An easy way to understand how psychometric testing fits into the total selection process is to think of a tree.To be proficient in a job the candidate must have the required knowledge, skills and experience – these are the ‘Can’ factors – can they do the job? This area is assessed during the selection process through the CV or application form, interview and background checking.
However, a candidate may have all the knowledge, skill and experience in the world, this doesn’t guarantee he/she ‘Will’ do the job. This is driven by the innate personality and mental ability of the individual. You cannot glean this from interview, CV or application form. Many managers think they can ‘read’ candidates, only to find our after hiring that the person that sparkled at interview and had a glowing CV (usually written by someone else) is totally different ‘kettle of fish’ six months down the track.
Let’s get back to the tree – The knowledge, skill and experience to do the job represent the fruits on the tree – knowledge, skill and experience is observable and therefore coachable and trainable. These are the ‘learned’ aspect of the job. Easy to evaluate when hiring.
What about the roots? These represent the personality (attitude), mental ability, values and motives of the candidate. You can’t measure this at interview, or evaluate them through the CV. Many candidates are great at selling themselves to you during the interview, but fail to live up to your expectations on the job. The only way to check out the ‘roots’ is to use a validated, reliable psychometric profile that fits the job role.
Resumes and interviews will show you the fruits, profiling will show you the roots. Most mangers hire on the fruits, but usually always terminate on the roots.
