Exploding six common myths about psychometric assessments in recruitment

Psychometric assessments are a waste of time and money. They don’t actually help you recruit the right people. And they’re all doing the same thing under a different name. These are just a few misconceptions about the value and effectiveness of these assessments.

So, I want to explode six of the most common myths about them and give you a realistic understanding of how psychometric results can help you make better-informed decisions during your recruitment process.

Why psychometric assessments are used for recruitment

First things first, let’s clear up an issue with terminology. People often refer to psychometric assessments as “tests”, but that implies you can give right and wrong answers. You can’t.

Psychometric assessments or tests (if you prefer), just measure an individual’s preferences, attitudes and cognitive traits.

They’re a tool used to identify a candidate’s suitability for a role. They look at someone’s personality and potential against a benchmark that you create, to help you measure their fit with the job, manager, team and culture.

Psychometric assessments allow you to gain more information so you can be sure a new recruit has what it takes to hit the ground running.

Of course, assessments should be just one element of the recruitment process. You’ll want to use them alongside other evaluation methods, like interviews, work samples, and reference checks. But, used correctly, they provide valuable insights into a candidate’s potential fit.

Uncovering the facts about psychometric assessments

1. Psychometric assessments are expensive

Actually, depending on which assessments you choose, they can be very affordable.

Psychometrics tend only to be used for candidates in mid-senior level roles because of the perception they’re too expensive to scale. Yet, the development of technology has not only simplified the process of using psychometrics, but also significantly decreased the cost at all levels (if you use the right ones).

And think of it this way: what’s the cost of not using assessments? Poor recruitment decisions, additional employee turnover, extra training costs, wasted management time?

It’s an accepted fact that replacing a poor hire can cost at least 50% of their total costs. So, if you’re not already using psychometric assessments, chances are you’re spending, and probably wasting, that money and more elsewhere.

That’s why it’s important to find the right assessment for you. You need a tool that offers the insights you’re looking for, whilst also adding value to your recruitment process.

Bottom line, you need a way to ensure you hire the right people, first time, every time.

2. All personality tests are the same.

Not so. Different psychometric assessments use different measures. And there’s a huge range of options available, but the key is finding one that fits your needs.

Many people rely on tools like Myers-Briggs (MBTI) or DiSC profiles and these have their place. But they aren’t designed to predict how someone will perform in a particular role. They’re much more suited to personal development and team building.

When you’re investigating recruitment assessments, always ask for evidence they’ve been validated for the purpose for which you want to use them. If the supplier can’t provide validation and reliability reports, it probably means they don’t have them, and you need to search for an alternative tool.

Want to know about Myths 3 - 6? You can see the rest of this article on our website here.