Personality Tests. The missing step in your recruitment process.

Think about the last time you hired someone. The CV looked perfect. The interview went smoothly. But a few months later, something just did not click. The fit was not right.

You are not alone. Mis-hires are a costly, time-consuming challenge, and recruitment is only getting harder. With AI making CVs easier to generate but harder to evaluate, traditional recruitment methods are now failing to tell the full story.

That is where personality testing comes in. While no single tool can replace good recruitment practice, psychometric assessments provide the missing layer of insight. Beyond skills and experience, they reveal how candidates prefer to work, what motivates them, and how they might fit into your culture.

Why were personality tests created?

Personality and psychometric testing are not modern inventions used just for recruitment. They have been around for over 100 years. The first tools were developed during World War I to assess U.S. soldiers for “shell shock” (what we now call PTSD) by measuring emotional stability.

Since then, several methods have been developed, with one of the most widely recognised being the Big Five Personality Traits model. It underpins many modern recruitment tools and is widely considered the most scientifically valid and predictive test for workplace behaviours.

How does the Big Five Personality Traits model work?

The Big Five Personality Traits model, developed in the 1960s to 1980s, is grounded in decades of psychological research and psychometric testing. It measures people across five core traits: conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion.

Rather than placing people into rigid categories, it shows where someone sits on each spectrum, giving a nuanced view of how they think, work, and interact with others.

What makes personality tests so effective for recruitment?

Personality tests give hiring managers an edge that CVs and interviews alone can’t provide. By uncovering traits like adaptability, conscientiousness, and collaboration style, they show not just what candidates can do, but how they will fit into your team and company culture. The result? Smarter hires, lower turnover, and stronger, more cohesive teams. They also help HR prioritise top talent early, saving time and resources while creating a fairer, more engaging candidate experience.

And for candidates, personality tests are an opportunity to highlight their strengths, preferences, and working style - helping employers see the full picture of what they bring to a role. More importantly, these insights help candidates identify the types of environments and cultures where they are most likely to thrive.

Step up your recruitment approach

At HRGO Recruitment, we understand the challenges that hiring managers are currently facing and are constantly looking for better ways to support both employers and candidates. That is why we developed our own in-house Personality Profiling Tool, based on the Big Five Personality Traits model. It is designed to give you and your candidates the insights that truly matter, providing detailed and actionable information for your hiring process.

If you are interested in seeing how our Personality Insights Tool can better support your hiring, you can either visit https://www.hrgo.co.uk/personality-insights-tool or contact our central team at sdr@hrgo.co.uk. We will be happy to walk you through how it works and show you a sample report.