Many companies use personality assessments as part of their selection process when hiring or promoting employees. The purpose of using personality tests is to look for the personality characteristics that will predict future job performance. Personality tests typically measure one or more of five personality dimensions (often called the “Big 5″). These are: extroversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.

Here are some tips to bear in mind when using personality assessments in the selection process:

• Select the personality characteristics you are looking for carefully. An employer that selects applicants with high degree of ‘assertiveness’, ‘independence’, and ‘self-confidence’ may end up excluding females significantly more than males which would result in what is called “adverse impact” and is potentially a law suit waiting to happen.
• Select tests carefully – any tests should have been analyzed for high reliability and low adverse impact.
• Not used exclusively – personality tests should not be the sole instrument used for selecting applicants. Rather, they should be used in conjunction with other procedures such as interviews, background checks, and references as one element of the selection process. Applicants should not be selected on the basis of personality tests alone.

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