The Hindu, 22 November 2007

Launches online assessment tests

CHENNAI: In an attempt to wrest a larger chunk of the growing assessment market in India, leading human resources agency, Ma Foi Management Consultants, has tied up with e-bilities, an Australian developer and supplier of online pre-employment screening tests.

Signing the memorandum of understanding in Chennai on Wednesday, Ma Foi's Managing Director, K. Pandia Rajan, said that these tests, which test a potential employee's general mental ability as well as his own perception of his ability, would cut costs and save time for companies. "Online assessment is now just 5-6 per cent of the Rs. 175 crore assessment market in India...The drastic fall in processing time will be the big saving," he said. The market is growing at 30-35 per cent annually, and Ma Foi expects its own assessment business to double to Rs. 5 crore next year.

With some kind of assessment testing being used to fill about 60 per cent of the over 10 lakh jobs in the organised sector in India every year, Ma Foi expects e-bilities tests, with their focus on large-scale recruitment screening, to succeed in India. It expects to rake in Rs. 1 crore by administering about one lakh e-bilities tests next year. With a price tag below Rs. 200 per test, Ma Foi is focussing on the mass market.