Kenexa Prove It Test 2026: Status and Prep

The Kenexa Prove It test was IBM Kenexa's library of job-skills tests, such as Excel, Word, typing and accounting, that staffing agencies and employers used to check practical skills. IBM has since retired Prove It and moved out of assessments: in January 2020 SHL took over delivery of the IBM Kenexa assessment content on its Talent Central platform. If you are asked to take a "Kenexa test" in 2026, it is most likely a numerical, verbal or logical reasoning test from that legacy catalogue, or an employer page that has not been updated. This guide explains the product status, the test formats and gives original practice questions with worked answers. It is based on IBM, SHL and prep sources, not on a first-hand sitting.

Key facts

What happened to Kenexa and Prove It?

The history explains why search results are confusing.

1. 2012: IBM agreed to buy Kenexa, a talent-management company that sold assessments, for about $1.3 billion. The tests ran for years under the "IBM Kenexa" name.
2. Prove It! retired: IBM moved Prove It! customers to its Kenexa Assess platform. IBM's support page describes the migration as completed and says Prove It! data "has been purged" and is no longer retrievable.
3. January 2020: SHL announced a partnership with IBM under which SHL "will provide IBM Kenexa Assessment test materials", alongside its own portfolio, through its Talent Central platform, offering "a transition path for Kenexa Assessment clients".
4. 2021: IBM's applicant-tracking business (BrassRing) was sold to Infinite Computer Solutions, and Riot IQ reports that the IBM Kenexa Assess platform was discontinued on 31 December 2021, with the test catalogue going to SHL.

What this means for you: an invitation that says "Kenexa" will normally open in SHL's platform or in a third-party platform. Read the test name on the invitation. If it is an SHL test name, the SHL guide describes the current SHL formats.

Some staffing agencies still use the phrase "Prove It test" for any software skills check, even when the test comes from another vendor. If an agency asks you to "do a Prove It", ask which software and level it covers.

Kenexa reasoning tests: what they look like

Prep sources describe three main reasoning formats, plus a combined computer-adaptive test that mixes all three and gets harder as you answer correctly (Riot IQ, Practice Aptitude Tests). Riot IQ notes that exact item counts were never published by the vendor, and Practice Aptitude Tests advises checking the version named in your invitation because counts vary by role level.

Numerical reasoning

Tables and charts with business data; percentages, ratios, growth rates and currency. Multiple choice, usually with a calculator. More practice in the numerical reasoning guide.

Practice data (original). Units sold by region:

Practice 1. Which region had the largest percentage growth from Q1 to Q2? A) North B) South C) East D) West

Answer: D) West. Growth: North 180 ÷ 1,200 = 15%; South −38 ÷ 950 = −4%; East 120 ÷ 1,600 = 7.5%; West 112 ÷ 700 = 16%. North has the largest absolute increase, which is the trap.

Practice 2. By what percentage did total units rise from Q1 to Q2, to one decimal place? A) 7.6% B) 8.4% C) 9.2% D) 10.1%

Answer: B) 8.4%. Q1 total = 1,200 + 950 + 1,600 + 700 = 4,450. Q2 total = 1,380 + 912 + 1,720 + 812 = 4,824. 4,824 ÷ 4,450 = 1.0840, so the rise is 8.4%.

Verbal reasoning

You read a passage and decide whether a statement is true, false or cannot say from the passage alone. The verbal reasoning guide covers this format in depth.

Passage (original): "From March, staff in the finance team may work from home on up to two days a week, provided their manager approves a written schedule. The policy does not apply to the payroll unit during the last five working days of each month, when all payroll staff must be in the office. The company will review the policy after six months."

Practice 3. Payroll staff may work from home during the last five working days of the month. Answer: False. The passage says all payroll staff must be in the office then.

Practice 4. The policy will be made permanent after six months. Answer: Cannot say. The passage only says it will be reviewed.

Practice 5. A finance employee working from home on two days needs an approved written schedule. Answer: True. Approval of a written schedule is the stated condition.

Logical reasoning

A series of shapes follows a rule; you choose the next figure. See the abstract reasoning guide for rule types.

Practice 6 (original). Figure 1: white triangle. Figure 2: black square. Figure 3: white pentagon. Figure 4: black hexagon. What is Figure 5? A) black heptagon B) white heptagon C) white hexagon D) black octagon

Answer: B. Each figure has one more side than the previous one (3, 4, 5, 6, so 7), and the fill alternates white, black, white, black, so figure 5 is white.

Kenexa Prove It test formats (skills tests)

Prove It covered practical skills rather than reasoning. Riot IQ describes it as a library of more than a thousand job-skills tests, from typing to accounting. JobTestPrep describes the formats:

• Excel and Word: interactive simulations of the real software, in three levels (basic, advanced and a less common combined test); the Excel tests were untimed.
• Typing: timed, three to five minutes, scored on words per minute and adjusted words per minute.
• Data entry: alpha-numeric and 10-key versions, scored on keystrokes per hour and field accuracy.
• Accounting: accounts payable, accounts receivable and bookkeeping tests.

City Weekly adds that the Office tests typically took 15 to 30 minutes for non-technical assessments and 45 to 60 minutes for technical ones, and that you could not skip questions or go back. Because Prove It is retired, treat all of this as a description of the format you may still meet in successor tests, not of a live product.

Practice 7 (Excel, original). Cells B2:B6 contain monthly sales figures. Which formula returns the average of only those months with sales above 100? A) =AVERAGE(B2:B6>100) B) =AVERAGEIF(B2:B6,">100") C) =SUMIF(B2:B6,">100")/5 D) =COUNTIF(B2:B6,">100")

Answer: B. AVERAGEIF takes a range and a criterion and averages the matching cells. C divides by all five months rather than by the number of qualifying months, and D only counts them.

Practice 8 (Excel, original). You need cell C2 to show "Over" when B2 is greater than the target in E1, and "OK" otherwise, and you will copy the formula down column C. Which formula works? A) =IF(B2>E1,"Over","OK") B) =IF(B2>$E$1,"Over","OK") C) =IF($B$2>E1,"Over","OK") D) =IF(B2>E$2,"Over","OK")

Answer: B. The target must stay fixed when the formula is copied, so E1 needs an absolute reference ($E$1), while B2 must change row by row.

Traps and how to avoid them

• Absolute versus percentage change. Kenexa-style numerical items often offer the largest absolute change as a distractor.
• Totals before percentages. For overall growth, add the columns first; averaging the regional percentages gives a wrong answer.
• Cannot say vs false. "False" needs the passage to contradict the statement. If the passage is silent, the answer is cannot say.
• Simulated software. Simulated Excel windows may not accept every shortcut. Use menus or type formulas in full if a shortcut does nothing.
• Outdated information. Many prep pages still describe IBM's platform. Trust the test name and instructions in your invitation.

How to prepare

1. Identify the test. Ask the employer or agency for the exact test name, platform and, for skills tests, the software version and level.
2. Reasoning (three sessions): 20 numerical items in 20 minutes with a calculator, 20 verbal statements in about 18 minutes, 15 shape sequences in 10 minutes.
3. Excel (two sessions): IF with absolute references, SUMIF/COUNTIF/AVERAGEIF, VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, sorting, filtering and basic charts in a real spreadsheet.
4. Typing: two short timed tests a day for a week, focusing on accuracy first.
5. On the day: desktop or laptop with a real keyboard, calculator for numerical tests, quiet room.

Sources

• IBM Support, "Prove It! migration to Assess: overview" (migration completed, data purged)
• SHL, "SHL partners with IBM for Kenexa talent assessments" (9 January 2020, Talent Central, transition path)
• Forrester, "IBM announces plans to acquire Kenexa" (2012)
• Riot IQ, "What is the Kenexa assessment?" (history, Assess discontinued 31 December 2021, catalogue to SHL, Prove It library size, test formats, item counts not published)
• Practice Aptitude Tests, Kenexa (test types, CAT, Prove It, catalogue moved to SHL, counts vary by version)
• JobTestPrep, Kenexa Prove It test preparation (Excel and Word simulations and levels, typing, data entry and accounting tests)
• City Weekly, "What is the Prove It test?" (typical durations, no skipping or going back, staffing agency use)

Scritto da

Adrian, Specialista

MSc Psicologia, 7 anni di test fatti.

Ultimo aggiornamento: Oct 1, 2026