Resumes are like movie trailers. Sometimes they give you a decent idea of what you’re getting into. Other times, you think you’re hiring the next workplace hero — and you end up with a box office flop. What you really need is a way to see beneath the buzzwords and bullet points to find out whether someone’s actually going to thrive in your environment.
That’s where behavioral assessments come in.
Here at The Metiss Group, we have almost 30 years of experience helping small and mid-sized businesses like yours make key hires that last. In this article, we’ll share some of our assessment secrets and teach you how to use these powerful tools:
- Step 1: Ask Yourself: What Answers Are You Hoping to Find in Hiring Assessments?
- Step 2: Choose the Right Hiring Assessment Tool
- Step 3: Build an Ideal Candidate Persona for the Hiring Assessment
- Step 4: Send the Hiring Assessment After the Initial Interview
- Step 5: Turn the Hiring Assessment Data Into a Better Interview
- Step 6: Keep Using the Hiring Assessment Results Through Onboarding
- and A Few Best Practices When Using Hiring Assessments
Step 1: Ask Yourself: What Answers Are You Hoping to Find in Hiring Assessments?
Before you even start comparing different hiring assessments, take a pause. Sit with this question: What am I trying to learn about candidates that my current process isn’t showing me?
Think about your recent hiring failures: the people who looked amazing on paper but made it to week two and set your Slack channel on fire. What traits give you hives? Who does your team really need to thrive?
For example, we worked with a client in the restaurant industry where servers pooled tips. That meant they needed to hire people who genuinely prioritized the team over themselves. Using the TriMetrix assessment from TTI Success Insights, they were able to measure that exact motivator — and spot applicants with a high individualistic drive, who typically aren’t wired for team-first environments.
If they’d picked an assessment based on what another company used—or just gone with the most popular option—they would’ve missed the one thing that mattered most to their success.
So ask yourself: what are you trying to find and what are you trying to avoid? Once you’re clear on that, you can actually shop for the right tool.
Step 2. Choose the Right Hiring Assessment Tool
There are a lot of options out there. Predictive Index, Trimetrix, McQuaig, DiSC, Culture Index, Insights, Wonderlic, Watson-Glaser. Some measure behavior, some measure cognitive ability, and some try to do both. We put together a list of our favorites to help you decide.
If you only need one science—just behavior, for example—you might look at Predictive Index or DiSC. But if you're looking to layer in motivators or cognitive data, multi-science tools like Trimetrix might be more your speed.
Pro Tip: Don’t fall for a tool trying to sell you on behavior and motivation being the same thing. Being chatty doesn’t mean someone’s motivated by people. There’s a big difference between what someone does and why they do it.
Step 3. Build an Ideal Candidate Persona for the Hiring Assessment
Now that you've got a tool, build the dream candidate.
The ideal persona should reflect what it actually takes to succeed in the role. Is it a solo, focused job? Maybe an introvert makes more sense. Does it focus heavily on improving ROI? You’ll need someone who’s motivated by efficiency.
Just make sure you’re not only talking to the supervisor when building this profile. A lot of times, they’ll either describe themselves — or the complete opposite. Neither of those is helpful if you want someone who can actually do the job. Instead, involve a few key stakeholders in this conversation.
And remember, no one’s going to check all the boxes. If someone falls short in one area, don’t toss them. Ask yourself: do they have self-awareness? Have they adapted? Do they bring other strengths or complementary team skills to the table?
Another benefit of having an ideal persona is you don’t need lots of candidates to compare with each other. Because you are comparing to the ideal, you’ll know if you have a fit with the first candidate.
Step 4. Send the Hiring Assessment After the Initial Interview
Here’s where a lot of people mess up. Don’t send the assessment with the job application. It’s not a good candidate experience — candidates should at least talk to a human before taking any sort of test or assessment.
Assessments take time and effort, usually 30 to 60 minutes. So send it after your initial interview. Give candidates a reason to care. Otherwise, it just feels like homework from someone they’ve never met.
This approach weeds out those who are clearly wrong for the role early, without wasting their time or yours. Win-win.
Step 5. Turn the Hiring Assessment Data Into a Better Interview
Once you have the assessment results, use them to ask smarter, more targeted questions in a follow-up interview. Not the overused softball questions like, “Tell me your biggest strengths and weaknesses.”
Let’s say someone scores high on individualistic motivators, but the role for which they’re interviewing doesn’t involve leading others or influencing decisions. That’s not necessarily a dealbreaker, but it’s something to explore. You might ask:
“How important is independence to you? Power? Influencing others? What would be your level of satisfaction in a role where none of that is part of the job?”
The same goes for behavior-based questions. Let’s say the behavioral assessment flags someone with a high “I” — they’re naturally outgoing, people-focused, and maybe a bit of a spotlight-stealer. You could ask:
“Describe a situation where you found yourself talking too much and had to re-group or re-establish credibility. What did you do?”
You’re looking for stories. Specifics. Tangible behaviors. If they speak in generalities, that’s a red flag. It's hard to fake a story with details.
Step 6. Keep Using the Hiring Assessment Results Through Onboarding
The assessment data doesn’t disappear after the offer letter. Once your new hire is on board, use those insights to figure out how they communicate, what motivates them, and how they’ll mesh with their manager or team. You can avoid communication landmines and give them a clearer path to success.
Even if they’ve done the job elsewhere, every company has its own language, unwritten rules, and “we don’t do that here” moments. That adjustment takes time—usually 3 to 6 months. Tools like Trimetrix or Watson-Glaser, when paired with The Metiss Group’s The Accountability System™, can help close that gap faster.
A Few Best Practices When Using Hiring Assessments
One major problem with hiring assessments is how often companies misuse them. This can frustrate candidates and make your company look bad. Here are some best practices:
- Don’t make the assessment a deal-breaker. It’s not a go/no-go. It’s data, not a verdict.
- Keep it under an hour. People have lives. Assessment fatigue is real — and if you overdo it, they’ll associate your company with negative emotions.
- Look for tools that update often. Assessments should be re-normed every few years. Language changes over time, too, so the assessment questions should also be regularly updated.
- Find the right combo. You might need one tool for behavior and another for cognition. You can’t expect one assessment to do it all.
- Keep the candidate experience front and center. This is still their decision too. Treat them like humans.
The Bottom Line About Hiring Assessments
Behavioral assessments are incredibly powerful — when used intentionally. They’re not magic, and they’re definitely not the answer to everything. But used with the right mindset, they’ll help you build better teams, avoid wasting money on bad hires, and give your new hires a running start.
If you’re wondering how to build this into your hiring process, The Metiss Group helps organizations do exactly that. We’ll help you choose the right tools, create your ideal profile, train your team on behavioral interviews, and accelerate onboarding with our accountability system.
Now that you understand how to use behavioral assessments in hiring, the next step is to read the full hiring guide (it’s a complimentary download), so you can see how assessments fit into the larger picture.
