Corporations use psychological tests to hire employees

“We’ve had a good interview, now we would like you to see our corporate psychologist.”

Because better matching of people to jobs is the key to effective manpower utilization, more corporations are telling both present and future employees to take a test. They are using psychologists and tests for:

Hiring and promotion decisions;
Identifying training and development needs;
Finding out why an employee is not performing up to expectations.

No longer able to afford costly errors in selecting and promoting personnel, corporations have found test data an important aid in understanding a job applicant and planning his potential or maximum performance.

While interviews reveal a lot about people, they may not always be consistent. Tests are consistent measures of skills and personal characteristics and qualities. Typing tests and performance tests have long been used to measure skills, but no corporate executives want a better measure of such characteristics as:

Ability to handle stress in preparing and defending a budget;
Handling outbursts of a disgruntled employee;
Making decisions in a supervisory or management position.

Qualities which can be measure are:

Motivation – Drives and ambitions, job satisfiers and rewards;
Interpersonal relationships – leadership style, ability to get along with others;
Self-insight – self-confidence, willingness to change or adapt, self-control;
Communication skills – communicating ideas and thoughts to others, listening to others, working out differences;
Decision making – ability to make judgments, tolerate ambiguity, handle details.


Realizing that these characteristics are as much a part of job performance as other concrete and measurable skills, corporations are including this information in employee evaluations.

In addition to administering a written test, psychologists spend time with company executives to determine exactly what they are looking for in a job candidate and to gain understanding of the corporate culture and environment. Job mismatches often occur when an individual style of operating does not fit well with the existing style of the company. The psychologist uses all these factors to correctly assess the applicant. In its final evaluation, the corporation uses all acquired information.

An added section to the psychologist’s report includes suggestions for development of the individual candidate. An outline for training and skill development resources may be considered by both the company and the candidate.

If a person approaches the psychological testing with the attitude that the experience will benefit him as well as the company, valuable insights will emerge concerning abilities, interests, strengths and weaknesses. Many companies will provide the person a feedback session with the psychologists to go over test results.

So if a prospective employer tells you, “We would like you to see our psychologist,” view it as an opportunity to identify your skills and style. You will make better career decisions and enhance your personal development.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1985