An explanation of zTalent Test Scores and Reputation Points

zTalent takes a novel approach to accumulating reputation points through answering test questions.

Typically (on other sites) tests have a set number of questions that you answer when you take the test and then you are done with the test. If you stop in the middle you don't get any credit and there isn't often any way to earn extra credit to demonstrate extraordinary proficiency.

zTalent tests are open-ended, Instead of requiring you answer a fixed number of questions for a test, you can answer as few as you like or many questions as are available and you can come back later and answer more questions as you gain experience with the subject matter. Each question you answer correctly incrementally adds to your reputation according to the question's level of difficulty.

It sounds like you can never be done with at test, but zTalent introduces a measure of confidence into the mix. Each test is specified by a number of questions to answer for 100% confidence that you know the material.

Let's say you correctly answer a single question for a test that requires you answer ten questions for 100% confidence. At this point your score is 100% but the confidence you know the material related to the test is only 10% because you only answered one out of ten questions. To get 100% confidence you need to answer another nine questions for a total of ten out of ten questions.

You can answer more than the number of questions required for 100% confidence for extra credit, and many people do. The reason to do this is to really show that you know the related material and accumulate more reputation points for the skills that the test is tagged with.

This falls on line with the open-ended nature of earning reputation points on zTalent, because you can earn them not only by answering test questions for a particular test but also by contributing or reviewing test questions. In fact, you can come to the site one day, answer a few questions in a test, contribute a few questions, and return another day to answer more questions, return another day and contribute more questions and so on... Each time you participate you are increasing your reputation for the skill(s) exhibited by the test.

Bottom line: zTalent provides several ways for you to increase your reputation for particular subject matter over time as your skills increase, all at your own pace.