The Proctor's Way: How to Join the Examus Team

In this article, you will learn how we recruit and induct new proctors.

Proctors are one of Examus’s key players since the results of each examinee depend on their work. Mistakes made by professionals reviewing recorded exams may affect student grades and university admission decisions or reduce the chances of someone's promotion. For this reason, all candidates for the proctor's position need to be carefully selected, and the system to monitor their work must be well thought out.

The process of recruiting, training, and working for each proctor in Examus is organized as follows.

Recruiting

During the first interview, we gather general information about a candidate, such as their experience and expertise, to determine whether the potential employee meets Examus’s requirements. We are looking for diligent, attentive, stress-resistant, and fast workers. Special personality tests help us determine if applicants can maintain a conflict-free environment and whether they can communicate effectively. To work with foreign customers, knowledge of the relevant languages is required. Previous experience of working with students or educational institutions will be a great advantage.

Training

Having found the perfect fit from the candidate pool, we move on to the second step of selection - multi-stage training.

1. Equipment and Internet speed test: All technical devices of the future proctor (computer, headset, Wi-fi) must meet the minimum proctoring system requirements.

2. Providing access to tutorials, methodological materials, and tests: To speed up the learning process, Examus has a constantly updated database of special training tests.

3. A training meeting to demonstrate the interface features and discuss the work rules and proctors' actions in various situations: In this session, candidates can also ask questions and work through possible tricky cases together.

4. Practical training: First, the future proctors try their hands at asynchronous proctoring on test videos. Then the task becomes more complicated. Examus staff simulates the test and typical test-taker behavior while the candidate works in a synchronous proctoring mode.

5. After everything is in line with Examus requirements, the new hire can join a simplified version of the exam with real users. There are fewer students than on the regular test, and the newbie proctor is supervised and corrected by the head of the division. Thus, the possible proctor's mistakes will not affect the examinees' results.

Working

Even when the training ends and the proctor officially becomes a staff member, their performance evaluation continues. The head of the asynchronous division always double-checks all videos with identified violations and randomly reviews exams without violations. The synchronous division reviews all records and explores the proctor's actions every few months.

In case of disputable situations, the proctoring department carefully analyzes the video and the proctor's actions. Sometimes the video is reviewed by a group of specialists to get a second opinion.

Generally, training never ends, even for experienced employees. With each exam, students become more and more inventive, devising new ways to cheat. Therefore, experts gather all information on the violators' actions, analyze them, and find ways to prevent such cheating. The internal instructions for proctors are also regularly updated. We believe that combining extensive experience with the new knowledge integration is the best way to train proctors.

At Examus, we offer a monetary motivation system for our proctors. The salary of specialists directly depends on the efficiency and quality of their work. There are both rewards for competence and penalties for poor performance. Overtime and additional duties are charged separately. This approach allows us to find conscientious and punctual workers and weed out those whose values don't match Examus’s philosophy.

As a result, a multi-stage system for assessing knowledge and skills, constant monitoring, and training with a gradual increase in workload and level of responsibility allows us to select and nurture the most well-trained and competent proctors.