Cowen Partners, a leader among the nation’s best executive search firms, has announced the winners of its 2023 Best-of Awards Program for personality tests. They have rounded up the best personality tests for employers to identify top job candidates, all while working remotely and avoiding face to face interviews.
Are you still interviewing and on the hunt for the best candidates? Personality tests can significantly de-risk the candidate interview and hiring process accommodates those working from home.
This guide shares a breakdown of the best employment-based personality tests to use during the interview and hiring process in order to screen candidates for key qualities and zero in on the ideal match for a given role, whether you’re hiring for the C-suite or other leadership positions.
The best preemployment personality tests were chosen based on methodologies, longevity, and applicability. The top six personality tests include:
The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator is an introspective self-report questionnaire indicating differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The original versions of the MBTI were constructed by two Americans, Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers.
The Core Value Index (CVI) characterizes and measures a person’s real core values nature. This is the essential self that Abraham Maslow asserted is the innate unchanging nature of a person that inscribes where a person can make their highest and most productive contribution to the world.
DISC is a behavior assessment tool based on the DISC theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston, which centers on four different personality traits which are currently Dominance (D), Influence (I), Steadiness (S), and Conscientiousness (C). This theory was then developed into a behavioral assessment tool by industrial psychologist Walter Vernon Clarke.
The Caliper Profile is an objective assessment that accurately measures an individual’s personality characteristics and individual motivations in order to predict on-the-job behaviors and potential. Scientifically validated by nearly 6 decades of research, the Caliper Profile measures 22 robust traits and offers local norms for several countries. The assessment data can be utilized throughout the employee lifecycle including: selection, development, promotion, team building, and succession planning.
The Enneagram is a 3 x 3 arrangement of nine personality types in three Centers. There are three types in the Instinctive Center, three in the Feeling Center, and three in the Thinking Center, as shown below. Each Center consists of three personality types that have in common the assets and liabilities of that Center.
The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test is a popular assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees for a range of occupations.
It is a proprietary assessment created and distributed by Wonderlic.
Personality tests give employers insight into the strengths and weaknesses of potential hires, including empathy, integrity, drive, and ambition. Used correctly a personality test can even promote objective hiring and prevent discrimination.
However, employers should never rely on a personality test as the sole decision-maker when hiring.
Disclosure: While the products and solutions listed above represent the best offerings in their respective categories, Cowen Partners knows that each employer and their hiring situation is unique. To this end, employers should research the above service providers for best results.
When you want to find the best candidates for the C-suite down, you want to screen for more than just skills and knowledge.
You also want to evaluate:
Coupled with our ability to source qualified candidates, Cowen Partners uses scientifically proven methods to test for personality, behavior, company objectives, and culture in order to find the best candidates for our clients. No more wasted time on subjective screening and inherent bias’, our screening process lets you focus on the best people for the job.
Our hands-on HR executive recruiters have experience working with private, public, pre-IPO, and non-profit organizations. Clients are typically $50 million in revenue to Fortune 1000’s or have assets between $500 million to $15 billion. Successful placements span the entire C-Suite – CEO, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and include vice president, general counsel, and other director-level leadership roles.
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