Personality Tests

Personality evaluations during the recruitment process should only be used to screen out the least suitable candidates, not to select the best, according to a new book from Sydney University lecturer Dr Carolyn MacCann.

MacCann has previously worked for Chandler Macleod, and co-authored the newly published New perspectives on faking in personality assessments, with researchers from the US and Germany.

She told Shortlist there was evidence that a small number of candidates were prone to "ignoring their own personality altogether" and giving the answers they thought the employer wanted to hear.

If a questionnaire was used to select only the best candidates, and move them to the next stage, these people were more likely to be in the successful group.

"People who are using that strategy - who are just going for broke and out-and-out lying about what they're like - they're likely to get a very high score. So if you just try to pick the exceptional candidates you're much more likely to get a faker."

On the other hand, she said, a personality survey could be effective if it was used at the beginning of the process, rather than the end, and used only to identify the least desirable candidates, and move everyone else to the next stage.

At this point the remaining pool could then be screened using other methods, such as IQ and cognitive ability testing, interviews and reference checks.

MacCann said the consequences of an easily-manipulated assessment process could include poor job fit and high turnover. Ironically, low turnover could be a problem too.

"If you're picking someone for a job that has quite low turnover, for instance an entry-level role in the public service, if you pick the wrong person that has long-term consequences.

"If they have an extreme personality that fits into the environment very badly, then they can wreak an awful lot of damage."

Personality surveys should be a final step: SHL

Joe Ungemah, Australia and New Zealand vice president of professional services for psychometric assessments company SHL, said the company believed personality questionnaires should be used towards the end of the recruitment process, not the beginning.

SHL generally recommended that employers use ability tests and situational tests in the early stages, before narrowing down the pool of candidates and using personality questionnaires.

He said SHL also recommended that clients used personality assessments in conjunction with interviews, so the candidate had the opportunity to provide some context for the answers they gave in the test.

There were no right or wrong answers in a personality survey, he said, and therefore it was impossible for someone to give "perfect" responses - but in some cases candidates failed to give a "clear view" of their personality and preferences.

SHL used computer algorithms to detect whether the candidate's answers were consistent throughout the survey, Ungemah said.

He noted that a candidate who attempted to "fake" the assessment might in fact not increase their likelihood of being hired.

"They're making an assumption about what the job is actually like and…what the employer is actually looking for. From the candidate's perspective there's a lot of sense in being open and honest in how they approach it."