10 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE CHOOSING AN ASSESSMENT TOOL
Here’s what to consider when looking at tests and assessment tools
You are looking for a personality test or profile, or a cognitive ability test, either for pre-employment screening in your hiring process or for working with people development and in teams, the market of assessment tools can be difficult to navigate. Here are some questions to ask yourself before you select the right tool for your business:
1. What does the tool actually measure?
Is it personality, behaviour, motivation, cognitive ability, or something else? And is it clear what the assessment does not measure?
The PI Behavioral Assessment measures motivational drives and predicts needs and natural behaviour in the workplace, and most importantly job fit. These motivational drives tend to stay stable throughout adulthood.
The PI Cognitive Assessment measures general cognitive and providing insight into a person’s capacity to learn, adapt, and grasp new concepts. General cognitive ability is the single best predictor of on-the-job performance.
2. How strong is the scientific evidence?
What evidence is available regarding validity, reliability, and the overall quality of the assessment?
The PI assessments are built on 70+ years of scientific research: More than 400 job performance studies have been conducted over the past 30 years. PI has sampled more than 25,000 employees in 120 different job roles against nearly 5,000 measures of job performance, and 94% of studies resulted in significant relationships between PI measures and job performance. Read more about the science behind PI.
3. Is the tool relevant to the specific job?
Can the assessment results be linked to the requirements of the role, or do you simply get a general profile of the candidate?
The PI HIRE solution is built on two rigorously validated assessments that measure what actually predicts job success: behavioral drives and cognitive ability. Not personality types. Not subjective interviews. Science-backed signals that have been linked to on-the-job performance across 120+ job roles. Use the PI Job Assessment to define the job requirements and match your candidates to predict job success, while adding objectivity to the hiring process.
4. How should the results be used in the decision-making process?
Does the tool support a structured evaluation alongside experience, competencies, and interviews, or is there a risk of the assessment becoming an isolated pass/fail criterion?
With PI, the strongest approach is to define the requirements of the role first, then use the assessment results to explore fit, identify areas to probe in the interview, and support a more evidence-based decision. Results should always be combined with structured interviews, experience, competencies, and other relevant information to create a stronger and more consistent basis for hiring.
5. How easy is it for managers to use the results?
Can a hiring manager understand and apply the insights in practice without being an expert in psychometrics?
PI INSPIRE gives managers behavioral intelligence to make the right call for each person, without adding unnecessary complexity: four behavioral drives, backed by 70 years of science. The PI Behavioral Assessment gives manageres a clear picture of what drives and motivates each individual, so they can easily understand their reports’ communication style, how they make decisions, and what they need from their manager to thrive and perform.
6. What is the candidate experience like?
How long does the assessment take? Is it available in the relevant languages? And is the process professional and reasonable from the candidate’s perspective?
The PI assessments are designed to be quick, accessible, and straightforward for candidates. The PI Behavioral Assessment only takes 6-10 minutes to complete and is available in 68 languages. The PI Cognitive Assessment takes 12 minutes to complete and available in 64 languages. Most candidates can complete the scientifically validated assessments in their native langugage in under half an hour. Combined with a verbal feedback from a certified PI Practitioner, the PI assessments create a professional and positive candidate experience.
7. How does the provider address fairness and bias?
Has the tool been evaluated across relevant groups, and is there evidence relating to fairness and potential adverse impact?
The PI assessments are built to be used for workplace decision-making, measure what they are intended to measure (construct validity), relate to job performance (criterion validity), and are stable and accurate enough for their intended purposes (reliability). The assessments’ development, design, and documentation follow industry best-practices used by all reputable assessment providers. Both the PI Behavioral Assessment and the PI Cognitive Assessment underwent successful certification review under the guidelines published by the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA). Read more about research and validity, and fairness and adverse impact.
8. Can the tool be used beyond recruitment?
Can the same insights support onboarding, management, teamwork, development, and succession planning, or does the value end once the candidate is hired?
The PI solutions are scientifically validated for talent acquisition as well as for onboarding, development, managing people, and teams. Behavioral intelligence for every hire, conversation and team, in one platform.
- Hire and promote with confidence: Understand how a candidate’s behavioral strengths align with the role.
- Lead each person well: Know what each person needs to do their best work.
- Build stronger teams: See how your people work together—and where they need support.
9. How are data, security, and GDPR handled?
Where is the data stored? Who has access? How long are results retained? And how are data processing agreements and international data transfers handled?
Humanostics and PI take data protection and GDPR compliance seriously. The PI Software platform provides established security measures, controlled access to assessment data, and a Data Processing Agreement covering GDPR requirements and international data transfers. Clients retain control over their assessment data and are responsible for defining appropriate access and retention policies. For additional information, see PI’s Privacy and Data Processing Agreement FAQs
10. What value should the tool create for the organisation?
How will you know whether the investment is working? For example, through better quality of hire, more consistent decisions, lower turnover, or stronger onboarding.
The PI assessments are based in continuously validated science. PI’s I/O scientists run ongoing validity research so the science behind your decisions reflects how work actually happens today, not decades ago. Real-world validation means PI predicts performance in actual jobs, not theoretical ones. Our studies are built on data from the workplace, not borrowed from research designed for a different era. PI has published and independently audited research. Read more here. If you would like to read about how different companies have used PI to increase their success, access a selection of case studies here.
