Your hiring process is probably broken. Not because you’re making bad decisions — but because the tools, you’re trusting to make those decisions were never built for what you’re asking them to do.

Here’s a story that illustrates the problem.

I recently took a personality test and scored well on nearly everything — except truthfulness. Before you close this tab: I didn’t fail because I’m dishonest. I failed because the test fundamentally cannot tell the difference between manipulation and professional maturity.

Let’s unpack this. What exactly is “very nice”? And what’s the alternative — being rude? That’s not screening for manipulation. That’s screening against professionalism.

Professional Kindness Is Not Manipulation

As an MBA and executive, I don’t have the luxury of treating people differently based on my personal feelings. My job is to get work done through others, and that requires consistent, respectful treatment of everyone on my team.

I’ve managed direct reports I didn’t particularly like on a personal level. They never knew it because I showed them the same respect I showed everyone else. That’s not deception. That’s professionalism. My personal biases have no place in the workplace.

While I understand the goal of identifying manipulative behavior, these tests fundamentally misunderstand what they’re measuring. And if the tool can’t make that distinction, it has no business being the gatekeeper to your organization.

The Real Problem: Personality Tests Are Vanity Metrics

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: personality tests are not effective tools for candidate screening. They’re marketing products that software companies have convinced HR departments are legitimate KPIs — when they’re vanity metrics.

Measuring subjective qualities like “truthfulness” produces unreliable data. These tests don’t account for nervousness, memory lapses, or how someone interprets ambiguous language. Even polygraph tests — which ask far more specific questions — are not admissible in court. If we can’t trust those, why are we relying on vague personality assessments?

This is the same diagnostic-first principle we apply in organizational design: you cannot fix what you haven’t correctly identified. A tool that mislabels what it measures will consistently produce the wrong output — no matter how many candidates it screens.

For the record: I do use personality assessments in my consulting work. They offer useful insight. I typically use the Enneagram alongside one to fifteen other assessments, and I treat them as what they are — a starting point for self-awareness, not a replacement for strategic thinking. The problem isn’t the test. It’s treating the test as a decision-maker.

The Better Way: Go Back to the Foundation

“But we have 500 applications for one position. We need some way to screen them.”

I hear you. But the solution isn’t a flawed personality test. The solution is going back to where every hire should start: your company’s strategy.

When you understand exactly what this position will accomplish and how it moves the company forward, you stop looking for someone who is “very nice” and start looking for someone who can do the work.

The 12-Step Strategic Hiring Process

#1 Connect the role to company strategy

Define exactly how this position pushes the company toward its strategic goals. If you can’t articulate this, the job description isn’t ready.

#2 Identify core activities

What will this person be doing day-to-day to achieve those objectives? Be specific.

#3 Write a strategic job description

Use Steps 1 and 2 to write a description that articulates the role’s strategic purpose, key responsibilities, and required competencies. This isn’t a generic template — it’s a targeted document that attracts candidates who can move your business forward.

#4 Extract keywords

Create a list of specific phrases that describe required skills, activities, and outcomes. These drive your screening and interviews.

#5 Prepare your interview framework

Decide what you’re asking in each of three interviews. Questions stay consistent across candidates. Build a grading scale before the first call. Record interviews if helpful.

#6 First cut: 5–50 candidates for round one

Use your grading system to select first-round candidates. Phone screens run 15–30 minutes. Be realistic about your review capacity.

#7 Conduct strategic phone interviews

Ask questions directly tied to your keywords and required activities. Advance 3–10 candidates to the next round.

#8 Talk about real problems and goals

Have finalists engage with actual challenges or goals they’ll face in the role. Narrow to 2–7 candidates. Cover the same topics with each person.

#9 Assess culture fit

At this stage, you know they can do the job. Now see if they’ll thrive in your environment. Have them meet their potential manager and teammates. Ask about work preferences and how they approach collaboration.

#10 Set compensation by benchmarking, not instinct

Salary should be grounded in market data for the role, level, and geography — not what you think sounds right or what the last person made. Use benchmarking tools and current salary data to establish a defensible range before you make an offer. Then build the compensation package intentionally. Base pay covers the role. Variable compensation — bonuses, incentives, commissions — should be tied directly to the behaviors and outcomes this person is expected to produce. If someone’s bonus has nothing to do with what they’re responsible for, it’s not driving performance. It’s just an extra paycheck. Design compensation that reinforces what you hired them to do.

#11 Make the offer quickly

Don’t drag your feet once you’ve made the decision. Prepare robust onboarding with a 30-60-90-day plan before day one. For executive hires, developing this plan can be one of their first assignments — it signals ownership from the start.

#12 Maintain proper documentation

Don’t drag your feet once you’ve made the decision. Prepare robust onboarding with a 30-60-90-day plan before day one. For executive hires, developing this plan can be one of their first assignments — it signals ownership from the start.

Hire for Competence, Not Personality Theater

This process isn’t perfect, but it’s intentional. You’re evaluating candidates on what matters: their ability to execute the work, fit your culture, and be compensated in a way that reinforces both.

Stop outsourcing your hiring decisions to personality tests that measure nothing meaningful. Stop relying on software that can’t distinguish between professionalism and manipulation. Start hiring people who can move your business forward — not people who are good at gaming a poorly designed questionnaire.

This is a starting framework — not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Every organization has different hiring needs, different roles, and different operating conditions. Cassidine Consulting works with organizations to build hiring and talent development systems that are grounded in strategy, not guesswork. If you’re ready to move beyond the personality theater and build a process that produces the right hires — reach out. This is exactly the kind of work we do.

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