Choosing the right personality assessment for employee selection and leadership development can be mind-boggling. What’s the best solution: recommendations from peers, online research, evaluations in trade magazines? Even more importantly, how can one be sure that a personality assessment provider will supply tools that actually work as advertised? Not all personality assessments are created equal.

Before investing in one, Hogan suggests 12 must-ask questions when choosing an assessment provider.

1. What are the personality assessments designed to do relative to the needs/goals of the customer?

2. Is the personality assessment provider a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology (SIOP), or other professional organization that mandates ethical and statistical guidelines for creating personality assessments?

3. Have the personality tests been reviewed in Buros’ Mental Measurement Yearbook?

4. Is each personality test supported by a test manual that is organized according to the standards outlined in the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures?

5. Does the personality assessment provider supply technical reports containing competent validity studies (as defined by the Uniform Guidelines) using the personality tests in real organizations?

6. Can the personality assessment provider produce a summary of validation results for jobs similar to the one under consideration?

7. What standardized validation process is followed before the personality assessment provider implements a selection test in an organization?

8. How are cutoff scores established for selection purposes?

9. What process does the personality assessment provider use to systematically evaluate the performance of the tests it recommends?

10. Does the personality assessment provider maintain a research archive that can be accessed to confirm the results of individual validity studies?

11. What is the personality assessment provider’s policy for supporting customers in the event of a legal challenge to the use of a test?

12. Has the personality assessment provider been involved in any legal challenges of a test, and if so, what was the outcome?

Download a printable Assessment Evaluation or see how Hogan measures up.