ROLE-SPECIFIC SKILLS

PPC Advertising test for hiring

See how candidates reason through paid search and social campaign decisions.

10 minutes
15 questions
Intermediate
Multiple choice
Questions in English
Phone and desktop

Use this test free See the question formats

The short answer

The PPC Advertising test is a 10-minute hiring screen for paid search and paid social specialists, PPC account managers, digital marketing managers and analysts. It measures how candidates plan, target, build, measure and improve campaigns. Candidates read campaign results, keyword lists, audience setups and performance tables, then choose a decision a capable practitioner would make.

What it measures

How well a candidate plans, targets, builds, measures and improves paid search and social ad campaigns.

Campaign planning and measurement

Assesses how candidates plan campaigns and interpret results to measure performance.

Keyword and audience reach

Covers choices about keywords and audience setups that shape who a campaign can reach.

Ad formats and channel choice

Looks at how candidates select ad formats and channels for a campaign.

Bidding and ongoing improvement

Checks judgment about bidding and decisions to improve campaign performance over time.

Question formats

Multiple choice

The candidate: Reads a short situation, table or statement and picks the right answer, or every right answer.

You see: Whether the candidate knows the material well enough to apply it, not just recognize it.

15 questions in 10 minutes, served one at a time.

Roles this test fits

Paid search and paid social specialists, PPC account managers, digital marketing managers and analysts, and other roles that run or oversee pay-per-click budgets.

What this screen can show

Campaign judgment, not just resume claims
See candidates respond to campaign results, keyword lists, audience setups and performance tables. This gives you evidence of how they might choose a next step, beyond what a resume says they have done.
A focused view of paid media work
Review planning and measurement, keyword and audience reach, ad formats and channel choice, and bidding and improvement in one short assessment.
Spend interview time on follow-up
Use the 10-minute screen to guide which campaign decisions you want to explore in a structured interview or work sample.

What you get for each candidate

Example report (fictional data)PPC Advertising

78%Percentile 62. Benchmark: HireValid candidates, n = 677

Campaign planning and measurement77%

Keyword and audience reach74%

Ad formats and channel choice83%

Bidding and ongoing improvement76%

Integrity ScoreHigh confidence

Stayed on the test tab throughout
No pasted answers
Answered at a steady pace

Scores, profiles and integrity signals are evidence for you to review alongside an interview, never an automatic decision.

Use this test free

Assessment integrity signals

Each candidate receives a different set of questions from large question pools. Question order changes by attempt, and answer options are shuffled. The browser shows one question at a time, and answer keys stay on HireValid’s servers. Timing runs on the server. If the page reloads, the same question returns with only the time left; candidates cannot go back. Question text cannot be copied or selected, and a blocked copy attempt is recorded in the timeline. Invitation links are personal and expire, and a finished test cannot be taken again. HireValid summarizes signals such as time away from the test tab, pastes into answers and answers faster than a question can be read in an Integrity Score with an evidence timeline. An employer reviews the evidence; the score does not decide on its own. With candidate consent, an employer can add webcam photos at random moments.

How we prevent AI cheating · Integrity signals

Use the score as one piece of evidence

Review the score alongside a job-relevant work sample and a structured interview. For a work sample, ask candidates to explain a campaign choice using a short scenario with results, a keyword list or an audience setup. Compare their reasoning with the decisions the role requires, not with a score alone. Use the interview to ask each candidate the same core questions and note specific evidence in their answers. For related hiring screens, consider Google Analytics 4, Meta Ads or Market Research. Learn more about how we build our tests.

Structured interview questions

A campaign's results are below the goal you set. What would you review first, and how would that shape your next decision?
Listen for a clear link between the results, campaign measurement and a practical next step.
How would you decide whether a keyword list or audience setup needs to change?
Look for reasoning about targeting and reach, grounded in the campaign information available.
Tell me how you would choose an ad format and channel for a campaign with a defined goal.
Listen for the candidate to connect the goal to channel choice and the planned way to measure results.

Understand scoring and benchmarks

Fairness and accommodations

Questions describe ad platform features in neutral, general terms, so no single platform's menus or brand names are needed. Costs are plain round amounts in one stated currency code, businesses and customers are varied in size, sector and region, and names come from many backgrounds. The reading level is kept plain, every number a question needs is shown in it, and a calculator and scratch paper are allowed for every candidate.

You can give any candidate extra time as an accommodation. Results are evidence for a person to review, never an automatic decision.

Provisional: reliability is reported once 200 candidates have completed it.

Read our fairness approach

Test details

A short, timed test of the working judgment behind pay-per-click campaigns. Candidates read campaign results, keyword lists, audience setups and performance tables, then pick the decision a capable paid media practitioner would make. Questions describe features in general terms that hold across the major search and social ad platforms.

Questions are in English.
Aids allowed: A calculator, Scratch paper.
Each question is answered once, in order, with no going back.
4 practice questions, 4 minutes, before the timed test.

Frequently asked questions

What does the PPC Advertising test measure?+

It measures how candidates plan, target, build, measure and improve paid search and social ad campaigns. Questions use campaign results, keyword lists, audience setups and performance tables to assess planning and measurement, reach, ad format and channel choices, and bidding and ongoing improvement.

How long does the PPC Advertising test take?+

The assessment has 15 multiple-choice questions and a 10-minute time limit. Candidates can use a calculator and scratch paper. They see one question at a time and cannot return to an earlier question.

Which roles suit the PPC Advertising test?+

It is intended for paid search and paid social specialists, PPC account managers, digital marketing managers and analysts, and other roles that run or oversee pay-per-click budgets. Use the results as evidence for a person to review alongside job-relevant follow-up.

Do candidates need experience with a particular ad platform for the PPC Advertising test?+

Questions describe platform features in neutral, general terms, so they do not require a particular platform’s menus or brand names. Candidates make decisions using campaign results, keyword lists, audience setups and performance tables.