test catalog. This article explains what the tests measure, what happened to the Kenexa brand, what scoring means, and how the format compares with a full IQ test.
From Kenexa to IBM to SHL: who runs the test now
Kenexa was founded in 1987 in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and grew into a major HR and talent-measurement company. On August 27, 2012, IBM announced it was acquiring Kenexa for 1.3 billion dollars, and the tests spent the next decade branded as "IBM Kenexa" assessments.
IBM then exited the assessment business. In January 2020 SHL announced a partnership under which it would "provide IBM Kenexa Assessment test materials through its Talent Central platform," and the IBM-Kenexa Assess platform itself was discontinued as of December 31, 2021, with SHL purchasing the rights to the test catalog. The applicant-tracking side of the business, including BrassRing, was sold separately to Infinite Computer Solutions in 2021. So a candidate told to expect a "Kenexa test" today is almost certainly taking legacy Kenexa content delivered through SHL's testing platform, or reading an outdated employer page.
What the Kenexa ability tests measure
The core Kenexa Advanced ability tests cover three domains, the same territory most employer screens cover:
• Verbal reasoning: Reading short passages and judging whether statements follow from them.
• Numerical reasoning: Interpreting tables and charts and doing applied arithmetic, usually with a calculator allowed.
• Logical reasoning: Continuing shape and pattern sequences, a nonverbal format close to what appears on many IQ tests.
Kenexa also offered a computer-adaptive test that mixes all three domains and gets harder as you answer correctly, plus the Prove It library of more than a thousand specific job-skills tests, from typing to accounting. Exact item counts were never published by the vendor; prep providers report roughly 20 to 24 questions in about 20 minutes for each reasoning test, with figures varying between sources.
How scoring works, and the myth of the passing score
There is no official Kenexa pass mark. Your raw score is converted to a percentile against a comparison group, and each employer decides its own cutoff for each role. A "70 percent is a good score" figure circulates on prep sites, but it cannot be traced to any vendor source, and percentage-correct is not how these tests are scored anyway. The honest summary: your result is a ranking against other candidates, and the bar depends entirely on the employer and the role, just as it does for the CCAT and the Predictive Index assessment.
Common misconceptions about the Kenexa test
• "Infinite Computer Solutions runs the Kenexa tests now": Infinite bought the talent-acquisition products, including BrassRing. The tests themselves went to SHL.
• "There is an official passing score": No vendor-published pass mark has ever existed. Employers set their own percentile benchmarks per role.
• "The Kenexa test is one specific test": It is a family: three reasoning tests, an adaptive combined test, and the Prove It skills library. Ask your recruiter which you are getting.
How to prepare
• Practice under time pressure: The reasoning content is moderate; the clock is the difficulty. Timed practice on verbal, numerical, and abstract questions transfers directly.
• Rehearse the three formats: True-false-cannot-say verbal items, chart-based numerical items, and shape sequences each have learnable conventions.
• Expect real but modest gains: A meta-analysis of retesting on cognitive ability tests found practice improves scores by about a quarter of a standard deviation on average, more with coaching. Preparation helps; it does not transform ability.
Is the Kenexa assessment an IQ test?
The content is "g-loaded", meaning it draws on general cognitive ability, the same underlying trait IQ tests measure. Decades of research show general mental ability is among the strongest single predictors of job performance, which is why employers keep using tests like this. But an employer screen is not an IQ test in the useful sense: it returns a benchmark comparison for one hiring decision, not a normed cognitive profile. A speeded 20-minute screen also cannot separate how fast you work from how well you reason.
The Reasoning and Intelligence Online Test from RIOT IQ takes the opposite approach: it measures six abilities separately, including processing speed as its own index, and reports a normed profile rather than a pass-fail benchmark. If you have a Kenexa-style screen coming up, taking a free IQ test first is a low-stakes way to see where your reasoning and speed actually stand.
Frequently asked questions
Does IBM still own the Kenexa tests?
No. IBM discontinued the IBM-Kenexa Assess platform on December 31, 2021. SHL purchased the rights to the tests, and the BrassRing applicant-tracking system went to Infinite Computer Solutions.
How many questions is the Kenexa test?
No official spec exists. Prep providers report roughly 20 to 24 questions in about 20 minutes per reasoning test, with slight variation between sources.
What is a good score on a Kenexa assessment?
There is no official pass mark. Scores are percentiles against a comparison group, and each employer sets its own benchmark per role.
What was the Kenexa Prove It test?
A library of over a thousand job-skills tests covering software, typing, accounting, and similar practical skills, distinct from the reasoning tests.
Is the Kenexa test hard?
The questions are moderate; the time pressure is the challenge. Scores reflect speed as much as accuracy, which is typical of employer screens.
References
1. Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.262
2. Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M., & Lievens, F. (2022). Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(11), 2040-2068. doi.org/10.1037/apl0000994
3. SHL. (2020, January 9). SHL partners with IBM for Kenexa Talent Assessments [Press release]. shl.com
4. HR Tech Feed. (2021, April 22). IBM talent acquisition suite to be sold.hrtechfeed.com
6. Hausknecht, J. P., Halpert, J. A., Di Paolo, N. T., & Moriarty Gerrard, M. O. (2007). Retesting in selection: A meta-analysis of coaching and practice effects for tests of cognitive ability. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 373-385. doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.373
