Psychometric testing in recruitment is a standardised way of assessing a candidate’s cognitive abilities, personality, behavioural traits and working style to support more informed hiring decisions.
One of the costliest aspects of recruitment is making the wrong hiring decision. Many decisions can be made on gut feel. The candidate may have interviewed very well. Yet, hiring the wrong candidate can cost organisations upwards of $23,000 per employee, according to AHRI. In the SMB space specifically, wrong hiring decisions are estimated to cost approximately $7.3 billion annually, according to HR Leader.
When an individual is in a new role, that’s when behaviours can start to manifest that could have adverse repercussions for the team, morale and culture, and could create conflict. Through psychometric testing, these assessments can uncover the hidden aspects of an individual that may not be apparent during the hiring process.
Psychometric testing in recruitment
Reviewed by Converge Head of Psychometric Testing and registered psychologist, Nicole Russom
What psychometric testing is and how it is used in recruitment
Types of psychometric tests used during the hiring process
What psychometric assessments evaluate, from cognitive ability and emotional intelligence to personality and behavioural style
Advantages of psychometric testing in recruitment, including more objective hiring decisions and improved candidate-role fit
How pre-employment psychometric testing works, from role and industry benchmarking and assessment through to psychological interviews and reporting
How Converge delivers psychometric testing to support recruitment and reduce hiring risk
What Is Psychometric Testing?
Psychometric testing is a standardised assessment delivered by registered psychologists to determine a potential employee’s cognitive abilities, and behavioural and communication styles. A psychometric assessment may involve one or more psychometric tests depending on the key role capabilities you want to assess.
Mostly used during the hiring process, psychometric examinations reduce the subjective nature of interviewing and hiring applicants. Each assessment or test provides data-driven insights to better understand a candidate’s fit for the role, assisting to prevent wrong hiring decisions which are often based on gut feel.
Common uses of psychometric testing are:
Recruitment: HR, hiring managers, and recruitment agencies can use psychometric assessments during the application phase to see if the individual is the right fit for the organisation’s culture and the role in general.
Career guidance: For existing employees, psychometric exams can help employees realise their career direction and path based on their strengths and personality.
Personal development: Workplaces can use psychometric testing to improve self-awareness, leadership skills and professional development, and enhance communication skills and styles.
Types of Psychometric Tests Used in the Hiring Process
There are a range of psychometric tests that organisations can use during the hiring process, all of which target different abilities and preferences of a potential employee. When combined, they can paint a holistic picture of how the candidate works under pressure, their behavioural styles and their personality traits.
Here are the types of psychometric examinations that can uncover the applicant’s personality, behavioural preferences, and cognitive ability:
Applicant Suitability Matrix
An ASM assessment is designed for candidates working with heightened emotions and vulnerable people or where they are responsible for the safety and welfare of others. Such industries include aged care, disability care, healthcare, education, retail and contact centres. An ASM test evaluates the individual’s working style, how they work with others and their emotional control.
Risk Prediction Index
RPI evaluates an applicant’s ability to perform in high-risk environments. For example, sectors where there is a potential for violence or danger for the employee, such as policing. RPI is combined with cognitive ability and emotional intelligence assessments to provide an understanding of the individual’s cognitive ability, emotional intelligence, working style, self-control, and psychological adjustment.
Workplace Personality
For roles not in high-risk environments, Workplace Personality Tests, otherwise known as Occupational Personality Assessments, can examine the applicant or employee’s potential for the role. This can include data on their working style, motivations and emotions. Hiring managers could use this assessment for all roles from graduate and entry-level positions to leadership roles.
What Psychometric Testing and Risk Assessment in Recruitment Evaluate
Psychometric assessments evaluate the suitability of the candidate to the role profile by assessing areas such as their cognitive ability, emotional intelligence, behavioural preferences, and personality traits. Here are the types of areas a psychometric assessment can evaluate:
75%
of applicants who presented with violent tendencies had an elevated level of psychological risk which could impact the safety and wellbeing of themselves and those around them, uncovered through our Risk Prediction Index assessment.
*Source: Predicts risk of future violent behaviour in public utility employees, Converge
What Are the Advantages of Psychometric Testing in Recruitment?
When an organisation uses psychometric testing, it is able to obtain objective, data-driven insights into the cognitive ability, personality traits, and behavioural tendencies of an applicant. Therefore, the benefits of psychometric testing stem from the assessments’ ability to uncover the potential fit of the candidate to the role. Equally, there there may be challenges an employee could face or bring to the role.
According to Aspect Group, 61% of organisations struggle with retention. Similarly, 73% face challenges with attracting new talent. However, when psychometric testing is used, you can identify potential risks, poor job fit, and personality traits that could cause conflict or erode morale. These benefits have been supported by statistics showing that poor hiring decisions can be reduced by 50% and turnover by 20%, according to Big 5 Assessments.
Here are the five key advantages and benefits of using a psychometric test in your hiring process:
- Supports more objective hiring decisions: Standardised psychometric assessments provide consistent, data-driven insights for every candidate. This helps reduce unconscious bias, personal impressions and reliance on gut feel.
- Improves candidate and role fit: Assessments provide insight into personality traits, cognitive abilities, communication styles and behavioural tendencies. This helps employers understand how well a candidate aligns with the role, team and organisational environment.
- Provides deeper insight into candidate potential: Psychometric testing can identify strengths and capabilities that may not emerge through resumes or interviews alone. For example, this could include problem-solving, emotional intelligence, working style and leadership potential.
- Supports performance, development and retention: Understanding how an individual thinks, communicates and works can help leaders better support new employees, identify development opportunities and place people in roles where they are more likely to succeed long term.
- Reduces the risk and cost of a poor hire: Identifying suitability concerns earlier can support better recruitment decisions. Equally, testing can reduce the potential cost of turnover, replacement recruitment, onboarding and training.
Psychometric Assessments Versus Traditional Interviews
Psychometric testing provides a more objective and standardised way to assess candidates than traditional interviews alone. While job interviews help hiring managers evaluate a candidate’s experience, communication and motivations, psychometric assessments provide data-driven insights into their potential by assessing their cognitive abilities, personality and behavioural traits. Used together, they can help reduce hiring bias, improve candidate comparisons and support more informed recruitment decisions. Research supports this combined approach. In a 2022 re-analysis of decades of selection research, Sackett and colleagues found that structured interviews are the strongest single predictor of job performance (validity of .42), while cognitive ability came in at .31, well below the .51 that Schmidt and Hunter reported in 1998. The findings show that no single method tells the whole story, and that combining structured interviews with job-relevant psychometric assessments gives a fuller picture of a candidate’s suitability.
Pre-Employment Psychometric Testing: How It Works
The psychometric testing process uses standardised, validated assessments to measure a candidate’s cognitive abilities, personality traits, behavioural tendencies and communication styles. In line with the Australian Psychological Society’s position on psychological tests and testing, assessments should be scientifically validated, selected for their relevance to the role and administered and interpreted by appropriately qualified professionals. Here is how the process works:
Step 1: Role configuration and benchmarking
Psychologists work with the hiring manager, HR or recruitment team to understand the psychological requirements and the psychosocial risks of the role. They then decide which assessment or assessments are best for the role and define which core competencies and behaviours need to be evaluated. They will also consider the scoring benchmarks and the range within which the individual needs to score.
Step 2: The psychometric test
Once the test is selected, the candidate is provided a secure link to complete the test. Tests can be completed online in an unsupervised environment (from home), or in a supervised environment (usually at the prospective workplace).
Step 3: Psychological interview
In high-risk roles, an organisation may elect to use a psychological interview, where a psychologist speaks with the candidate. This part of the assessment is used to understand the individual’s behaviour and ascertain whether they’re psychologically competent to undertake the role. Their resilience, ability to cope with stress and potential vulnerabilities are discussed. This approach is particularly useful in roles where weaponry is required, and where there is a requirement for a high level of resilience such as roles that are moving overseas, or those that have a high risk for vicarious trauma.
Step 4: Reporting the data
Once the assessment is complete, it is scored and a report is provided to the organisation. This will outline the applicant’s potential in different areas of the role and how they score against the benchmarks set out in step 1. Ongoing wellbeing plans and recommendations can also be created during this stage, for example, when a role requires the individual to view traumatic content, so that wellbeing is safeguarded.
Converge’s Approach to Psychometric Testing for Recruitment
Converge approaches psychometric evaluation as a collaborative process where we work with the organisation to support them in identifying the best applicant for the role. This approach enables us to support you to minimise turnover, enhance wellbeing, and find the right person for the role to support long-term organisational success.
Over FY25, we delivered almost 40,000 psychometric tests. Each test supported hundreds of organisations with their recruitment processes, helping reduce the risk of hiring the wrong person for the role. Overall, our approach focuses on hiring the right person the first time.
Our outcome data, collated from psychometric assessments completed with numerous Australian organisations, showed:
88%
of applicants had greater work-related abilities when an organisation used an ASM test, compared to 60% without an ASM screening, based on testing feedback.
*Source: Enhances Work Performance and Health and Safety of Disability Support Workers, Converge
10%
reduction in staff turnover when Converge implemented our own ASM assessment, showcasing the value for all organisations.
*Source: Applicant Suitability Matrix Reduces Staff Turnover, Converge
4.8
fewer sick days taken per employee when an organisation used Applicant Suitability Matrix assessment in their hiring process compared to before.
*Source: Enhances Work Performance and Health and Safety of Disability Support Workers, Converge
100%
of new hires displayed professional workplace behaviours when screened with an ASM test, compared to 83% when ASM was not used.
*Source: Enhances Work Performance and Health and Safety of Disability Support Workers, Converge
16
fewer WorkCover leave days per employee taken when an ASM assessment was used during a candidate screening.
*Source: Applicant Suitability Matrix Reduces Staff Turnover, Converge
“Since the psychological testing we get a better quality of people starting with us…There’s less of those people now in the workforce who you think are high risk.”
Recruitment Manager who used ASM in their hiring process.
Everything we’ve covered in this article reflects what Converge delivers through our psychometric assessments. If you’re looking to make your next hire, let us show you the power of our assessments and how we can support you.
Frequently Asked Questions about Psychometric Assessments
What is psychometric testing in recruitment?
Psychometric testing in recruitment is a standardised assessment used to measure areas such as a candidate’s cognitive ability, personality traits, behavioural tendencies, emotional intelligence and preferred working style. It gives hiring managers objective, data-driven insights that complement interviews, resumes and reference checks, helping them compare candidates, assess suitability for a role and make more informed hiring decisions.
What is a psychometric assessment test?
A psychometric assessment test is a structured assessment designed to measure specific psychological, cognitive or behavioural characteristics of an individual. Depending on the assessment, psychometric testing can evaluate areas such as cognitive ability, personality, emotional intelligence, communication style, working style and psychological risk. Results can then be interpreted against the requirements and benchmarks of a particular role.
What types of psychometric tests are used for hiring?
The types of psychometric tests used for hiring include cognitive ability assessments, personality assessments, emotional intelligence assessments, behavioural assessments and psychological risk assessments. The appropriate assessment depends on the role and the characteristics or risks an organisation needs to evaluate. For high-risk or specialised roles, psychometric testing may also be combined with a structured psychological interview to provide a more comprehensive assessment of candidate suitability. Converge uses the Applicant Suitability Matrix, Risk Prediction Index and Occupational Personality Assessment depending on the role.
What are the advantages of psychometric testing in recruitment?
The main advantages of psychometric testing in recruitment are more objective candidate comparisons, reduced reliance on gut feel, deeper insight into candidate suitability and better-informed hiring decisions. Psychometric assessments can identify cognitive abilities, personality traits, working styles and behavioural tendencies that may not be apparent through an interview or resume alone. This can help organisations improve candidate-role fit and reduce the potential risk and cost of a poor hire.
How accurate is pre-employment psychometric testing?
Pre-employment psychometric testing can provide reliable and useful insights when validated assessments are appropriately selected, administered and interpreted for the role being assessed. However, psychometric testing should not be treated as a standalone predictor of whether someone will succeed in a role. It is most effective when used alongside other recruitment methods, such as structured interviews, experience, reference checks and, where appropriate, psychological interviews.
Can psychometric testing reduce hiring risk?
Yes. Psychometric testing can help reduce hiring risk by identifying candidate preferences, behavioural tendencies, cognitive ability and potential suitability concerns that may not emerge during a traditional interview. By adding standardised, data-driven evidence to the recruitment process, organisations can make more informed decisions about candidate-role fit and identify potential risks before making a hiring decision.
For high-risk or specialised roles, psychological and risk assessments can provide additional insight into factors relevant to psychological suitability and workplace risk.
How does Converge deliver psychometric testing services?
Converge delivers psychometric testing through a psychologist-led process tailored to the organisation, candidate and requirements of the role. Our psychologists work with hiring managers, HR or recruitment teams to understand the role, identify relevant competencies and risks, select appropriate assessments and establish suitable benchmarks.
Candidates then complete the selected psychometric assessment and, where required for high-risk roles, participate in a psychological interview. Converge provides the organisation with reporting on candidate suitability and performance against the agreed benchmarks. Where appropriate, ongoing wellbeing recommendations can also be developed for employees entering psychologically demanding roles.
