Every so often we get people asking about how psychometrics work. This will often be accompanied with some element of doubt, and understandable discomfort about using them to make recruitment decisions.

While it can sometimes be difficult to measure the tangible benefits of implementing any new software, HR teams are increasingly being required to justify their investments and have a good idea of an expected ROI.

We used to hear clients worry about this one a lot, and I can see why some companies would be concerned, as it is a common misconception among candidates that psychometric assessments are designed to catch them out or trick them in some way. People think they are too hard and loom dauntingly over the application process, which could perhaps even motivate a candidate to cheat... but we’ve already busted that myth in a previous blog.

While it would make the hiring process a lot simpler if you had a sixth sense about whether a candidate would be well suited to a position, even the most skilled interviewers are influenced by unconscious biases.

‘Practise makes perfect’ – perseverance as a concept is one well known to most. From learning times tables to perfecting a parallel park, early in life, tenacity is trumpeted as the major contributor to achieving goals.