A realistic working day. Measured. Not an interview.
The Core Standard is the scenario-based executive assistant assessment, the test employers commission to see how a candidate actually works: an immersive simulation of a real EA working day, running 60 to 90 minutes depending on the level. Unlike typing-speed tests or multiple-choice executive assistant testing tools, it measures judgement, discretion, priority logic, and communication, not what a candidate has memorised from an interview prep guide.
From commission to report. Five steps. Two days.
Every assessment follows the same rigorous path. Transparent to you, immersive for the candidate, expert reviewed before it lands in your inbox.
Choose
Choose the stream you need: Operational EA, EA to Senior Leadership, Executive Business Partner, EA Manager, or Private PA. A single-use, 14-day candidate link is issued straight to your inbox.
Immersive simulation
The candidate works through a realistic day inside the simulator: inbox triage, priority sequencing, a stakeholder dilemma, and a live drafting exercise. One scenario, not a question bank. Session length runs 60 to 90 minutes depending on level, with a hard-stop clock.
AI-assisted scoring
Responses are scored against a detailed rubric across the five core competencies, plus mindset and AI orientation. The rubric is the same one a senior EA recruiter would use, applied consistently to every candidate.
Expert review
Lily Shippen reviews and signs off every employer assessment. Thirteen years of specialist EA recruitment, running one of the UK's leading EA agencies, directly on the report. Nothing is machine-only.
Competency report
You receive the full report within 48 hours. Scores, evidence, disposition matrix, red flags, standouts, and a hire recommendation.
Five core competencies. Plus the mindset and AI dimensions interviews never reach.
CVs show you where someone has been. Interviews show you how they present. The Core Standard shows you how they think, under the pressure of a real day. Every score is backed by evidence drawn from the simulation itself.
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01
Under pressure
Prioritisation
Can they triage competing demands? Do they know what can wait, what cannot, and why? We test the reasoning behind the ranking, not just the ranking itself.
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02
Signal & nuance
Judgement
Do they notice what matters? The buried detail in an email, the tone shift from a principal, the inconsistency in a brief.
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03
Tone & audience
Communication
Can they write a line that lands? Adapt tone across audiences? Deliver bad news with grace? We read what they draft, not what they say they would draft.
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04
Plan to delivery
Execution
From brief to deliverable. Can they plan, sequence, and finish? Accuracy, follow-through, and the discipline that separates capable from impressive.
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05
Trust & proxy
Partnership
Do they work as a genuine partner, not just a pair of hands? Anticipating what the principal needs before it is asked, holding relationships and stakeholders on their behalf, and earning the trust to act in their name.
Mindset. How the candidate frames the seat, handles friction, and thinks about accountability. Not personality. Disposition to the work itself.
AI orientation. How comfortable and discerning they are using AI tools inside the seat. Where they lean on them, where they override them, and how they judge the output. An increasingly non-negotiable EA competency.
The simulation
One working day, built from scenario modules.
The assessment is a realistic day in an executive office, not a quiz. Every candidate sits the same core scenarios. Every module feeds the five pillars. The higher the level, the more the day layers on, matched to the demands of the seat.
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01
All levels
Inbox Triage
A morning inbox of competing demands. What do you action, hold, escalate, or decline, and in what order?
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02
All levels
Simultaneous Demands
Three things land at once, all urgent. What gets done first, what waits, and can they explain why?
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03
All levels
Access & Discretion
A request that tests confidentiality, boundaries, and how they protect the principal and sensitive information.
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04
All levels
Rebuilding the Day
The diary falls apart mid-morning. Re-sequence the day under pressure without dropping what matters.
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05
All levels
Representing the Principal
Draft in the principal’s voice across audiences: a board member, a supplier, a colleague. Right tone, every time.
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06
All levels
A Sensitive Situation
A delicate interpersonal moment. Handled with judgement, tact, and an instinct for the principal’s reputation.
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07
Level 2 & 3
Judgement with AI
An AI-drafted output with a flaw buried in it. Do they catch it, fix it, or ship it? Tests AI Fluency, not tool trivia.
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08
Level 3
Reading the Numbers
A data set with a decision buried in it. Interpret, spot what matters, and make a recommendation. Tests Data Interpretation.
Scenario names shown for illustration. The exact briefs, and the curveballs inside them, stay unseen until the candidate sits the assessment.
Level 1 · Operational EA
The core six modules across a 60-minute working day. The five pillars, scored in full.
Level 2 · EA to Senior Leadership
The core six, plus Module 7 (Judgement with AI). 75 minutes. Layers on AI Fluency and Mindset & Resilience.
Level 3 · Executive Business Partner
All eight modules, including Reading the Numbers. 90 minutes. Adds Judgement & Ethics and Data Interpretation.
In short: the five pillars are the constant, scored at every level. The modules and added competencies are what scale with the seniority of the seat.
Built for both sides of the desk.
An assessment is only useful if it works for everyone who touches it. The Core Standard is designed to give employers signal they can trust, and to give candidates a fair, rigorous test of what they actually do.
See how they'll perform. Before you hire.
Commission an assessment before an offer, during shortlist, or for promotion decisions. No more post hire surprises.
- Single use, 14 day candidate link
- Competency report within 48 hours
- Scored evidence, not a gut call
- Signed off by Lily Shippen, founder of one of the UK's leading specialist EA recruitment agencies, with thirteen years in the industry
- TCS Match personality overlay coming soon
Prove what interviews never capture.
Certify yourself against the benchmark. Use the badge in your applications. Show employers evidence, not claims.
- TCS Certified (candidate-paid). £175 inc. VAT.
- The same scenario-based simulation, scored against every level
- Expert-reviewed report within 48 hours, not an instant score
- Certificate and shareable digital badge
- Counts towards the TCS benchmark dataset
What the candidate actually does.
The simulation drops the candidate into a role at a fictional organisation. The scenario is written by a specialist EA recruiter and grounded in the real friction of real EA days, not in abstract puzzles.
Over the course of the simulation, the candidate works through a sequence of scenario modules. Six at entry level, eight at senior level. Together they compress a full working day into the session window:
- Inbox triage. A full inbox lands at once, with roughly fifteen minutes of work compressed into ten or twelve. The candidate decides what to sequence, what to hold, and explains the reasoning behind each call. This module is separately timed.
- Simultaneous demands. Several competing asks arrive in the same window. The candidate has to decide what moves, what holds, and what gets delegated.
- Conflicting priorities. An instruction that runs into a complication. We test the reasoning the candidate uses, not the specific answer they land on.
- Calendar rebuild. The principal's day is no longer viable. The candidate restructures it, protecting what matters.
- Live drafting. A reply that has to be written in full, not selected from a list. Tone, judgement, and brevity are all visible in the output.
- Stakeholder dilemma. A conflict with no neat answer. How the candidate navigates it reveals judgement at altitude.
- AI fluency (Level 2 and above). How the candidate works with AI, what they cross-check, and where they draw the line.
- Data interpretation (Level 3). A commercial dashboard. The candidate surfaces the three things the principal actually needs to know, ordered by weight.
- Mindset check. A short set of calibrated questions that surface approach and orientation. How the candidate thinks about the seat itself, not just the tasks inside it.
There is no multiple-choice shortcut. Every response is written in the candidate's own words, which is where judgement becomes visible.
Every session is timed. When the clock hits zero the session auto-submits. Candidates cannot pause or extend. This mirrors the reality that a working day ends whether you're ready or not. How a candidate handles the pressure is part of what's being measured.
Session durations by level
- Level 1, Operational EA: 60 minutes
- Level 2, EA to Senior Leadership: 75 minutes
- Level 3, Executive Business Partner: 90 minutes
- Private PA, Level 1: 70 minutes
Answers save as you go. Candidates can refresh the page if something goes wrong. Accommodations for neurodivergence and disability add 25% to the session length on self-certified request.
A report you could share with the board.
Not a traffic light. Not a personality adjective. A structured competency report with scored evidence, direct quotes from the simulation, and a hire recommendation backed by a specialist.
Candidate. Operational EA. Overall 82 of 100.
Every score links to evidence. Every evidence link quotes the candidate's own words. No black box.
Interviews, psychometrics, CVs. They each miss something.
A CV tells you where someone has been. It cannot tell you whether they'd survive your Tuesday morning. An interview tests confidence and preparation. It rewards candidates who rehearse well, not candidates who think well. A psychometric reports what a candidate says about themselves. It does not capture what they do.
The Core Standard puts the candidate inside a realistic day and watches how they move. That is a different kind of evidence. The kind you only get on their second week in the seat. Except you get it before the offer goes out.
Before you commission.
See what interviews can't.
Operational EA, EA to Senior Leadership, and the candidate Self Assessment are live today. Other streams open on waitlist.