How do I have my skills tested?

Members of the Elance professional network typically have various skills listed on their provider profiles. By having these skills tested, members can substantiate their skills and provide assurance of the authenticity of their profiles.  Providers on paid membership plans will receive free skills test credits depending on their plan.  Providers on the Individual membership plan will receive 2 test credits, Small Business providers will receive 4 test credits, and Large Business providers will receive 8 test credits.  Each additional test costs $4.  When creating or editing your profile, you can enter in or edit your skills section and have a skill tested.  Once the test has been tested, the test score will be shown on your profile (if you choose to show the tested score.)

A few items to keep in mind:

• You must wait 14 days in order to re-test the same skill (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which has a 24 hour waiting period between re-takes).
• Tests are timed and the test syllabus will indicate the duration as well as other important details surrounding each test (e.g. content, prerequisite knowledge, etc.). 
• You will be charged for each test re-take (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which is free).
• In order to pass the test and display your results in your profile, you will need to answer 60% of the questions correctly (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which requires an 80% pass rate).You can revert back to the self-assessment score or delete the skill if you are dissatisfied with your tested score.
• The test is considered failed if it is not completed. 
• You are charged immediately after clicking the 'Take Test' button and the test fee is not refundable.  If you have test credits, you will use up these credits each time you take a test (with the exception of the Elance Admission test which is free).

After logging into your account, please follow these steps to take a skills test:

Step 1:  From the MyElance page, click 'more' on your left control panel

Step 2:  Click on the 'Provider Profile' link

Step 3: Click on 'Edit and Test Skills' link.  From here, you will be able to edit, delete, and test your existing skills as well as add new skills.

Step 4:  If you're adding a new skill, you can do so by clicking 'Add Skills' on 'Edit and Test Skills' page.  Keep in mind that you can display, hide, or delete a skill at any time.

If you need to retake a test, click on the 'Edit' link next to your skill.  Then you will see a link to retake the test.

Once you have completed a test, you will see the results in your profile.    When you choose to show the test score on your profile, the 'average' mark of all test takers will be shown to indicate where you are compared to the average.  If you score higher than 30% of all test takers, you will receive a special indicator next to your score bar (Top 20%, Top 10%, etc.).

NOTE: Each month the percentile scores are updated to include the results of the most recent test results.