Before you use a personality questionnaire: seven things to decide.
A personality questionnaire can add real insight to a hiring decision. Used without preparation it adds noise, risk and an awkward candidate experience. These are the seven decisions to make first.
On this page
- What will it add that you cannot get another way?
- Which aspects of personality matter for this role, at both ends?
- Which questionnaire, and on what evidence?
- Where does it sit in the process, and how much weight does it carry?
- Who will interpret it and talk to candidates about it?
- How will you keep it fair to every candidate?
- What will candidates get back?
- Write the answers down
- Signs you are not ready yet
- Next: using the results
Seven decisions to write down before any candidate completes a questionnaire.
Personality questionnaires are easy to buy and quick for candidates to complete. That is part of the problem. A questionnaire chosen because it was available, interpreted by someone who has not been trained, and used to rule people out on a single scale can do more harm than having no questionnaire at all. Done well, it gives you a structured view of how a candidate prefers to work and a set of well-aimed interview questions you would not otherwise have asked.
Two tests apply to every decision below. Is it ethical – will the way you use it treat candidates fairly and avoid harm? And will it add value – will it improve the quality of your decision? If you cannot answer all seven questions, pause and review whether to use a questionnaire for this role.
What will it add that you cannot get another way?
Start with the job, not the tool. List the three to five main responsibilities and the outputs the person must deliver, then ask which of them depend on how someone prefers to behave – persuading people, working to detail, coping with constant change – rather than on knowledge or skill. If the honest answer is “not much”, a work sample or a knowledge test may serve you better. If your interview already covers these areas thoroughly, decide what the questionnaire will add to it.
Which aspects of personality matter for this role, at both ends?
Link the job demands to specific scales before anyone completes the questionnaire. A role that involves influencing senior stakeholders might point to assertiveness, sociability and how readily someone engages with people they do not know. A role with tight procedures might point to organisation and rule-following. Then think about both ends of each scale. Very high assertiveness may help in a negotiation and hinder in a team that needs consensus. Writing this down first stops you from rationalising a profile after you have met a candidate you like.
Which questionnaire, and on what evidence?
Ask the publisher for the technical manual and read it, or have someone qualified read it. You want evidence that the scales measure something stable (reliability), that scores relate to work behaviour (validity), and that there is a comparison group relevant to your candidates. Ask how the questionnaire handles people trying to present themselves well; forced-choice formats, where candidates choose between equally attractive statements, are designed to make that harder. Check that it is available in an accessible format, in the languages you need, and that it does not take longer than the insight justifies.
Where does it sit in the process, and how much weight does it carry?
Decide in advance. A questionnaire is at its most useful before the interview, so the results can shape the questions. It should inform the decision, alongside the interview, work samples and references; it should never be the sole or primary basis for it. We do not recommend pass marks or automatic rejection on personality scales. A preference is not a capability, and many people succeed in roles that do not obviously suit their profile because they have learned ways of working around it.
Who will interpret it and talk to candidates about it?
Interpretation is a skill. Whoever reads the profiles and discusses them with candidates should be trained in the specific questionnaire, typically through the publisher’s own training or a recognised qualification such as the British Psychological Society’s Test User: Occupational, Personality. Interviewers who will use the results should be briefed on what the scales mean and, as important, what they do not mean.
How will you keep it fair to every candidate?
Tell candidates in advance what they will complete, why, how long it takes and how the results will be used. Make reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates, which employers have a legal duty to do under the Equality Act 2010, and make it easy to ask for them. Give every candidate for the role the same questionnaire at the same stage. Decide who will see the results, how long you will keep them and how candidates can ask about them, and put that in your privacy information. Once you have enough candidates, check whether results or outcomes differ between groups.
What will candidates get back?
Everyone who completes the questionnaire has given you something. A short feedback conversation, or a written summary of their preferences in plain language, leaves people with a better view of your organisation whatever the outcome – and it is the right thing to do. Decide what you will offer before you start, and who will deal with questions or challenges.
Write the answers down
Your answers to these seven questions are, in effect, your guidelines for using personality questionnaires. Write them down, keep them to a page or two, and give them to everyone involved in the process. They make the process consistent across vacancies and interviewers, and they give you a clear account of what you did and why if a candidate ever asks or a decision is challenged.
Signs you are not ready yet
Any one of these is worth fixing before you go live:
- You are choosing a questionnaire because a supplier has offered a free trial, rather than because of what the role needs.
- Nobody involved has been trained in it.
- You plan to screen people out on one or two scales.
- The results will go to the hiring manager without anyone explaining them.
- Candidates will hear nothing about their results.
Next: using the results
Once these decisions are made, the work moves to the interview: turning the profile into questions that test what it suggests. That is covered in using a personality questionnaire at interview. To see where a questionnaire fits among other methods, try the selection method chooser.
Drawn from great{with}talent’s FindingPotential recruiter guidance (2009, revised 2013), rewritten and extended. Test user qualifications: British Psychological Society. Personality questionnaires are part of FindingPotential.
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