When conducting an exploration discussion for psychometric assessments, it is important to use language that emphasises best practice principles and the nature of the assessment by covering the following areas...
What language should I be using?
All of our reports include essential advice and points to make clear to candidates at the beginning of a discussion:
- Personality is not fixed it may vary over time, change through training/development, or simply vary depending on the situation
- There are no rights or wrongs. The scores do not measure ability, skills, capability or competence. They are merely indications of preferences or typical styles of behaviour
- The questionnaire is very reliable but is not infallible
- The profile is intended to clarify your self-perceptions it does not provide an objective measure
- These results must be kept within the boundaries of confidentiality agreed with the candidate
- The results must not be used for any purpose other than that agreed with the candidate
- These results must be kept securely and not retained beyond the period agreed with the candidate
1. Use of self-report measures
The CPQ measures a candidate's self-perception of their preferences, behaviours and values at work, and uses language that reflects self-perception.
2. The reliability of results
While our psychometric assessments are very reliable, they aren't 100% infallible. Results could also change over time through training and development for example. Use language that highlights this to candidates.
3. Scored using norm comparison
Candidate's responses will have been compared to a norm group of previous respondents, meaning the scores in reports reflect this.
4. Consistent description
The way you describe the strength of tendency towards each end of a scale should be consistent to ensure that you are feeding results back accurately.
5. Describe scale behaviours
Avoid using scale names to describe behaviour, instead use the descriptions provided in reports, or refer to our scales booklet.
Last Updated: January 2024