Intuition is a Beautiful Thing... But it Isn’t Always Accurate

What Happens When Psychology Takes a Role in Recruitment?

Anna was the HR manager of a 40-person family business who increasingly felt that their hiring process depended more on luck than on expertise. She had already been looking for a sales administrator for the third time within a year, yet somehow no one stayed long enough. The candidates were always confident, communicative, and pleasant during the interviews. Eexactly the kind of people everyone likes at first sight. The problem was that after a few months they started making mistakes, couldn’t tolerate repetitive tasks, and became frustrated with the endless small administrative details. Anna felt something was missing.

The next time she started the hiring process, she decided to do it differently. Following a friend’s advice, she tried a few simple psychological assessments. Candidates not only attended an interview but also completed a short Big Five personality questionnaire, along with an attention and monotony tolerance task. The goal wasn’t to label anyone but to better understand whose working style and temperament matched the role.

At the interview sat a young woman, Sofie, who was friendly but somewhat reserved. She didn’t seem as energetic as the other candidates, but the tests revealed something else. Sofie scored exceptionally high on conscientiousness and emotional stability, and she showed a strong ability to tolerate repetitive work. Her profile described her as precise, organized, and reliable, exactly what the company needed.

Three months later, Anna knew she had made the right choice. Sofie managed the order lists flawlessly, delivered every task on time, and never lost her patience when something needed to be double-checked. She wasn’t loud or flashy, but without her the team wouldn’t have run so smoothly. That’s when Anna truly realized that psychological tests don’t “measure personality” to stick a label on someone. They help reveal what kind of environment and work style best fit a person’s natural strengths.

Professional psychological assessments are built on solid scientific foundations. They are developed and tested on international and local samples, then verified to ensure they produce valid and reliable results for the specific population or subgroup they’re intended for. They are periodically re-evaluated and updated to reflect social and labor market changes, since people and jobs are constantly evolving.

The Big Five model, for instance, examines five core dimensions of human personality: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience. But interpretation is always context-dependent. In the case of a sales administrator, the goal isn’t to find someone outgoing or talkative, but rather someone structured, calm under pressure, and who enjoys order. High conscientiousness and emotional stability are worth gold in such a role.

Yet a personality test alone is not enough. Cognitive and performance-based tests (for example, attention, accuracy, reading comprehension, or monotony tolerance) objectively show how well someone can work precisely and error-free over time. These assessments are based on scientific principles, not opinions, using statistically verified scales and norms. A reliable test does not produce random results, if you measure the same person twice, you’ll get similar outcomes. And just as importantly, the test should not be overly long, tiring, or unnecessarily complex, because in that case it measures motivation and endurance rather than actual ability.

Testing, however, should never be random. It should be the result of a well-thought-out process. The first step is always to define the position clearly: what do we expect from this role, and which behaviors and abilities are essential for success? Only then should you choose the right test that accurately measures those specific traits. A randomly selected, generic test rarely provides meaningful insights, because it may not measure what truly matters for the job. A good recruitment process begins not with the assessment tool, but with a clear understanding of the goals.

Small and medium-sized companies often fear that psychological testing is too complicated or expensive. In reality, most modern solutions are online, short, and cost-effective. A well-chosen 30–40-minute test package does not replace the interview, it complements it. It helps you see the person behind the data, and the human fit behind the position. A single poor hiring decision can cause months of issues and significant avoidable costs, while a well-designed selection process builds long-term team stability.

Anna no longer relies solely on her intuition. Tests do not replace the human connection, but they help create clarity. Sofie would never have been the “most charismatic” candidate in an interview, yet she turned out to be the most reliable. And perhaps this is the true essence of selection: not seeking the most impressive person (the one we want to see as a perfect match) but the one who truly fits, based on objective criteria.

Because good decisions are not a matter of luck.