Before you take the test

It is a set of multiple-choice questions about the languages or tools the company chose. You pick an answer for each one. The company decides how many questions there are, whether there is a time limit, and what score counts as a pass.

Your answers are checked on our servers against a list of correct answers written in advance by a person. Your score is the number you got right. If the company set a pass mark, we compare your score to that number. That is the whole of it. No software here forms an opinion about you, ranks you against anyone else, or recommends whether you should be hired.

• The email address the company sent your invitation to.
• If you sign in, the name, email and profile picture on that account.
• Which answer you picked for each question, your score, and how long you took.
• A copy of the exact questions you were shown.
• Each time you change an answer, and the time our server received it. If you go back and change your mind, both are kept.
• How many times this page stopped being the one on your screen, and for how long.
• How many times you copy text out of a question.
• A rough description of your browser: its version, the kind of computer, your screen size, your timezone and your language.

You are shown this same list on the screen before question 1, and you are asked to type a short line to confirm you read it. That screen is where the recording is agreed, not this page.

The company that invited you can see your result. How much of it you get to see afterwards is their choice, and it can be everything, your score only, or nothing. You can always see the counts above for your own attempt.

These are the numbers people worry about, so here is exactly what they are worth.

• Nothing is scored. There is no cheating score, no risk rating and no probability. The company sees the numbers next to a typical value and a plain note saying what each one cannot tell anybody.
• Nothing is blocked and nothing ends your test.You can copy text, switch tabs, and answer your phone. No number here can submit your test for you or lock you out. The only thing that ends a test is the time limit you were shown.
• We do not know what you switched to. Your browser tells us this page stopped being visible. It does not tell us what became visible, and we do not try to find out. A phone call, a notification or your password manager all do this.
• The browser description is not an identity check.It is only ever compared with other people on the same test, to say whether two of you look like you used the same machine. On a college or office machine that is completely normal.
• Nothing is decided by a computer. If any of it looks odd to the company, what they get is a suggestion to ask you about it. You can ask them what they saw.

You will be asked, before question 1, whether you are 18 or over. If you say you are under 18, none of the last four things above are recorded for you. Not the answer times, not the focus counts, not the copy counts, not the browser description.

You take exactly the same test, with the same questions and the same clock. Nobody is told your age. The company sees a note saying that part of the report is empty and why, so an empty section cannot be read as something you did.

This is the law in India, and it is not something a parent can agree around.

This matters, so here it is in full.

• Your camera is never used. We never ask for it and we hold no photos or video of you.
• Your screen is never recorded.
• Your microphone is never used.
• We cannot see your other tabs, apps or files.We count how many times this page lost focus. We do not know what you moved to, and nothing here reads it.
• Your keyboard and mouse are not logged. No keystroke logging and no mouse tracking.
• Nothing is blocked. Copy and paste works. Other tabs work. Your browser is not locked down in any way.
• Nobody is watching you take it. There is no proctor, human or automated, and no software that tries to be one.
• We never check your identity. No ID upload, no face matching.
• We do not guess anything about who you are. No software here tries to work out your gender, ethnicity, age or anything similar from your name or your writing.

One thing this means in practice: if you use a screen reader, a magnifier, or you work slowly, none of that is detected and none of it can be held against you. There is no cheating detector to be tripped, because nothing here is scored or thresholded at all. If you use a second window for notes, the page losing focus is counted, and the company is told in plain words that the count cannot say what you switched to. If you would rather not have that on your record, you can ask for extra time or an untimed attempt using the form below, and you can tell them why.

If a time limit would measure your disability rather than your skills, ask for a change. You are entitled to. Here is how it works:

1. Fill in the request form. You need the test link the company sent you and the email address they sent it to. No account needed.
2. Choose extra time (a quarter more, half again, or double) or no time limit at all.
3. The company that invited you decides. We email you either way.

Please do not send us a diagnosis or medical records. We do not want them, we are not qualified to assess them, and we would not do anything differently if we had them. There is a free text box if you want to explain what would help. You can leave it empty.

Extra time changes the clock and nothing else. The questions, the marking, and the pass mark are identical. Your result does not say you had an accommodation.

Ask before you start if you can. If a test has already begun and you are stuck, email hello@journeyuncommon.com and say so.

Extra time is the most common thing people need, so it has a form. It is not the only thing you can ask for. If you need the test in a different format, a break part way through, or a different way of being assessed altogether, say so on the same form under “something else”, or email us and we will pass it to the company. Asking for a different process is allowed and it is not held against you.

You can ask what we hold about you, ask for a copy, or ask us to delete it, by emailing hello@journeyuncommon.com. One caveat worth knowing in advance: a company that used a test to make a hiring decision may be legally required to keep the record of it for several years, so we may not be able to delete a result immediately. We will tell you if that applies.

The full detail is in the privacy policy, and there is a longer technical version of everything above in the product summary.