The truth about candidate assessments

"They'll just tell you what you think you want to hear."

"How much can we really infer from a self-report assessment?"

In today's high-stakes hiring landscape, relying on gut instinct or outdated screening methods isn't just risky, it's expensive.

Every bad hire drains productivity and wastes precious time, chipping away at team morale and trust. Yet many organizations still sideline self-report assessments, clinging to myths that don't hold up under scrutiny.

In this article, we debunk the biggest misconceptions and show how embracing these tools can protect your bottom line, and your brand.

Myth: Self-report assessments can be 'faked'

Users can 'second guess' them, trying to manipulate them to give the employer what they think they want to hear, or even using generative AI to inform their responses.

Truth

Our Wave Personality Questionnaires are the most scientifically-proven measures of performance and potential on the market, with built in algorithms, checks and balances to test for consistency. Its unique 'rate-and-rank' format make it difficult for an individual to second-guess the questionnaire.

AI does not know how to complete a personality assessment that reflects a candidate's personality perfectly for a particular job.

Myth: Assessment centers are more valid

In a world where advancements in technology have contributed to a rise in mistrust, observing people in assessment centers must surely be the most reliable way to get an objective perspective on a person, right? Wrong...!

Truth

When done correctly, interviews do a very good job of predicting workplace performance. The same can be said for personality questionnaires. In fact, evidence suggests that both of these methods are better at forecasting potential job performance than the type of observational techniques used at assessment centers.

One of the problems is that the exercises at these centers usually aren't probing areas that are actually relevant to the role. They generally don't measure competencies, so they don't tell you what an individual is good or bad at, only how good they are at performing the specific task set, which will only be predictive of workplace performance if that task forms a major part of the job - generally they are not!

Myth: We don't use any 'self-report' in our processes

We don't believe self-report assessments add any value and therefore have chosen not to use these.

Truth

Self-reports are everywhere: interviews are self-reports, CVs are self-reports, applications are self-reports; the user is choosing how best to present themselves.

All of these tools are used globally to help recruiters make hiring decisions and the chances are that you are using one, if not all of them, yourselves.

To understand how a person behaves and how good a match they are for the role, your organization's culture and values, you need a personality assessment. These can also help facilitate highly-structured interviews which probe strength and challenge areas and really drill down on the key areas important to you and your organization.

Myth: Introducing psychometric assessment costs too much and adds too much time into the process

The last thing that anyone needs is yet another administrative task to undertake and they will bring a significant additional cost to the business.

Truth

Reducing the odds of a bad hire from 1 in 5 to 1 in 50, Wave places the right people in the right roles efficiently and accurately, saving stakeholder time and money on replacing mishires or a high-turnover workforce.

Our assessments are administered online and can be set up in a few minutes. We can also integrate with your ATS, making the administration process simple and streamlined.

So, what's the answer?

The power of assessment is in providing critical data that shapes your talent strategies. They uncover insights that would otherwise remain hidden, enabling you to pivot and equip your organization with the essential skills to drive your future growth.

The Saville Assessment Wave questionnaire is steeped in decades of research and data, with scientific validity at its core. It is highly reliable and inclusive by design, placing incredible predictive power in your hands.

Frequently asked questions