Carthena Talent Screening Platform

The Problem

CVs do not predict performance. Interviews do not either.

African companies investing in graduate intakes and senior hires face a structural problem that most advisory firms do not address directly.

Volume without objectivity

A bank or insurance company reviewing 500 graduate applications has no standardised way to rank them. CV screening is subjective. Phone interviews are inconsistent. The result is an intake selected on gut feel, not evidence.

Senior hires carry disproportionate risk

A wrong appointment at director or head-of-department level costs multiples of annual salary in management time, severance, and performance drag. Most organisations have no structured process beyond an interview panel.

No psychometric infrastructure

Accredited psychometric tools exist but are expensive, require trained interpreters, and are calibrated for Western markets. There is no affordable, Africa-built alternative that an in-house HR team can operate independently.

Output that committees cannot use

Even when screening happens, results often arrive as raw test scores. HR needs a ranked shortlist. ExCo needs individual assessment reports with a clear recommendation. Most tools produce neither.

How It Works

Four steps from candidate list to hiring decision

The platform handles the full screening workflow. Carthena manages the configuration. Your HR team manages the candidate list and downloads the results.

Step 01

Configure

Carthena creates your client account and configures the assessment. You define the hiring role. We set the tier - graduate screening or professional assessment - and calibrate the role-specific section to your sector and seniority level.

Step 02

Invite

Upload your candidate list via Excel. The platform sends each candidate a secure sign-in link - no passwords, no app downloads, no friction. Invitations go out in controlled batches to avoid deliverability issues. You monitor completion in real time.

Step 03

Assess

Candidates complete individually timed sections from any device. Each section has anti-cheat monitoring active throughout: tab-switch detection, copy-paste blocking, timer enforcement, and session integrity logging. Every integrity event is recorded.

Step 04

Decide

Download your results with one click. Graduate candidates receive a branded Excel with composite rankings, section breakdowns, and conditional formatting across the full candidate pool. Professional hires receive individual PDF assessment reports with a hiring recommendation.

Assessment Tiers

Two tiers. Different hiring contexts. Different outputs.

Graduate screening and senior professional assessment require fundamentally different approaches. The platform delivers both from a single interface.

Graduate Screening

4 sections | 70 minutes | Excel output

Section 01 - Critical Reasoning: 15 questions, 30 minutes. Numerical, verbal, and logical reasoning under timed pressure. Weighted at 40% of composite score.
Section 02 - Situational Judgement: 12 workplace scenarios rated on a 4-point effectiveness scale, 20 minutes. Measures practical decision-making and stakeholder awareness. Weighted at 35% of composite score.
Section 03 - Behavioural Profile (DISC): 24 forced-choice blocks, 10 minutes. Maps communication and work-style preferences for team placement. Not scored - used for role fit guidance only.
Section 04 - Role-Specific Knowledge: 8-10 questions calibrated to the hiring role and sector. Entry-level awareness. Weighted at 25% of composite score.

Used by banks, insurance companies, and corporates running graduate trainee intakes of 50-800 candidates per intake. Output is a single branded Excel spreadsheet with composite rankings and colour-coded headers for immediate HR review.

Professional Assessment

2 sections | 20 minutes | PDF output per candidate

Section 03 - Behavioural Profile (DISC): same format as graduate tier. Maps communication preferences and leadership style. Not scored - interpreted for role placement and team dynamics.
Section 04 - Role-Specific Knowledge: 8-10 senior scenario-based questions. Calibrated to director, head-of-department, or specialist level. Weighted at 100% of composite score. No generic reasoning tests for experienced professionals.

Used by boards and ExCo hiring for director, head of department, and senior specialist roles. Each candidate receives an individual PDF assessment report with their DISC profile, composite score, integrity summary, and a clear hiring recommendation: Recommended, Consider, or Not Recommended.

Platform Capabilities

Built for the realities of African hiring

Every capability is designed around a specific failure mode in conventional hiring practice.

Weighted Scoring Engine

Configurable per tier. Graduate: 40/35/25 split across Critical Reasoning, Situational Judgement, and Role-Specific Knowledge. Professional: 100% Role-Specific. DISC generates a behavioural profile for placement - never a score. Every candidate is ranked by the same objective criteria, applied consistently across the candidate pool.

Anti-Cheat and Integrity Monitoring

Tab-switch detection, copy-paste blocking, timer enforcement, and session integrity logging are active across all sections from the moment the candidate begins. Every integrity event is recorded and surfaced in the output report, giving HR a complete picture of assessment conditions for every individual in the assessment.

Multi-Role Client Architecture

One client can run simultaneous assessments for multiple hiring roles - each with its own candidate list, question pool, and result download. A role selector in the admin dashboard scopes candidates, invitations, and results by assessment. Complete data isolation between clients is enforced at the database level.

Branded Output by Tier

Graduate candidates download a colour-coded Excel with composite scores, section breakdowns, conditional formatting, and candidate ranking across the full pool. Professional hires generate individual PDF assessment reports with DISC profile visualisation, scoring methodology, integrity summary, and a clear hiring recommendation - ready for committee review without further formatting.

Candidate Experience

Timed, proctored, and friction-free from any device

Candidates receive a secure sign-in link by email. No passwords. No app downloads. They confirm their details, complete the sections in sequence, and submit. Auto-save runs continuously so no progress is lost to connectivity issues.

Section 1 Critical Reasoning assessment showing a logical reasoning question with multiple choice options and question map sidebar

Section 01 - Critical Reasoning

15 questions across numerical, verbal, and logical reasoning. 30-minute timer. Tests analytical thinking under pressure. Graduate Screening only. Weighted at 40% of composite score.

Section 2 Situational Judgement assessment showing a workplace scenario with effectiveness rating scale

Section 02 - Situational Judgement

12 workplace scenarios rated on a 4-point effectiveness scale. 20-minute timer. Measures practical decision-making and stakeholder awareness. Graduate Screening only. Weighted at 35% of composite score.

Section 03 - Behavioural Profile (DISC)

24 forced-choice blocks. 10-minute timer. Maps communication and work-style preferences for placement guidance. Included in both tiers. Not scored - generates a DISC profile for role fit and team composition decisions.

Section 04 - Role-Specific Knowledge

8-10 questions calibrated to the hiring context - financial services, operations, technology, or any sector. Graduate candidates answer entry-level awareness questions. Professional candidates face senior scenario-based evaluations. Included in both tiers. Weighted at 25% for graduate, 100% for professional.

Client Administration

Your HR team manages the process. We manage the platform.

Each client receives a dedicated admin portal at a unique URL. The dashboard gives your HR team direct control over candidate management, invitation sending, and result downloads - without requiring any technical support from Carthena for day-to-day operations.

Client admin dashboard showing candidate count, started, completed, and pending metrics with progress bar

Dashboard Overview - real-time completion tracking per assessment, with role selector for multi-role clients

Client admin invitations tab with Excel upload, sample template download, and bulk send controls

Invitation Management - upload your candidate list via Excel, scoped by role, with batch sending and auto-retry

Superadmin dashboard showing overview with client count, candidate count, session count, and completion metrics

Superadmin Overview - Carthena monitors aggregate metrics across all clients and assessments

Superadmin clients tab showing client list with active status, candidate count, and admin actions

Client Configuration - Carthena creates client accounts, configures assessment tiers, and manages hiring roles

Why This Platform

Built for how African companies actually hire

Three questions every HR Director asks before committing to a new assessment tool.

Can it handle our volume?

Most assessment platforms are built for markets where companies hire ten people at a time. African financial services, telecoms, and energy companies run graduate intakes of 200 to 800 candidates. This platform handles that scale with controlled batch sending, automated retry, and real-time completion tracking - without overloading email servers or losing candidates to broken links.

Is the assessment methodology real?

Four validated assessment dimensions - critical reasoning, situational judgement, behavioural profiling, and role-specific knowledge - replace the CV-and-panel approach that lets bias, networking, and presentation skills substitute for actual competence. Every candidate is measured by the same criteria. The composite score ranks them objectively. DISC profiling provides placement intelligence beyond the ranking.

Will my committee actually use the output?

For graduate screening, your HR team downloads a branded Excel with composite scores, section breakdowns, and conditional formatting - sorted and ranked across the full candidate pool. For senior hires, you receive individual PDF assessment reports per candidate with behavioural profiles, scores, and a clear hiring recommendation. Every output is designed to go straight from your dashboard to the decision table - no reformatting, no interpretation layer required.

CARTHENA ADVISORY

This platform is built and operated by Carthena Advisory. Carthena creates all client accounts, configures assessments, and provides ongoing support for every engagement. The platform is not self-serve - every client relationship is managed directly by our team to ensure assessment quality and output integrity.

To discuss the platform for your next hiring intake, contact us at carthenaadvisory.com/contact or speak to your Carthena engagement lead.

Screen 800 candidates in 72 hours.Rank them by what actually predicts performance.