Nine AssessmentTypesPractical Tips for Selecting the Types that are Right for You

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Nine Assessment Types

1 Cognitive Ability

3 Personality

5 Values

7 360-degree Feedback

9 Situational Judgement

2 Skills and Knowledge

4 Integrity

6 Biodata

8 Structured Interviews

Cognitive Ability

3

GoalAssess abilities involved in thinking critically (e.g., reasoning, perception, memory, verbal and mathematical ability, and problem solving)

AdvantagesEasy to use off-the-shelf; strong predictor of job performance for a wide variety of jobs

ExampleWhich of the following words is an antonym to the word theory?A. calculationB. guessC. ideology

DisadvantagesApplicants might feel that some tests have low face validity and jobrelatedness; can often produce racial/ethnic differences

Deductive Reasoning

Spatial/Visual Aptitude

Use cases for Cognitive Ability tests

Skills and Knowledge

4

GoalEvaluate what a person knows at the time of taking the test

AdvantagesKnowledge areas tested are designed to be very representative of the knowledge areas and skills required to perform the job, which means they should be predictive of high performance

ExampleWhat does the acronym WWW mean?A. World Wide Wednesdays B. World Wide WebC. World Welcomes Wildlife

DisadvantagesCan inform employers what an applicant currently knows, but not whether the individual can be relied on to master new material in a timely manner; may require frequent updates to ensure the test is current

Medical Roles

Accounting

Use cases for Skills and Knowledge tests

Personality

5

GoalDesigned to systematically elicit information about a person’s motivations, preferences, interests, emotional make-up, and style of interacting with people and situations

AdvantagesGood for when you need applicants who possess strong interpersonal skills or other job-related specific personality traits; more difficult to fake because there’s no “wrong” type of personality

ExampleI find it easy to influence others (Agree to Disagree Likert-rating scale)

DisadvantagesCan be time intensive to complete; candidates may engage in creating a profile that is socially desirable

Sales Roles

Service Roles

Use cases for Personality assessments

Integrity

6

GoalA specific type of personality test designed to assess an applicant’s tendency to be honest, trustworthy, and dependable

AdvantagesLimit counterproductive workplace behaviors; inform candidates that integrity is an important organizational value

ExampleHow justifiable is the following situation?“Avoiding paying the fare on public transit”

DisadvantagesMay seem unnecessary and invasive; some items are highly transparent, making it easy to fake

Workplace Safety and Compliance

Honesty and Confidentiality

Use cases for Integrity tests

Values

7

GoalCompare applicant personality, interest, value, or organizational culture preference information to the characteristics of the job or organization

AdvantagesGood for selecting individuals who will fit well in the organizations (i.e. decreasing voluntary turnover); taps into what someone wants to do rather than what they may do

Example“In my spare time I like to go to museums or attend orchestra concerts” (Agree to Disagree Likert-rating scale)

DisadvantagesLower predictive validity than other assessment tools

Culture Fit

Leadership

Use cases for Values assessments

Biodata

8

GoalInquires about past events and behaviors that reflect personality attributes, attitudes, experiences, interests, skills, and abilities

AdvantagesHave been shown to be effective predictors of job success in numerous settings and for a wide range of criterion types

ExampleIn the past, how often have you needed to communicate complex information to people unfamiliar with technical details?• Frequently • Rarely• Usually • Never• Occasionally

DisadvantagesMakes the assumption that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior; can be transparent and easy to fake

Understand Someone’s Interest in Different Industries

Mitigate Adverse Impact

Use cases for Biodata

360-degree Feedback

9

GoalEvaluations gathered about a target participant from two or more rating sources, including self, supervisor, peers, direct reports, internal customers, external customers, and vendors or suppliers

AdvantagesMultiple viewpoints can increase reliability and validity; gives a fuller picture of performance; calls attention to performance dimensions that would otherwise be neglected

ExampleThis person shares information widely and does not withhold information from others (Agree to Disagree Likert-rating scale)

DisadvantagesCan be costly in terms of monetary resources as well as employee time; organizations sometimes fail to explain purpose of 360 feedback or to adequately debrief employees on their ratings

Development

Administrative Decisions

Use cases for 360-degree Feedback

Structured Interviews

10

GoalInterviews that employ structured rules for eliciting, observing, and evaluating responses, thus limiting the amount of discretion the interviewer is allowed

AdvantagesHelps to ensure candidates have equal opportunities to provide information and are assessed accurately and consistently; can evaluate competencies that are difficult to measure using other assessment methods

ExampleTell me about a time when you tried to encourage someone to take action and had to change your communication style to effectively meet that person’s needs

DisadvantagesEven though it is a standardized process, we’re only human, so it’s still possible for bias to creep in; can be time-consuming

Communication-related Roles

Detailed Information is Desired

Use cases for Structured Interviews

Situational Judgment

11

GoalPresent applicants with a description of a work problem or critical situation related to the job they are applying for and ask them to identify how they would handle it

AdvantagesPerceived as very fair (high face validity); tasks and activities are very representative of the tasks and activities found on the job (high content validity)

ExampleYou have been assigned to work with members of another department. You normally complete your work alone, but the project demands that you work as a team. Rate the effectiveness of the following actions.

DisadvantagesCan be costly to custom build;heterogeneity such that a single item can measure many constructs and competencies

Leadership Positions

Customer Service Roles

Use cases for Situational Judgment tests

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PSI Services LLC

Turning your assessments into talent solutionsAssessments are a robust way to objectively measure skills, abilities and motivation of current and future employees. They become even more powerful when embedded in complete talent solutions.

PSI is the global leader in blending science-based principles with robust and emerging assessment and development technologies across the entire employee lifecycle. This approach drives highly engaging, valid and defensible assessment solutions for our customers in the corporate, government and public sector arenas.

Our clients come to us with their talent challenges across the employee lifecycle:

ScreenQuickly and easily understand the skillset of large applicant groups to focus on those best matching your organisation and roles. We help you understand the right assessments for the job and deliver great candidate experience.

Select and IdentifyAssess internal or external candidates to understand their skills, abilities and future development potential. Whether virtually or in-person, we enable you to pinpoint capabilities to support better people decisions.

DevelopIdentify talent and develop for sustainable performance. We understand the need for your people to be flexible, adaptable and agile to face the demands of today as well as tomorrow.

Providing trusted talent solutions for leading organisations