Pre-Hiring Assessments

An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal: more and more employers are using some form of pre-hiring assessment, such as personality tests. This is done in the hopes of better pinpointing candidates who will fit into the company’s culture. This article also clarifies that many companies do not rely solely on these tests; the test results can simply add another layer when evaluating a candidate with whom the employer has already met.

As this article states, honesty is the best policy when doing these assessments. Both the prospective employee and the employer will eventually lose out if the candidate only writes down or says what he or she thinks the employer wants to hear.

When I was in law school and going through the recruitment process, the best advice I got was to look out for fit. While this seemed a bit vague in the beginning, going through the interview process (even without any written pre-hiring assessment) made it clear that each law firm has its own culture and that everyone involved would benefit from hiring candidates who shared similar values or outlooks. 

Do you think these hiring screens are useful in finding that so-called fit?