Implementing psychometric assessments in your company’s hiring process will help you make more effective and informed hiring decisions and reduce costly bad hires. Measuring candidates’ cognitive abilities, behaviours, personality traits, motivation, and values provides you with a comprehensive view of the job applicants allowing you to better predict job performance and cultural fit within your organization. However, choosing the right assessment provider requires careful consideration. It is crucial to ensure that the assessments are secure, reliable, scientifically sound, and aligned with your organization’s specific requirements. Last but certainly not least, you want an assessment tool that is easy to use and candidate-friendly. In this article, we will delve into a comprehensive list of questions that will help you make an informed decision when reviewing different psychometric assessment providers.
When you’ve found a handful of providers that offer what you’re looking for and ruled out the ones that you know right away aren’t suitable, what do you ask next? What are the best ways to find out if this provider is one you can trust?
First of all, it is important you can trust the assessments themselves and the results they show.
Reliability & Accreditation
1. Are you or your assessments accredited by the BPS or a similar body?
Accreditation provides assurance that the assessments have undergone rigorous evaluation and meet scientific and professional standards.
2. What evidence can you show for the validity of your assessments?
Does the content of the assessment reflect the content or requirements of the job? Does the assessment measure what it is supposed to? Is the assessment predictive? Are the outcomes concurrent with established measures of personality?
Validity is crucial to ensure that the assessment content aligns with the job requirements and accurately measures the intended constructs. Look for evidence of predictive validity and concurrent validity.
3. How are your assessments scored?
You want to make sure that the provider uses a scoring methodology that is reliable and has a large enough, recent, and appropriate norm group for accurate comparison and interpretation of results.
4. What evidence can you show for the reliability of your assessments?
Can you provide evidence of the internal consistency of your scale items? Are results reliable across different assessment sessions?
Reliable assessments produce consistent results over time. Request evidence of internal consistency of scale items and test-retest reliability across different assessment sessions.
5. How are your assessments developed? What is the rationale behind them?
Understanding the development process provides insight into the rigour and scientific basis of the assessments. Look for evidence of involvement from subject-matter experts, statistical analysis, and iterative refinement.
6. Do your assessments measure trait or type-based personality? What is the reasoning behind this?
When considering type-based versus trait-based personality assessments, it’s essential to understand their fundamental differences. Type-based models, such as the popular but widely debunked Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), categorize individuals into distinct groups based on certain personality dimensions. For example, in MBTI, one might be labelled as either an “Introvert” or an “Extravert”. The primary issue with this model is that it fails to capture the nuanced differences within each category. In reality, people exist along a continuum and not in binary categories.
Trait-based personality assessments measure individuals along dimensions of personality traits, acknowledging that these traits exist along a spectrum. Each person is assigned a score that represents their level within each trait. This approach provides a more nuanced and accurate depiction of a person’s personality
In essence, type-based models of personality aren’t suitable for recruitment and selection as there can be too much variation within one type.
Data Security
Next, you need to find out whether the platform is secure. Providers will be dealing with not only information about your company but with candidates’ personal data, so it is important they adhere to strict data protection policies.
1. How do you exhibit GDPR compliance?
GDPR compliance ensures that personal data is handled lawfully, fairly, and transparently.
2. Do you adhere to any higher levels of data security?
Inquire if the provider has additional certifications or security measures in place to safeguard data beyond legal requirements.
3. How do you ensure the anonymity of respondents’ data?
Confirm that the provider has mechanisms in place to anonymize data, protecting the privacy of the individuals participating in the assessments.
Experience & Practicality
Then lastly, will the platform be user-friendly enough for you, your recruiters, the HR team or whoever will be using the system? A system which is streamlined and easy to pick up will save you huge amounts of admin hours.
This goes hand in hand with the experience of the candidate. A platform that puts them at ease and makes assessments as enjoyable as possible will put your company in a positive light early in the recruitment process.
1. Are the assessments and platform accessible for those with disabilities and neurodiverse conditions?
Inclusivity is essential, so ensure that the provider accommodates reasonable adjustments for individuals with diverse needs.
2. In what ways can you ensure the candidate has an engaging experience?
Incorporating engaging business scenarios, motivational encouragement, test progress visuals, and gamified elements enhances candidate engagement and provides a positive candidate experience. Candidate-friendly time limits put candidates at ease when taking a test.
3. What measures do you take to ensure that assessments do not unfairly disadvantage certain groups?
Look for evidence of bias reduction strategies and steps taken to ensure fairness and inclusivity in the assessment process.
4. What feedback can you provide to candidates upon completion of their assessments?
Constructive feedback helps candidates understand their strengths and areas for development, fostering a positive experience, promoting self-awareness, and contributing to a positive perception of your brand. Clevry’s personal feedback report is a self-development tool providing value for all candidates, even if they are not selected for the role.
5. Does your platform have the functionality to integrate with other technology, such as ATS providers? What ATS integrations do you have?
ATS Integration capabilities streamline your recruitment process and enable seamless data flow between systems.
6. Is the platform easy to use? How much training do users need?
A user-friendly interface minimizes the learning curve and allows users to navigate the platform effortlessly. Ideally, your assessment platform is easy to implement and use for anyone within your organization without the need for long training or certifications in order to use it.
7. What measures have been taken to ensure that candidates cannot fake their responses?
Look for built-in response validity indicators or mechanisms that detect response distortion, ensuring the integrity of the assessment results.
8. What is the user experience like from an administrative perspective?
Consider the ease of managing and administering assessments, generating reports, and accessing relevant data for analysis.
9. Are reports (or other outcomes of completion) easy to understand? Do they provide valuable information for both the candidate and the recruiter?
Assess the clarity and comprehensiveness of the reports provided to both candidates and recruiters, ensuring that they offer valuable insights for decision-making. Are there different reports for different use cases throughout the employee life cycle? Do candidates need to fill in multiple assessments to generate different reports, e.g. personality and motivation?
View the output from Clevry assessments by downloading sample reports below.
If you are clear on what you are using psychometrics for, the answers to these questions will help you to determine whether the assessments, provider and platform are fit for purpose.
To find out more about Clevry’s psychometric soft skills assessments, get in touch. We’re happy to help you.
More resources:
How to write an RFP for candidate assessment software
