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

The short answer: Wonderlic is known for cognitive ability testing. Its hiring assessment, Wonderlic Select, combines cognitive ability, personality and motivation, and its cognitive section is 50 questions in 12 minutes.¹² Wonderlic prices Select by package, based on your organization's needs and employee count.¹ First Move Assessment fits a contracting business that wants to buy assessments one at a time and see which move a candidate reaches for first in the exact trade seat it is hiring for. One reads general reasoning under time pressure; the other reads judgment in the trade's own situations.

We checked every Wonderlic fact on this page against Wonderlic's own public website on 14 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

Wonderlic. Wonderlic sells Wonderlic Select for hiring and Wonderlic Develop for the people already on the team.³ It says Select "combines three proven predictors of job performance": cognitive ability, personality and motivation.¹

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. Each seat has its own written standard, from the field crew through the office, up to the chief executive.

What each one measures

Wonderlic Select's cognitive section has 50 questions with a 12-minute limit. The questions cover simple math, basic logic, language comprehension, spatial reasoning and pattern identification, and get harder as the section goes on. Wonderlic says its scoring weights each question by difficulty and by the effect of guessing.² Select adds personality and motivation sections.¹

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, and it is not a measure of general cognitive speed.

What that means in practice: Wonderlic's cognitive section tells you how quickly a candidate reasons through general problems against the clock. First Move Assessment tells you which way the candidate leans on the calls one 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.

The research behind each

Wonderlic calls cognitive ability "widely accepted as the single-best general predictor of job performance," citing a 2016 study by Schmidt, Oh and Shaffer.²

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.

Where Wonderlic is ahead: Wonderlic cites published research on cognitive ability as a predictor of job performance.²

Job-related content

Whatever hiring tool you use, if it screens out a protected group at a higher rate, the employer has to show it is job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Wonderlic's cognitive questions are general: math, logic, language, spatial reasoning and patterns.²

First Move Assessment's questions are drawn from the work of the seat itself. 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.

Pricing

Wonderlic does not list a price for Select. It says pricing "depends on the package you choose," based on your organization's needs and employee count, and that every package includes ongoing support, implementation and training.¹

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: Wonderlic does not publish prices, so no side-by-side number is possible. Ask for a Select quote, then divide it by $49.50 (Practice License) or $79.80 (25 pack) to see how many First Move Assessments it would buy.

Setup and support

Wonderlic says every Select package includes ongoing support, implementation and training, and its site offers a demo.¹³

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 through the Contact us form on the homepage.

Frequently asked questions

Is First Move Assessment a Wonderlic alternative?

It answers a different question. Wonderlic's cognitive section measures general reasoning in 50 questions with a 12-minute limit.² First Move Assessment reads the move a candidate reaches for first in situations from one trade seat, scored against that seat's written standard.

How long is the Wonderlic cognitive test?

Wonderlic says the Select cognitive section is 50 questions with 12 minutes to answer them.² A First Move Assessment takes about 10 to 20 minutes.

How much does Wonderlic cost?

Wonderlic does not publish a price for Select. It prices by package, based on your needs and employee count.¹ First Move Assessment is $149 for one assessment and drops to $49.50 a candidate on the Practice License.

What does Wonderlic Select measure?

Cognitive ability, personality and motivation.¹

Is a cognitive test or a trade situation better for hiring technicians?

They read different things. A cognitive section reads general problem solving under a time limit. First Move Assessment reads the move a technician reaches for first in situations from the seat, such as an HVAC service call or an electrical fault, against what that seat needs.

Which one covers commercial mechanical and cleaning companies?

First Move Assessment has written seat standards for commercial mechanical, residential cleaning and commercial cleaning, including project managers, estimators, house cleaners and night crew cleaners.

Sources

Wonderlic facts checked on wonderlic.com on 14 October 2026.

1. Wonderlic Select: https://wonderlic.com/select/
2. Wonderlic, Cognitive Ability Test for Hiring: https://wonderlic.com/select-hiring-assessment/cognitive/
3. Wonderlic home page: https://wonderlic.com/

Wonderlic and Wonderlic Select are trademarks of Wonderlic, Inc. First Move Assessment is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wonderlic, Inc.

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