EY Netherlands is renewing its recruitment process by implementing Equalture’s game-based assessments for the roles up to and including manager positions.
According to Renate Steenbergen, who has final responsibility for Recruitment at EY Netherlands, this choice is a logical step in EY’s broader strategy, in which equal opportunities and candidate experience are central.
4.22/5
Candidate Experience
94%
Completion Rate
“Our previous traditional assessments led to drop-off, were easy to ‘game’, and lacked true inclusivity. With Equalture’s game-based assessments, the process is now engaging, fair, and resistant to AI assistance or social desirability bias. Best of all, the games are proven to be fully inclusive across gender, age, ethnicity, and neurodiversity”
Renate Steenbergen
Head of Talent Acquisition at EY
Challenges
From CVs to Character: A New Retail Hiring Vision
First Results
Challenge(s): Traditional assessments being unreliable, overly trainable, and stressful for candidates, prompting a need for a more objective, engaging, and accessible recruitment process.
Recruitment Process Change: From a traditional to a game-based assessment format, being introduced pre-interview.
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Result 1
Candidate Experience: An average candidate experience rating of 4.22 out of 5 shows that candidates genuinely enjoy and positively engage with the game-based assessment. -
Result 2
Completion Rate: Although candidates are required to complete the assessment before the interview, the average completion rate is 94%, showing that the game-based format is far more engaging and does not lead to dropout, unlike the previous traditional assessments.
Challenges
Flaws of previous traditional cognitive assessment & personality questionnaire
Until recently, EY used traditional cognitive tests and personality questionnaires.
“More traditional cognitive tests can often be trained for and therefore, are less reliable. And personality questions invite socially desirable answers, which means the results don’t always provide an accurate picture. In addition, the assessments were often experienced as stressful and discouraging.”
For EY, it was therefore important not only to improve the objectivity of the selection process, but also to make the job application experience more positive and accessible for candidates.
“We noticed that these methods were increasingly misaligned with what we want to achieve in our recruitment process.”
Renate Steenbergen
Head of Talent Acquisition at EY
Goals
Why Equalture?
In the search for an alternative, EY quickly arrived at Equalture. The game-based assessments offer an innovative and scientifically validated way to evaluate candidates, Renate explains:
“What we really like about Equalture is their clear focus on objectivity. The games measure cognitive skills and behaviours without giving candidates a chance to prepare or influence the outcome, so we get a much more genuine picture of someone’s potential. At the same time, we’re confident candidates won’t see the games as just another test but as an engaging challenge that makes the application process more positive. This isn’t just an assumption—Equalture has already collected hundreds of thousands of data points on candidate satisfaction after completing the games, which show that people consistently rate the experience positively. Just as important, Equalture puts inclusion at the heart of everything, making sure that factors like age, gender, cultural background, and neurodiversity don’t unfairly impact how someone performs. That matters a lot to us.”
Renate Steenbergen
Head of Talent Acquisition at EY
Through the collaboration with Equalture, EY is building an important bridge between objective selection and a positive, human-centred candidate experience.
“We are convinced this will help us attract the best talent while putting our values into practice”, Renate concludes. From 1 July 2025, all candidates will complete Equalture’s game-based assessments before their interview.
