What are SkillSurvey users saying about the software?
Read what people like you have said about using SkillSurvey software through verified user reviews
User Review Highlights
4.68
96 Reviews
Ease-of-use
out of 5Customer Support
out of 5Value for money
out of 5Functionality
out of 5"The ease of use and the amount of feedback collected is what I like the most about this software."
"I like that it can go to their phones or emails, it helps to provide a user friendly experience."
"The few times I've had issues their support staff have handled them promptly. Somewhat pricey but not difficult to justify when you weigh out the benefit."
"That was frustrating to me (maybe that's just a trial functionality?)."
"The ratings can sometimes be confusing to a new user."
"The system forced me to downgrade at least one of my answers."
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Showing 1 - 25 of 92 reviews

Kelsey
Verified reviewer
Company size: 51-200 employees
Industry: Hospital & Health Care
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
May 2018
Awesome Reference System
Pros
What I like most about this software is the way the reference report shows the data collected by the references. I like the graphs and the anonymity of the data.
Cons
No complaints here- I'm very happy with the functionality of this product and the ease of setting up candidates and finalizing data.
Steve
Company size: 501-1,000 employees
Industry: Higher Education
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
SkillSurvey is Amazing
We have seen an overall improvement with positions that use SkillSurvey. The reference process take literally 24 hours to complete sometimes sooner at worst 48 hours.
Pros
The software is easy to use and implement. To start the reference process you need to just enter a candidate name, select a title that best matches your position and hit the send button. What comes back is amazing. We have caught candidates lying about their references, we have gotten honest feedback that we would have never gotten with the traditional phone call and the rating system really helps us.
Cons
Sometimes it can be hard to find the right position to match yours and you have to go generic. Would be great if it were easier to add more questions to some positions that we use more frequently.
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
The references and rave reviews from colleague.
Cathy
Company size: 1,001-5,000 employees
Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
March 2022
Spark Hire is Invaluable
It is one of the best tools given to the Recruiters/Talent Management team. The SkillSurvey Team delivers what they promise, often saving thousands of dollars with what would otherwise be a bad hire.
Pros
It is easy to use and has offered a different way to look at candidates. We find that references feel confident in sharing their opinions about candidates because they know their response is confidential, giving much better insight into their fit to the position and the fit to our organization as well. The analytics are spot on and can quickly identify a candidate that may pose issues later on, saving money and time with a potentially bad hire.
Cons
Honestly, I can't think of a negative with the software. It has served us well.
Jung
Company size: 5,001-10,000 employees
Industry: Telecommunications
Time used: Less than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
February 2020
Review of Skillsurvey
It's pretty good since it's email generated
Pros
Ease of use--it is email generated which makes reference checking easy for the reference provider and our company
Cons
Hiring manager's can't view results before finalizing
Nicholas
Company size: 1,001-5,000 employees
Industry: Marketing and Advertising
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
SkillSurvey Review
I love this tool and use it for every hire
Pros
The ease of use and detailed feedback. The tool saves me SO MUCH time and the feedback I receive is very detailed.
Cons
The ratings can sometimes be confusing to a new user.
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
Price, ease of use, and detailed feedback reports.
Eli
Company size: 501-1,000 employees
Industry: Human Resources
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
July 2021
SkillSurvey is Excellent
My overall experience with SkillSurvey is that it is easy to use and highly functional and achieves the desired results.
Pros
What I like about this software is that it removed the antiquated way of calling individual references for each candidate, which can become burdensome when dealing with multiple recruitments and positions needing to be filled.
Cons
I don't really have any cons. The software works great!
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
Other departments had been using it and recommended it to other departments within the Monterey County family.
Susan
Verified reviewer
Company size: 501-1,000 employees
Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
July 2021
SkillSurvey Review
Skill Survey is easy to set up and to use.
Pros
I like how we get a comprehensive & confidential reference report for the potential candidates. We're just getting started with the post hire surveys, but the information we've obtained so far we've been able to modify our on-boarding processes to provide top notch customer service to our new employees as well as the hiring managers experience with on-boarding.
Cons
I would like to be able to use the texting option with the integration with our ATS, ApplicantPro.
Elsa
Company size: 501-1,000 employees
Industry: Higher Education
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
July 2021
Great Product & Easy to Use!
Pros
Integration was easy, able to set standards based on company! It is easy to use from an administrator and candidate experience. Efficient and time in references are completed in 2-4 business days.
Cons
As we are in an academic setting, the analytics of the results can be changed to hiring managers can be able to see a good comparable with the surveys.
Kellee
Company size: 201-500 employees
Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management
Time used: Less than 12 months
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
July 2021
Time saving for my talent acquisition team and great value for the price!
Pros
The amount of data received not only helps us make hiring decisions, it also helps us focus specific areas for onboarding and training, impacting our ability to better engage and retain team members. Absolutely love the opt-in feature for those individuals completing the reference, building a pool of potential candidates interested in knowing more about our company and open positions.
Cons
Would love to have the final report integrated with our applicant tracking system instead of having to upload the final report.

Floremie
Verified reviewer
Company size: 51-200 employees
Industry: Hospital & Health Care
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered
November 2021
What is SkillSurvey
My overall experience in this software is great.
Pros
I like most in SkillSurvey you have a further view on your applicant once they answer the question online.
Cons
What I like least in SKillSurvey is I need to register the applicant.
Sam
Company size: 10,000+ employees
Industry: Staffing and Recruiting
Time used: Less than 12 months
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
March 2020
IP Address Checking, Ease of Viewing, and Integrated Messaging!
I liked SkillSurvey, and found that the process of checking a reference and making sure that the references were legitimate was as clean as it could be, barring the comments I had above. Their team also sends emails concerning current events and how they might affect business, as well as just check-in messages to see how we're doing with the product, which are nice personal touches.
Pros
I found SkillSurvey to be a really easy-to-use product. Our staffing firm deals with a sensitive clientele, so we need to make sure that we have people checked by references before they are put into the field. SkillSurvey helped us to easily tell if someone had completed their references themselves (as it tracks the IP address from which the form was submitted) and it also helps us to message people who have not yet submitted references through the website, eliminating the extra step of going into an email program and sending a reminder that way. The ease of viewing the results from the reference, and the metrics/questions that they have in these reports (as well as the ability to choose which form you send out) really helps to get relevant and readable results.
Cons
I think the areas of improvement for this software would be: technological optimization and a better instruction system for the candidate on sending out their reference request links. First, optimization: the website is always slower to load, and this was a problem specific to this particular site. The main page will take 3 or so seconds to load where other, different sites take a second or so, and while this isn't a deal-breaking factor for me, it's certainly annoying when you're trying to sift through multiple different files at once. Second, Instructions: the current procedure that candidates follow when they send their reference links seems to be fine, but I've received complaints from some people that their references aren't back only because they thought they had sent their references but instead had only saved them in the SkillSurvey system, never having sent them out to their references. As well, I received a complaint from someone who felt that the messages that SkillSurvey auto-generates from candidates when they are sending to their references were an infringement on her privacy, as they are written in the first person. Even though there is an option to view the message that will be sent out before a candidate sends it, I think it could be a good idea to add more visibility, maybe even a warning message, concerning what the candidate is about to send out.
Jonathan
Company size: 201-500 employees
Industry: Restaurants
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
SkillSurvey transformed the reference check process for us.
Skill survey has been great. We now conduct reference checks at a much higher rate than we did before (nearly 100%). It's a critical part of our hiring process for managers, servers and bartenders and I can't imaging operating without it. Fun fact, we actually caught a manager who was providing fraudulent references by reviewing the IP addresses. I was very thankful for that feature at the time.
Pros
1. Skill survey makes it easy to conduct reference checks. Before we had it, we did this by phone. We probably only completed checks about 25% of the time and they were awkward to conduct. 2. I love the fact that there is a percentile score for performance. This makes it easy to see how candidates stack up against industry specific data. 3. I love the strengths and weaknesses section. This is one of the most valuable sections for us. Not only is it helpful in making a decision to hire, I've often come back to these before writing annual performance reviews. 4. I really love how easy it is to execute the process. One email address and a few clicks and the whole process basically unfolds which is amazing.
Cons
One wish would be for the system to solicit more written commentary from the reference providers. I can understand that this would create a larger barrier for participation, and I'm not dissatisfied in what we currently receive, but more specific detail is always better. Maybe 1 written section per evaluation category? In addition, I filled out a review on a competing reference check for one of our former employees and was interested to see that I was not able to provide all top scores for the employee. The system forced me to downgrade at least one of my answers. As a reference check provider, this forced me to find an area where I honestly felt the employee was lacking and I ended up delivering a more honest answer. To my knowledge, SkillSurvey does not have this feature and this might create overly positive reviews.
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
Checkster seemed ok, but the sales person was rude/dismissive and the product was more expensive. I think the products are similar, but SkillSurvey has a slight edge. I demo'd Checkster before we initially decided to go with SkillSurvey and again last year around renewal. I will not demo them again.
Anonymous
Company size: 10,000+ employees
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
July 2019
References with ease
Skill Survey staff are wonderful and have conducted numerous trainings for our human resources department
Pros
I have been using Skill Survey for almost 3 years. Skill Survey makes it easy for high volume recruiters to conduct reference checks. It is very simple to use. To create a candidate you input their name, email, phone , position and then select the best survey to send off the position title. Skill Survey takes care of the rest. They will send the candidate notification via email or text. Once the candidate inputs the contact information for their references, Skill Survey will send them a link to complete. As a recruiter you'll be notified in real time when the references are ready to review. There are many reports you can pull including a hiring manager report ton send them that protects the confidential contact information. The hiring manager reports give them sample behavior interviewing questions as well. Lastly, Skill Survey also as a CRM program to contact references who were interested in job opportunities. Overall an amazing product
Cons
I really so not have any cons. I love using Skill Survey
Ryan
Company size: 201-500 employees
Industry: Machinery
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
Easy to Use Tool
Having a small HR staff the time we're able to dedicate to reference checking was limited. This product allows us to receive better feedback more quickly. It hasn't completely replaced making an old fashioned phone call but it has cut down on the need to do so every time.
Pros
Given that the references individual responses are not linked back to them personally I've found that I usually receive more candid responses. As silly as it sounds, I've avoided potentially bad hires based on feedback from candidate's hand picked references through this system. As a small HR department it's difficult to invest a ton of time calling references, waiting on call backs, playing phone tag, exchanging voicemails, etc. only to receive dates of employment. The survey's can be customized and you can include your own questions, including space for verbatim answers. The reports are easy to read. The few times I've had issues their support staff have handled them promptly. Somewhat pricey but not difficult to justify when you weigh out the benefit. Integrated with our ATS (The Applicant Manager).
Cons
Won't completely replace contacting references. Sometimes references will leave feedback that needs additional explanation, which is next to impossible to get given the anonymity for references. Some references have become offended, though very few, that the system "pesters" them or are upset at the simple fact that we're asking them to fill out a survey rather than calling them - as if it were disrespectful of their time somehow. Those cases are by FAR the minority though.
Natalie
Company size: 51-200 employees
Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
May 2017
Meaningful results in an easy to use system
Meaningful information to select the best candidates
Pros
We have been using SkillSurvey for over 2 years for all new hire reference screenings. The system is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. It has saved me, as an HR department of 1, countless hours trying to reach multiple references via phone and getting only dates of hire and titles. It takes only a few minutes for me to enter a candidates information and select the appropriate survey based on position applied for. Because the applicant signs a release, we have found that the responses from references are candid and constructive. With the unlimited package we selected this year, I have begun using the SkillSurvey system earlier on in the hiring process on more candidates--not just the final candidates. This provides us with specific feedback early on and provides a great tool we use in the interview process-the Hiring Manager report. The Hiring Manager report provides not only the survey results but also suggested questions for the applicant based on the results of the reference screen. It has enabled us to ask applicants questions specifically aimed at their areas for improvement. Thanks to SkillSurvey the quality of our new hires has improved-we have meaningful information on the candidate that better equips us to choose the best candidate.
Cons
The only con is the price-- as a non-profit the cost is a bit high. However, I have thus far been able to make the case for its value to both my department and agency as a whole.
Megan
Company size: 51-200 employees
Industry: Education Management
Time used: Less than 12 months
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
We love SkillSurvey!
Pros
My favorite feature of SkillSurvey is that it is so easy to enter an applicant and send them emails outlining what they will need to do to complete the Reference Check. We rarely have questions on how to enter references so I appreciate the reduced amount of work due to not having to explain how to use the site. I also really love that we were able to set the system up to send out emails once we have filed a candidate as 'Hired'. Our email that goes out advertises our $50 referral bonus for referring other subs and I think this is a great way to remind our subs of the bonus!
Cons
My least favorite feature of SkillSurvey is that there is not a way (at least that I have found) to reactivate someone's SkillSurvey profile after it has been cancelled. This would be very helpful when someone had already entered insufficient references, but fell off during the onboarding process. If this was a possibility, we could save the sub the time and frustration of having to re-enter all of their references.
Jacena
Company size: 1,001-5,000 employees
Industry: Education Management
Time used: Less than 12 months
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
April 2020
SkillSurvey References
Overall, my experience with Skill Survey has been a breeze! Again, it is super straight forward, ease of use is quite simple, and being able to view the references is quite simple as it gives you a finalized account of what the persons references have entered in for the person.
Pros
What I like most about this software is its ease of use! Its is very straight forward, and everything you need to enter is listed and signified that it is needing that information in order to put in your references. You are able to see who has entered in a reference and what is needing to be finalized, resent, etc. Again, the software is super straight forward and easy to use as it is not difficult to navigate the website also.
Cons
What I least like about it is that you have to click through to view/finalize the references, I feel it would be easier if there was a scroll that you can scroll down quickly to view the references that are needing to be finalized, etc.
Matt
Company size: 1,001-5,000 employees
Industry: Higher Education
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
July 2021
SkillSurvey Review
Overall very positive experience with SkillSurvey, I would recommened them to any company looking to improve and streamline their reference checking process
Pros
The software is very user friendly, and saves amble time in the reference checking process. They have built hundred of pre-determined surveys to be used for references. The ability to have a database of prospective candidates is also a huge bonus. Customer support and
Cons
They can improve the ability to edit each survey or add custom questions. Having the surveys pre-built is very nice but editing them to add one question is clunky.
Anonymous
Company size: 1,001-5,000 employees
Time used: Less than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered
February 2019
Easiest and most consistent way to check references
Pros
On the HR side, SkillSurvey simplifies the reference check process our candidates. First, there are a ton of surveys to choose from. This means that I'm able to easily send surveys that make sense to candidates from a wide range of fields and experience levels. SkillSurvey also allows references to answer anonymously - in my experience, references are more honest with this system compared to phone calls or letters of recommendation. This allows my team to make the more informed decisions based on this information. Finally, the responses are compiled in easy-to-understand graphs. This feature saves my hiring managers and me plenty of time.
Cons
SkillSurvey sends an email notification when the reference check process is initiated. I would like a similar notification at two other stages of the process: when the candidates has entered all of their references' information and when each reference has completed the survey. Also, I'd like if candidates could notify me through the system if they need me to waive one or two of the references.
Diana
Company size: 1,001-5,000 employees
Industry: Luxury Goods & Jewelry
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
March 2020
Insights
SkillSurvey has provided us with great insight regarding candidates potential strengths as well as possible areas for development. The behavior-based questions provide invaluable information about soft skills such as being a good listener, getting along with co-workers, etc.
Pros
SkillSurvey is extremely easy to use. The confidentiality included in this method of obtaining consistent information from references has provided another tool that can be used to assess the fit of each candidate for the job and the specific group of employees that he/she will be working with.
Cons
There are quite a few job titles to chose from but there are some cases where I could have used titles that were more specific.
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
We wanted to remove person bias, leading questions, and be legally compliant when gathering information from references. SkillSurvey helps us get clear, consistent, actionable information about candidates.
Millie
Company size: 201-500 employees
Industry: Education Management
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
A great time-saver and a nice interface for our company to look tech-saavy.
Teachers, social workers, bus drivers.
Pros
Ease of use to both the applicant, reference provider, and the employer's report configuration.
Cons
Not sure that it has great predictive ability in identifying who will be the best employee, but it certainly does beat calling people on the phone and trying to chase down a reference.
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
I had been approached as a reference via Skill Survey and I was very impressed with its ease of use. The salesperson gave a compelling case as to the research that went into developing the product and its legally compliant psychometric testing. They were very helpful with pricing when we are a non-profit Head Start with then margins and their customer service is very good. If they could only obtain a FCRA authorization on our behalf they would be even better.
Mark
Company size: 201-500 employees
Industry: Hospital & Health Care
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
Outstanding product!
Excellent benefits have been realized in our firm since implementation - this is the third organization that has utilized SkillSurvey that I have worked at and I am a huge fan!
Pros
The ease of use and the amount of feedback collected is what I like the most about this software.
Cons
There is nothing that I would change at this time about this software.
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
Superior product.
Marty
Company size: 2-10 employees
Industry: Hospitality
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
Skillsurvey review
Have had no problems with Skillsurvey, my clients have come to expect the reference report from me
Pros
Very easy to use, provides a professional report to send to my clients.
Cons
The jump in cost over last year. A few of our offices have discontinued skillsurvey because of the price increase
Reasons for choosing SkillSurvey
Saw skill survey at NAPS conference in Boston
Anonymous
Time used: Less than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
December 2017
Standardizes Reference Checking!
Standardizes reference checking. Saves time in hiring process.
Pros
SkillSurvey standardizes your reference checking so its consistently applied across all hires. This tool has saved a lot of resources and sped up our hiring process as a result.
Cons
Can't be used in all positions where it could be most useful e.g. hourly non-exempt positions with high volumes staff have less supervisor email contacts. But they are supposedly introducing a text option to complete by mobile that would be welcome.
Nora
Company size: 501-1,000 employees
Industry: Non-Profit Organization Management
Time used: More than 2 years
Review Source: Capterra
This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you.
January 2020
Easy to Use Tool
Having this part of the process be so smooth allows for us to make hires efficiently which helps a whole lot.
Pros
It's easy to use for the employer and the candidate. The reports are easy to follow and if I ever have an issue, I can always reach someone right away.
Cons
There really isn't one that I can think of.
