Interviews & Background Checks Don't Look Deep Enough
In interviews we visit with applicants about their education, training, work experience, and things like "why they want the job". All important items.
It's too common, however, after hiring the person, that we discover...
- The person has a bad attitude, or
- Doesn't listen or 'knows-it-all', or
- Isn't following instructions, or
- Doesn't get along with others...
To hopefully avoid hiring such problems we have found it valuable to explore the applicant's 'core beliefs' - those inner traits that drive behavior. Our Critical Hire® Profile examines 28-key intergrity & personality traits - key to a successful career in law enforcement and corrections.
Law enforcement, itself, can attract the wrong person
Elements of the job... like the possibility of...
- High-speed chases,
- Carrying a firearm,
- Having authority and
- Wearing an impressive uniform
... can attract individuals not well-suited for the job's day-to-day responsibilities. Some of these individuals might even appear promising during an interview.
All reasons to learn early on what internal drivers are influencing the applicant's behavior.
The cost of hiring the wrong person
As a leader of law enforcement officers, you understand the cost impact of hiring the wrong person…
- The actual cash outlay to just re-hire & train a replacement is estimated at 30% of the person’s salary. (A $50,000 position would cost approx. $15,000 additional to rehire another individual) US Dept of Labor
This cost does not include secondary damages - such as:
- Costly injuries to a member of the public or your officers,
- Damages to your equipment or to private property,
- Expensive lawsuits & legal costs,
- Negative media attention, or
- Damaged reputations & staff morale
...All consequences we might face when the wrong person is hired, reaffirming the importance of careful reviews of candidates' past training, work experience... AND the inner beliefs driving their behavior.
The Hiring Process Itself is Time Consuming and Costly
The time spent reviewing applications, testing, conducting interviews and checking backgrounds of police and correctional applicants takes staff time and expense. All supporting an early look into the individual’s level of integrity, honesty, core-beliefs, and personality.
The Critical Hire® Profile test is ‘pre-job offer’ qualified. Early in your hiring process it shares the presence (or lack) of integrity & personality traits important for a successful law enforcement career.
It takes more than just a ‘test’!
There are no guarantees that a person will behave as we want, even after careful consideration – people are too complicated to allow that. To make our hiring tasks more manageable, members of our staff use ‘a hiring process’.
These steps, derived from experts and our own hard-learned lessons, backed with the Critical Hire® Profile test... focus on selecting top-quality individuals.
We invite you to use our 'Contact Us' page to request a free copy of our White Paper: “Hiring Top Employees Calls for a Process”
Important Note: The Critical Hire® test provides helpful insight regarding individuals, we cannot, however, guarantee a person's future behavior.
FAQs
- Yes, for 2 reasons.
- The MMPI-2 is probably the most well-known, researched, and validated psychological test used in law enforcement pre-employment psychological evaluations. However, it has a limitation. It can only be administered after a conditional offer has been given. The Critical Hire-Profile can be administered pre-conditional offer and provides a nice compliment to information provided by the MMPI-2.
- The Critical Hire-Profile provides different information than the MMPI-2. The Critical Hire-Profile measures integrity and general personality, while the MMPI-2 measures psychopathology (e.g., depression, anxiety, and antisocial personality traits). Both are valuable, and provide unique information, to the hiring process. For example, we had an applicant show no concerns on the MMPI-2. However, this same applicant showed significant concerns in regard to attitudes supporting drug use at work, problems with authority and past supervisors, impulsivity, low conscientiousness, sloppiness in their work, and attitudes supporting theft from the workplace and theft in general.
Can I see a sample report?
- Yes. Please contact our office, we will be happy to make two complementary tests available for you to test who you would like - to see for yourself the simple process... and the report.
- Yes. Extensive research has been conducted on the Critical Hire integrity scales. This research indicates that there are no statistical differences in integrity scale scores based on age, gender, or racial status. Please refer to the research studies found under Test Validity for specific details.
Can I use the Critical Hire-Profile before making a conditional offer of employment?
- Yes. Since the Critical Hire assessments do not measure psychological traits (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress), are not used to diagnose, and do not require a licensed provider to administer or score, they are not considered medical exams. Federal law requires that medical exams (e.g, the MMPI-2) can only be administered after a conditional offer of employment. Integrity and personality tests (such as the Critical Hire assessments) are not medical tests and can be lawfully administered pre-conditional offer.