How SSG reduced attrition 10% with AI-scored job simulations

Support Services Group (SSG) provides outsourced customer support and back-office services for global brands. Its talent acquisition team evaluates candidates across client programs and hiring markets, and each new program can bring different skills and hiring requirements.

What high-volume BPO hiring demands

"Our challenge is balancing speed, volume, and quality," says Rachel Ferguson, senior talent acquisition manager at SSG. "New client programs can require us to build a pipeline quickly, sometimes across multiple locations, while maintaining a consistent selection process."

Before Testlify, screening relied more heavily on individual recruiter conversations and could vary by program.

Testing candidates on the work itself

Each client program calls for different skills, so SSG tailors its assessments to the work.

"The flexibility to tailor assessments to the work stands out most," Rachel says. "A customer care role, a sales role, and a specialized support role call for different skills. Our team can start with a common foundation and add the assessments and scenarios relevant to each client program."

SSG has built 52 custom assessments for roles and markets across the business.

Rachel singles out the simulations. "AI voice, video, and chat simulations were a game changer for us," she says. "This allowed us to screen candidates based on what the program needs were. We turned this into a realistic job preview, which tells us whether a candidate can do the role we are hiring for."

She adds, "The AI video and voice assessments are particularly valuable for roles where communication, empathy, and judgment matter."

SSG has also used assessment results as part of its OnIT select approach to identifying candidates whose skills align with a program's needs.

What changed

Candidates can now complete a structured evaluation before a recruiter conversation. SSG has seen a 16% increase in screening numbers, and attrition has improved 10% since the team started using realistic job simulations.

"Testlify helps our recruiters focus their time on candidates who have completed an initial evaluation," Rachel says. "It also gives us a common way to review skills and discuss candidate fit across teams."

Rachel sums up the approach this way: "For SSG, the value of an assessment starts with its connection to the job. The TA team identifies the skills a person needs to succeed, evaluates those skills through a structured process, and uses the results alongside the rest of its hiring decisions."

Build a hiring process around the work

For Support Services Group, the goal was not simply to screen more candidates. It was to make sure candidates were evaluated against the skills and situations that matter on the job. By combining custom assessments with realistic AI-scored simulations, SSG created a more consistent way to evaluate candidates across different client programs while giving recruiters better information to guide their decisions.

"Great partnership! In a high-volume BPO environment, we need to evaluate candidates consistently while accounting for the skills each program requires. Testlify gives our recruiters a structured starting point and more information to use when deciding who moves forward. "Rachel Ferguson, senior talent acquisition manager, Support Services Group.

If your team is hiring at scale and needs a more consistent way to evaluate candidates, see how Testlify can help you build assessments around the skills your roles actually require.