A few months back I was talking to a representative of the credential evaluation service World Education Services (WES). He told me that WES advises their clients to put a very short, WES-generated description of their degrees on their résumé, showing potential employers how each degree compares to a U.S. degree. He suggested that we should help people do the same thing with their TOEIC test scores.

 

As with credential evaluation of a degree, TOEIC test scores provide objective, external proof of what a person says on their résumé, in this case regarding their English language skills.

I found the following story from the ETS "Success Stories" files about the TOEIC® Listening & Reading test particularly interesting for two reasons. First of all, it describes problems with in-house placement tests similar to those we frequently hear about from our clients. Second, it discusses an advantage that I don't think people always think about in relation to TOEIC tests the speed with which our university and other institutional clients can get information back on the English language skills of their students or employees.