Managing Your Assessment Psychologist to Select Great People

Hiring managers and assessment psychologists should be like high-performing, collaborative teams where members are wide open with each other about candidates. If not, blind spots can occur which could compromise successful selection decisions.

Two myths:

1. Don’t tell the psychologist about your observations, questions and concerns in order to assure objectivity.
2. The psychologist’s role is to rely solely on his/her assessment tools, interview observations and background review to advise on candidate selections.

To make the best candidate selections, the hiring manager/psychologist team should openly discuss the following typical but important factors as shown in the pie chart below.

There have been numerous times where I did not recommend a candidate because of hiring manager concerns that I didn’t observe, even when assessment results and my interview experience were positive.

And, there have been plenty of times where I sustained a positive argument for a candidate in the face of hiring manager objections that I felt were less valid, critical or relevant.

The best candidate selections occur when all key signs in the above four factors are acceptable to excellent.

Certainly, you are paying a psychologist to stay objective, but in a wide open data sharing environment. In the long run, psychologists lose their credibility if they simply cow tow to the likes and dislikes of their hiring manager clients.

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