What does each score really mean? Is a Level 3 "good?"

In short, yes, a 3 is good (it's much better than average, which is a Level 2) and companies on our platform understand that.

But you're probably wondering why that is and how we educate companies about our non-equal score bucketing, so here's a bit more detail.

How do we determine your scores?

We calibrate each of our questions based on results from engineers of all experience levels who have completed our quizzes. If you are curious for more details on how we evaluate engineers and derive technical scores, you can check out our deep dive into scoring.

To determine your personalized scores, we consider the questions you've answered in a particular subject area. Based on the population of engineers who have completed a quiz in that subject area, we calculate a composite estimate (based on a 1 to 100 scale). 

The final step is to translate this composite score into a display score from 1 to 5.

But isn't a 3 still middle-of-the-road? Isn't a 3 "average?"

Not on our quizzes -- Level 2 is Average, and Level 3 is Proficient, defined as "skill expected of a professional engineer in that area." Your composite estimate is a relative standing in our assessed engineering population. Since not everyone is going to ace our quizzes, we do not calibrate the 1 to 5 display score buckets evenly. Composite estimates are roughly translated into display scores as:

Composite Estimate	Display Score
1-30	Level 1 - Low
30-60	Level 2 - Average
60-80	Level 3 - Proficient
80-95	Level 4 - Advanced
95+	Level 5 - *Expert*

This means that a Level 3 display score is above-average to well-above-average. We consider those who earn a score of 3 to be professional-grade engineers. Beyond that, a score of 4 is excellent and a score of 5 is exceptional.

But what about companies? Do they understand these uneven score buckets?

Yes, our partner companies understand and rely on our technical scores. We have a robust orientation program for company users, additional training if they wish, and a detailed scoring guide they can access at any time. We explain how display scores are calculated and what they're based on. We also use design elements in our UI, like color and size of score bars, to indicate the value of each score (see image). In addition, the score filters available to companies include anyone with 3+.

As a result, we regularly see companies reach out to and hire engineers who've earned Level 3 scores in a role's required skill areas. For example, our current data shows that 71% of offers went to people with at least one score of 3.

If you have additional questions, please contact Candidate Support.