First Move Assessment vs Bryq: Which Actually Fits a Contractor?

The short answer: Bryq fits a company that wants one platform to test reasoning, personality, job knowledge and AI fluency across many kinds of roles, wired into its applicant tracking system. Bryq says it typically serves companies with 200 to 2,000+ employees.² First Move Assessment fits a contracting business that wants to see, before the offer, which move a candidate reaches for first in the exact seat it is hiring for, with a report written against that seat, from the field to the C-suite. The two measure different things, and First Move Assessment does not measure trade knowledge at all.

We checked every Bryq fact on this page against Bryq's own public website on 8 October 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm on their site before you buy. Sources are listed at the bottom.

Who each one is for

Bryq. Bryq describes itself as "the talent assessment platform that helps HR teams improve quality of hire and reduce early attrition."¹ Its FAQ says it serves mid-market and enterprise hiring teams, and says its users are recruiting leaders, CHROs and HR operations managers.² The industries it lists are healthcare, financial services, retail, technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.² Its manufacturing page says Trendsetter Homes uses Bryq to hire frontline and construction staff.⁵

First Move Assessment. Built for owners and managers who do their own hiring in nine trades: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, garage door, pest control, commercial mechanical, residential cleaning and commercial cleaning. Every seat in the company has its own written standard, from apprentice and service tech through dispatcher, CSR, comfort advisor, estimator and bookkeeper, up to the chief executive.

What each one measures

Bryq measures four things in one profile: cognitive ability (numerical, verbal and logical reasoning and attention to detail), personality traits based on the 16 Personality Factors model, hard skills, and AI fluency.² Each candidate gets a Fit Score on a 1 to 10 scale against an Ideal Candidate Profile for the role, which Bryq says draws on profiles for over 700 job titles.² Its manufacturing page adds a Safety Behaviour Indicator.⁵

First Move Assessment measures work instinct: the move a candidate reaches for first when the work gets hard. The candidate reads situations from the seat and picks the move they would make first. The report scores them out of 100 against the seat's written standard, with a margin of error printed beside the score, and shows where their instincts pull away from what the seat needs. It does not test skills or trade knowledge, describe personality or check backgrounds.

The research behind each

Bryq says its personality assessment draws on the 16 Personality Factors and Five Factor models, and that research shows cognitive and personality assessments combined are the strongest predictor of job performance. Bryq states that in validation studies it predicts future job performance with 70%+ accuracy.²⁸

First Move Assessment is built on situational judgment, a hiring method with 30 years of published evidence. Candidates face real situations from the seat and pick the move they would make first. What the published research on the method has found:

• A meta-analysis pooling 118 results found situational judgment tests predicted job performance at .26 (McDaniel, Hartman, Whetzel and Grubb, 2007, Personnel Psychology).
• Tests built around teamwork situations predicted at .38, and leadership situations at .28 (Christian, Edwards and Bradley, 2010, Personnel Psychology).
• The approach lines up with decades of research on tacit knowledge, the practical know-how that separates experienced performers (Sternberg and Wagner, 1985; Lievens and Motowidlo, 2016).

The limits page explains how these findings on the method relate to this assessment.

What that means in practice: Bryq tells you how a candidate reasons, what their personality profile looks like and what they know about the trade. First Move Assessment tells you which way they lean on the calls the seat runs on: check first or jump in, fix what keeps causing the problem or the one in front of them, handle it or pass it to the right person. Neither one replaces the ride-along or the bench test.

Trade-specific content

Bryq has a library of 140+ skill tests.¹ Its public library includes 15-minute knowledge tests named HVAC Technician, Plumber and Electricians, along with tests for customer care and sales roles.⁴ Bryq says the HVAC Technician test covers troubleshooting HVAC systems, applying electrical and mechanical knowledge, and safety protocols.⁶ Its manufacturing page says role profiles are configurable, so different roles get different weighting.⁵

First Move Assessment is trade-specific all the way through. Each situation is written from inside one seat in one trade, in that trade's own words: a night crew cleaner alone in a locked building who finds a floor that is not on the route sheet, or an estimator with a bid due and a scope question the general contractor has not answered. A dispatcher is read against what a dispatch board demands, a bookkeeper against what the books demand.

Ask before you buy: if the seat you hire most is a dispatcher, CSR or comfort advisor, ask Bryq which test and which role profile it would use and whether the questions are written for a contracting business. If you hire roofers, garage door techs, pest route techs or cleaners, ask whether there is a test for that seat, and ask to see sample questions either way.

Pricing

Bryq shows two plans on its pricing page.³ Pro is priced by company size, with all assessment types and unlimited invitations. Pick your head count on the page to see your price. These are the US prices it showed for the sizes most contractors fall into:

Annual billing is a one-year commitment. Enterprise is priced by quote and adds guided and custom integrations, onboarding and rollout support, a dedicated customer success manager and a dedicated I/O psychologist. Bryq's fair usage note says unlimited evaluation covers internal or direct recruitment only.³

First Move Assessment charges per assessment. One assessment is $149. Packs run $595 for 5, $995 for 10 and $1,995 for 25. The Practice License is 100 assessments a year for $4,950. Every seat costs the same, assessments never expire, and the first one is covered by a 30-day refund. Full details are on the pricing page.

The honest math: Bryq is a flat fee with unlimited candidates. First Move Assessment is paid per candidate. Take a 20-person shop. Bryq Pro on annual billing is $1,428 a year. At 10 pack prices that buys about 14 First Move Assessments, and at 25 pack prices about 18. If you put more candidates than that through in a year, Bryq's flat fee costs less per candidate. If you run fewer, or hire in bursts, paying per assessment costs less. Count last year's finalists before you choose.

Setup and support

Bryq says it connects to your applicant tracking system in under a week.¹ On the Pro plan the ATS connection is self-service, with a listed set of systems including Workable, Greenhouse, Lever and JazzHR. Help center, email and chat support are listed for both plans, and Enterprise adds personalized onboarding, product training and a dedicated customer success manager.³ Candidates need no login³ and can finish on any device with a modern browser.² Bryq's FAQ puts the core cognitive and personality assessment at about 25 to 35 minutes, depending on how the role is set up, and its manufacturing page describes a 15-minute mobile assessment for frontline hiring.²⁵

First Move Assessment takes almost no setup. Your account email arrives within a minute of buying, and you set a password from it. Pick the seat, type the candidate's name and email, and the link goes out. The candidate finishes on their phone in about 10 to 20 minutes, with no app and no account, and the report lands in your inbox. Questions go to support@firstmoveassessment.com.

How each one uses AI

Bryq describes its insights as "AI-powered."¹ Its FAQ says Bryq's AI matching engine builds the Ideal Candidate Profile for each role, and that AI-powered anomaly detection flags possible cheating for human review.² Bryq says it commissioned a third-party bias audit for New York City's Local Law 144.⁷

First Move Assessment: AI tools helped draft the seat standards and the situations a candidate reads, and checked them against occupational research. Every standard then had to pass a fixed set of rules and was approved before use. No AI takes part when a candidate sits the assessment, when it is scored, or when the report is written.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between First Move Assessment and Bryq?

Bryq measures reasoning, personality traits, job knowledge and AI fluency for roles in many industries, scored as a 1 to 10 Fit Score.² First Move Assessment measures the first move a candidate reaches for in situations from one trade seat, scored out of 100 against that seat's written standard.

Does Bryq have tests for HVAC, plumbing and electrical?

Yes. Bryq's public test library lists 15-minute tests named HVAC Technician, Plumber and Electricians.⁴ They test trade knowledge. First Move Assessment does not measure trade knowledge, so a shop that wants both reads would need two tools or its own bench test.

How much does Bryq cost compared with First Move Assessment?

Bryq's Pro plan is priced by company size. For 1 to 15 employees it is $69 a month billed annually or $83 billed monthly, and for 16 to 30 employees it is $119 or $143.³ First Move Assessment is $149 for one assessment and drops to $49.50 a candidate on the Practice License. Bryq's flat fee costs less if you run a lot of candidates, and paying per assessment costs less if you run a few.

Which one takes the candidate less time?

It depends on the setup. Bryq's FAQ puts its core assessment at about 25 to 35 minutes, and its manufacturing page describes a 15-minute version for frontline hiring.²⁵ First Move Assessment takes about 10 to 20 minutes on a phone.

What research is First Move Assessment built on?

Situational judgment, which has decades of published research behind it in journals such as Personnel Psychology. The main findings are summarized above, and the limits page explains how they relate to this assessment.

Does either one use AI to score candidates?

Bryq says its AI matching engine builds the role profile that candidates are scored against.² First Move Assessment uses no AI in scoring or in the report.

Do I need an HR department to run either one?

No. Bryq describes itself as built for HR teams and offers ATS integrations, and its Pro plan is self-service.¹³ First Move Assessment is built for the owner or manager who does the hiring: buy, send a link, read the report.

Which one covers commercial mechanical and cleaning companies?

Bryq's library includes construction, mechanical and manufacturing tests,⁴ and its industry list does not name cleaning or building services.² First Move Assessment has written seat standards for commercial mechanical, residential cleaning and commercial cleaning, including project managers, estimators, night crew cleaners, day porters and commercial supervisors.

Sources

Bryq facts checked on bryq.com on 8 October 2026.

1. Bryq home page: https://www.bryq.com/
2. Bryq FAQ: https://www.bryq.com/company/faq
3. Bryq pricing: https://www.bryq.com/pricing
4. Bryq test library: https://www.bryq.com/test-library
5. Bryq manufacturing page: https://www.bryq.com/solutions/manufacturing
6. Bryq HVAC Technician test: https://www.bryq.com/test-library/hvac-technician
7. Bryq ethical AI page: https://www.bryq.com/why-bryq/ethical-ai
8. Bryq science page: https://www.bryq.com/why-bryq/the-science

Bryq is a trademark of its owner. First Move Assessment is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bryq.

First Move Assessment reads the first instinct a candidate brings to one seat in your trade before you hire: get the three sample reports.