Wave Professional Styles: In-Depth Behavioral Assessment

Fewer costly misses

Cut the odds of a serious hiring mistake.

Sharper interviews

Interview questions built from each candidate's results.

Results you can trust

Flags where someone may have overstated themselves.

Culture fit

Know the culture where someone will thrive or stall.

Candidate experience

Every person can receive their own feedback report.

Professionals and managers

Predicts strengths and challenge areas across twelve areas of competency potential, from evaluating problems to driving success. Use it for experienced hires, promotions and development plans where a first impression is not enough.

Hire experienced people well

Leaders and executives

Shows where a leader is likely to make the most impact, across professional, people and pioneering leadership, the situations where they will be more or less effective, and the risks that could hold them back.

Find the right leader

Sales and commercial

Predicts strength in eight sales areas, from developing leads to closing deals, and fit for new business, account management or sales leadership. Useful when two good sellers would succeed in very different roles.

Hire for the sales role

Teams

Shows the work roles each person is most and least likely to take on, such as Innovator, Striver or Finisher, and what that means for how a team shares work and where it has gaps.

Build a balanced team

Run a sharper interview

The Line Manager Report is easy for anyone in the business to use. A Targeted Interview Guide turns its strengths and challenge areas into questions, so every interviewer probes the same risks.

Separate strong finalists

When finalists look alike on paper, the Expert Report gives specialists the full profile, including where motives and self-rated talents diverge, so the final call rests on more than presence.

Start new hires well

The Onboarding Report gives each new starter their core strengths and challenge areas, with tips for working with their new manager, so the first months build on what they do best.

Coach with evidence

Development and coaching reports give people and their coaches specific actions against each strength and challenge area, so development time goes where it changes performance.

Give everyone something back

Candidate and personal reports give each person clear feedback on their own profile, whether or not they get the role, so the process reflects well on you.

Strengthen teams through change

Work roles and change reports show how each person contributes to a team and copes with change, and the group view shows where the whole team has gaps.

Match 6.5

About 6 minutes

The fastest read on working style, for screening large numbers of applicants early.

Screen at speed

Focus Styles

About 13 minutes

A detailed read on how people work, the practical default for professional hiring and development.

See the 13-minute read

Professional Styles

About 35 minutes

The most comprehensive read, with the leadership and sales lenses, for decisions that carry the most risk.

De-risk senior hires

1 in 50

Odds of a serious hiring mistake with Professional Styles, down from 1 in 5.

1 in 10

Hires an industry-standard assessment still leaves in the bottom 20% of performers.

0.57

Validity of Professional Styles, among the highest independently validated scores on record.

Source: Project Epsom, Saville et al., BPS Division of Occupational Psychology, independent co-validation, N=308.

Fits into the systems you already use

Results flow into the HR system you already use.

See all integrations available

Professional Styles questions

Short answers to what buyers ask before they choose it.

Talk to us Explore Support

What is Wave Professional Styles and what does it measure?

Wave Professional Styles is a behavioral questionnaire that shows how a person is likely to work: their motives, preferences, needs and talents. It measures 36 dimensions across four clusters, Thought, Influence, Adaptability and Delivery, and predicts potential in twelve key performance areas.

How long does Professional Styles take to complete?

About 35 minutes, online. Every professional, leadership and sales report runs from that one completion, and the results usually stay a good reflection of the person for 12 to 24 months.

How does Professional Styles compare with Focus Styles?

Professional Styles is the more detailed of the two. It takes about 35 minutes against 13 for Focus Styles, adds the leadership and sales lenses, and has a validity of 0.57 in independent co-validation.

Can we use Professional Styles for leadership decisions?

Yes. Leadership reports compare the same completion with over 18,000 senior managers and executives, showing likely impact across nine leadership areas. Across a whole population, results also feed the Leadership Potential Dashboard for leadership pipeline planning.

How do we receive the results?

Set up around how you already work: through Wave Connect, as standalone reports, or with results flowing into the HR system you already use. Hiring reports and interview guides come either way; development reports are standalone.

How is Professional Styles priced?

Per candidate, like our other assessments, with the reports at your level included. See how pricing works, or talk to us for a figure at your volumes.

See Professional Styles with your roles

Tell us which decisions you need to get right and we will show you the lens and outputs that fit.

Professional Styles: for decisions you can't afford to get wrong

Watch one completion become an interview plan, an onboarding conversation and a leadership development plan

What you gain

Fewer costly misses

Sharper interviews

Results you can trust

Culture fit

Candidate experience

How one completion goes further

People complete it online

Choose the lens for the role

Each reader gets what they need

See the group as well

Read people against the role