Should we use Personality Tests in Startup Interviews?

Are personality tests in interviews still valid? And should we use them in startup interviews? At least in my experience, most of my startup recruitments were through my own network. So, we used them sparingly during the early stages. However, as the company grew, we used some of these successfully. The most important thing to remember is that a personality test is not a way to judge someone. It is only an opportunity to be curious and know more about someone.

Personality Tests and Interviews

In one of the earlier discussions, I was referring to the challenges in hiring for a startup –  One of the most important factors of this discussion was about hiring someone for a longer-term. This discussion goes through personality tests and their productivity in recruitments.

In other words, as a startup – there’s very little time to bear the loss of attrition and loss of employees. A key prerogative is to ensure that you’re hiring someone who is looking for a long-term engagement. Of course, we can never be 100% sure, but we sure have to be looking at this as a preliminary goal when it is about hiring the right talent

With the above in mind, the question is – how to identify the right fit for my business?

First round interview

These interviews usually reveal the technical competence of a person. The best we can probe into in such meetings is the knowledge and experience of the person we’re intervening with.

Granted that interviews will have a few exaggeration’s, equally there’s a layer of personality that’s revealed through the process. Perhaps the best outcome we can gauge out of that is what we feel about this person. How to know if they are a personality fit or Behavioral fit for the culture you want to develop – particularly as a startup where the first few hires define the company’s future.

Personality Tests

These come in a variety of shapes and forms. There are some which ask you 100 odd questions and try to provide a glimpse of personality type.

We have to be very careful in identifying the right type of personality tests and interviews. I’d refrain from using anything which doesn’t give a detailed view of a person without an element of the Myers Briggs quotient in it.

The answers provided from the analysis must talk about the strengths of a personality, where they feel most comfortable – how they approach team-building and in particular the culture they can influence. This becomes increasingly important in senior roles of the organisation

Reading these personality tests

It is extremely important to note how we question based on personality tests results. One must remember these are nothing but a representative of where a candidate might perform at their best.

It is never indicative of any weakness and there’s no right or wrong answer. It is all about the fit and a type of personality you’re looking for

Personality vs technical expertise

This is a very tricky one. If you are comparing two profiles – one with a perfect technical fit but an awful personality match vs a decent tech skill and a great personality match – I would personally focus on the personality match.

I’m a firm believer that technical skills can be trained but personality and approach makes a strong influence on what you want to build as an organisation. These personality tests provide a great starting point for such deliberations.

Alternate point of view

There’s a reason why a significant decision like this shouldn’t be made alone. No matter how objective we are, it is unlikely that there’d be no bias.

Having someone who can challenge your decision and ask the right questions makes a world of a difference. I’d always say constructive conflict is a much better outcome than quiet approval.

In summary, hiring someone for your startup is a huge decision. The personality tests can add a lot of value to identifying the right fit. It’s certainly not the be-all and end-all, but makes a tremendous difference if approached in the right sense.