Criteria Corp vs Plum: Which Talent Assessment Platform Delivers More Value?

Choose Plum if you need validated, predictive insights that scale across hiring, development, leadership, and mobility.

Choose Criteria Corp if you want a broad library of skills and cognitive tests for fast, customizable role-based screening.

Where does Plum outperform Criteria Corp on predictiveness and lifecycle value?

Reported outcomes and third-party audits support long-term impact: 

93%

of hiring managers would rehire their Plum match

77%

increase in retention when using Plum for mobility decisions.

78%

increase in underrepresented hires with no adverse impact across 50,000+ audited profiles.

What is Plum?

Plum is a talent assessment platform that uses a single, ~25-minute psychometric assessment to measure human potential. It evaluates cognitive ability, personality-based talents, and social intelligence. The result is a predictive Match Score for hiring and development, plus a reusable dataset for leadership, mobility, and workforce planning.

What is Criteria Corp?

Criteria Corp is a pre-employment testing platform with a wide suite of assessments. It offers cognitive aptitude tests like CCAT and Cognify, personality and behavioral tests based on Big Five, emotional intelligence, risk and integrity tests, skills assessments, and structured video interviews. The value proposition: one place to run many different hiring tests.

Why do companies choose Criteria Corp, and what are the trade-offs?

Teams choose Criteria for breadth and flexibility. HR can mix CCAT, game-based Cognify, personality, EI, risk, skills tests, and structured interviews in one subscription. Flat annual pricing with unlimited usage appeals to mid-sized companies that run high volumes.

Trade-off: breadth often means combining multiple tests per role. That can extend candidate testing time and create assessment sprawl for admins.

Does Plum replace multiple tests that Criteria might require?

Yes. Plum’s universal assessment covers what many teams spread across separate test types. That reduces tool sprawl, shortens decision cycles, and gives everyone a common behavioral language across roles and levels.

How do candidate experiences compare between Criteria and Plum?

  • Plum: One untimed, mobile-friendly assessment of about 25 minutes. Every candidate receives a personalized Plum Profile they can keep. Reported completion rates exceed 93%.
  • Criteria Corp: Multiple shorter assessments are common. CCAT is about 15 minutes, and Cognify adds a game-based option. Practice resources exist, yet candidate feedback is often limited.

How do DEI, fairness, and compliance compare?

  • Plum: Uses a forced-choice format to minimize faking. Independent audits across 50,000+ profiles show no adverse impact, with a reported 78% increase in underrepresented hires.
  • Criteria Corp: Validates against adverse impact and includes DEI-conscious features in video interviewing. DEI is present, though not the central design principle.

Decision guide: when to choose Criteria vs Plum

  • Choose Criteria Corp if you want a broad test library in one subscription, plan to mix several test types per role, and value game-based cognitive options and structured interviews.
  • Choose Plum if you want one validated assessment that is predictive, fair, and reusable across hiring, leadership, and mobility. You prefer a single behavioral language and a lower TCO over time.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Dimension

Criteria Corp

Plum

Assessment approach
Multiple separate tests: cognitive, personality, EI, risk, skills, video
Single, universal psychometric (~25 mins)
Predictive focus
Valid for immediate job fit and role alignment Validated and used for predictive decisions; lifecycle-oriented
Lifecycle use Primarily hiring, with developing L&D tools Hiring → onboarding → development → leadership → internal mobility
Candidate value Practice resources; individual feedback often limited Plum Profile for every candidate
DEI & fairness Validates adverse impact; DEI features in video Bias-audited; no adverse impact in large samples; reported 78% ↑ in representation
Integrations Broad ATS integrations; 10+ languages Native ATS integrations; API; 20+ languages
ROI Unlimited usage pricing; predictable annual cost Retention and mobility gains; reduced interviews and tool sprawl

When is the total cost of ownership lower with Plum?

When teams would otherwise deploy multiple tests, pay for training, manage several workflows, and run separate tools for hiring, development, leadership, and mobility. Plum’s single-assessment model lowers TCO by reducing admin effort, candidate time in assessments, and change-management overhead.

How fast is implementation, and how do integrations compare?

Both platforms integrate with popular ATS systems.

  • Plum: Self-serve setup WITHOUT expensive certifications. Teams often launch in days. 20+ languages supported.
  • Criteria Corp: Broad ATS integrations and 10+ languages. Setup can involve mapping several test types per role.

Which is better for global teams: Criteria or Plum?

Both support global deployment. Plum supports 20+ languages. Criteria supports 10+. If you want a single, consistent experience across countries and roles, Plum’s universal assessment keeps rollouts simple.

Ready to see Plum in action

Plum combines cognitive, personality, and social intelligence into one validated assessment. The result is predictive Match Scores, reusable data for leadership and internal mobility, and a consistent, fair experience for every candidate, all while lowering total cost of ownership and simplifying rollout for global teams.

See how a single assessment replaces many

FAQ

Yes. Plum consolidates multiple assessment areas into one psychometric framework. Criteria provides a suite of separate tests

Plum. It is validated to support predictive decisions and has been used across many roles. Reported outcomes include retention gains and improved leadership pipelines.

Plum requires one untimed assessment of about 25 minutes and gives every candidate a profile. Criteria often uses multiple tests. CCAT is about 15 minutes. Candidate feedback is more limited.

Yes. Both validate against adverse impact. Plum has independent audits on 50,000+ profiles with a reported 78% increase in underrepresented hires.

Criteria uses flat-rate annual subscriptions with unlimited use. Plum also uses subscription pricing and emphasizes ROI through retention and reuse of lifecycle data.

Both support global use. Plum supports 20+ languages. Criteria supports 10+. Plum’s single assessment can simplify global rollouts.

Plum focuses on enduring human potential: problem solving, personality-based talents, and social intelligence. Many customers pair Plum with light role-specific skills checks when needed.

Both integrate with major ATS tools. Plum’s single-assessment model helps teams go live in days since there are fewer moving parts to configure.