FS_PersonalityAssesment_EN_2025 - Pre-employment Personality Assessment for Personnel Selection

Sep 18, 2026

A psychology fact sheet explains how pre-employment personality assessment can be used in personnel selection to predict job performance when traits are job relevant. It addresses four key challenges: selecting job-relevant personality traits, choosing a reliable and valid questionnaire instrument, combining individual trait scores into an overall applicant score (using methods like weighted averages), and limiting dishonest responding. It outlines processes for job-expert ratings, defines traits and job performance, and discusses reliability, validity, and appropriate test-user training.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Identifying Job-Relevant Personality Traits

Personality-oriented work analysis (job-expert ratings)

Alternative methods (research and meta-analyses)

Pre-employment Personality Assessments

Using questionnaires and evidence for reliability/validity

Assessment design for work behavior and privacy

Obtaining an Overall Score on the Personality Assessment

Averaging trait scores vs weighted averaging

Example weighted scoring equation

PSYCHOLOGY WORKS Fact Sheet: Pre-employment Personality Assessment in Personnel Selection Research in industrial and organizational psychology indicates that personality traits are one class of variables that can predict job performance when the traits are job relevant. Although other factors such as general mental ability, structured job interviews, and work samples can also predict performance, the current focus is on issues in using personality assessment in the personnel selection process. Challenges in optimizing the use of pre-employment personality testing involve 1) identifying job-relevant personality traits, b) choosing a personality assessment, c) combining individual trait scores to obtain an overall applicant score, and d) managing the potential for dishonest responding. The current fact sheet examines each of these issues. Identifying Job-Relevant Personality Traits The process of deciding on which personality traits to use for personnel selection decisions is called a personality-oriented work analysis (see O’Neill et al., 2013) . One new method that has shown considerable promise involves obtaining job-expert ratings of each trait’s relevance for the job. Highperforming employees who have significant experience in the position are one source of potential job experts. Another source involves supervisors, as they are familiar with the job and they may provide greater objectivity. Critical, however, is that job experts have a strong understanding of personality, subtle differences between similar traits, and how traits relate to work behaviour. The job experts rate each trait’s relevance for work performance (e.g.,“how relevant is trait achievement for performing effectively on the job?”) . A list of traits are identified for inclusion in the rating form by searching for potentially relevant traits from existing personality assessments or from the International Personality Item Pool ( .org) website, which is operated by personality researchers. Definitions of traits can be obtained from test vendors or through inspection of the survey items, and these definitions need to be included on the trait relevance rating form. Job experts must consider the trait definitions carefully rather than relying solely on the trait names. The nature of job performance for the specific job also needs to be defined so that all job experts have a similar understanding of what constitutes effective performance in the position. Other methods for identifying traits can be useful. For example, published research in primary studies or meta-analyses (quantitative summaries of prior studies) can provide useful indications of which traits are likely to forecast job performance. In general, research suggests that Conscientiousness is helpful in nearly every job. The usefulness of other traits, such as Risk Taking, Desire for Novelty, and Assertiveness likely depend on the specific job requirements (see Tett et al., 1999) . Pre-employment Personality Assessments Once you identify the job-relevant personality traits, you will need a reliable and valid instrument to measure personality. In this fact sheet we focus on one common method of assessment: the questionnaire. Other methods could involve the interview or behaviour in problem-focused situations, but these are not addressed here. Typically, personality is measured by asking the job applicant to complete a well-researched personality assessment. Ask the test provider to point you to reliability and validity evidence detailed in the test manual, research postings on websites, and the published literature. Reliability and validity involve consistency of measurement and how well the assessment measures the targeted traits, respectively. Most personality assessments comprise a list of statements (50-350) measuring a smaller number of distinct traits (e.g., Sociability, Diligence, Cooperativeness) . The respondent indicates the extent to which each statement accurately describes t

FAQs

How does the fact sheet define job-relevant personality traits for hiring decisions?

It describes a personality-oriented work analysis to determine which traits to use, emphasizing job-expert ratings of each trait’s relevance. Job experts must understand personality, subtle trait differences, and how traits relate to work behavior.

What type of personality assessment does the fact sheet focus on?

It focuses on questionnaires as a common method of pre-employment assessment. While other approaches like interviews or problem-focused situations exist, they are not addressed in detail.

How can an overall applicant personality score be calculated?

The fact sheet explains using either the average of job-relevant trait scores or a weighted average. The weights come from job-relevance ratings, and an overall score can be computed by applying the weights to the applicant’s trait scores.

Sep 18, 2026

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