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February 13th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Name: Smarterer
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Quick Pitch: Smarterer authenticates practical skills with timed online quizzes.
Genius Idea: Crowdsourced, living tests for ever-changing digital skills.
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You might truly be a social media expert, but writing “Twitter guru” on your resume does little to demonstrate that point.
“As consumers, we’re gaining a massive set of digital and social skills, and they’re part of what make us valuable in today’s workforce,” says Smarterer co-founder Dave Balter. “But there’s no way to credential them.”
Smarterer attempts to provide one. The platform offers 10-question, 60-second quizzes on topics ranging from Facebook to Twilight Saga trivia, and the test results provide a quantitative proficiency rating. Launched in October 2011, the company already has 400 tests in its library.
Where did it get all this content? It asks users themselves to submit the questions.
This might sound like a process that would lead to low-quality assessments, but Balter insists it’s actually a better test creation strategy than asking experts to pen static questions. That’s because many online tools such as Twitter are apt to change frequently. Smarterer weeds out dud questions by previewing new submissions in tests but not counting them in scores. Test takers can flag test questions to be thrown out.
Most people haven’t heard of Smarterer certification, and including it on your resume might lead potential employers to wonder about your superlative grammar skills. If employers ask you to take a Smarterer test, however, that’s an entirely different story. The startup launched that capability with 40 employers last month.
In the future, the startup, which is currently getting by on $1.25 million of funding from Google Ventures and others, could charge employers for its products. Resume sites like LinkedIn are also potential clients.
Says Balter, “Sites could say, if you want to put in your profile that you’re good at this, please authenticate with this quiz.”
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Pixsooz
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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