HEXACO Personality Test

The HEXACO personality test evaluates a candidate’s characteristics to better understand how they will approach their work.

  • What is a personality test?

    There is not a single definition of personality – but in general, your personality profile refers to the traits that represent you as an individual.

    Personality tests are very common pre-employment assessments because hiring managers value knowing how an individual is likely to show up. The tests have also shown significant predictive ability when trying to understand how a candidate will behave months or years after the test was taken.

    These tests help you understand what it might be like to work with someone, what strengths they will bring to the team, and where they might need additional support.

    This is why they’re often used beyond the hiring process to inform how best to manage and motivate an employee.

Jump to a section on this page:

  1. What is a personality test?
  2. Why should you use a personality test for recruiting?
  3. How our test assesses personality
  4. HEXACO Personality Test FAQs

About the HEXACO Personality Test

The study of personality dates back to Ancient Greece, illustrating how the desire to understand and categorise individual differences has always been a subject of curiosity. Within a recruitment context, assessing personality has existed for over a hundred years, and was initially used by the military to predict how soldiers would fare under immense pressure.

During the past century, personality tests have embodied different forms and models; some of the most popular today include the Big Five, DISC, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and HEXACO. These various approaches all provide insight into an individual's unique qualities but with slight distinctions.

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  • Why should you use a personality test for recruiting?

    As one of the most popular pre-employment assessments, personality tests have been subject to extensive research, analysing their ability to predict behaviours on the job and general job performance. Although certain personality traits may be more or less relevant in various jobs or industries, personality tests are designed to be applicable for any role.

    Conscientiousness has consistently been the highlight of personality testing in the workplace. This factor represents an individual’s tendency to stay organised, approach work methodically, maintain high levels of discipline and determination, and exercise caution when making decisions. Employees who score highly on this dimension are reliable and strive for excellence.

    Emotionality, also called Emotional Stability or Neuroticism, is another big predictor of work performance, as it captures the tendency to work well under pressure, maintain resilience and stay calm in the face of challenge.

    Further down the list, we have Extraversion, the degree to which someone is outgoing and finds social interaction energising; Agreeableness, the extent to which a person is forgiving, cooperative and easygoing; and lastly, Openness to Experience, which refers to curiosity, creativity and imagination.

    Gaining these insights during the recruitment process allows you to narrow down your candidate list to people whose personality profiles fit what you are seeking. Many hiring managers value a few particular traits and will focus solely on these while others may take a holistic approach, interpreting a candidate’s personality results as one data point that helps shed light on the rest of their skills and experience.

More Personality Tests

Picked Sample Report

View a sample report

Results for the HEXACO Personality Test along with other assessments the candidate takes will be compiled to produce a candidate report. The report is automatically generated and available both online and as a downloadable pdf so they can be shared with other team members and employees alike.

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How our test assesses personality

Picked’s personality test is grounded in the HEXACO model, researched by Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton. The six factors – Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience – were identified via lexical analysis of the structure of personality.

Hexaco personality model

Each of these factors has four more narrow facets, often popularly referred to as traits, that allow for a more nuanced interpretation of an individual’s profile.

Examples of these traits from Picked’s version of the HEXACO model include Authenticity (Honesty-Humility), Stress Tolerance (Emotionality), Team Orientation (eXtraversion), Compassion (Agreeableness), Self Discipline (Conscientiousness) and Curiosity (Openness to Experience).

There are 24 subscales measuring the traits within our model, and each subscale has three statements. They are carefully crafted following best practices to ensure candidates feel comfortable responding honestly about their personality in the context of work. Candidates rate the extent to which they agree with a statement (e.g. “I enjoy learning about new topics”).

Regarding test results, each of the 24 traits will have a percentile, indicating where a candidate falls on that characteristic in relation to a comparable sample of test-takers. Picked’s personality test was piloted on a sample of representative job candidates to establish these norms that aid in interpreting scores.

Based on those scores, the results will describe how that individual may behave along with a recommended interview question if you wish to dig deeper into that area during a follow-up interview.

We recommend pairing this test with some of our other aptitude tests or soft skills tests to get a complete picture of each candidate before making a hiring decision.

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Validated

Predictor of job success

Picked provides evidence-based recommendations for tests to use for over 750 jobs. Our recommendation engine leverages data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).

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    Fully accredited

    All our HEXACO Personality tests are written by accredited psychologists and fully validated.

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    For all levels

    We offer HEXACO Personality tests for all levels so you can assess all roles within your organisation.

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    Smart automations

    Automated actions such as alerts and reminders ensure a smooth candidate experience.

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    Receive candidate results in real-time so you can make decisions in hours, not days.

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Improve hiring with bias-free, data-driven decisions.

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    Analytics dashboard

    Our full array of candidate performance metrics will provide actionable data on each of your candidates.

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    Candidate comparison

    Simple, easy-to-use candidate comparison reports mean you don’t need to be a psychologist to interpret them.

“We used Picked as part of our Finance Graduate Scheme recruitment and it was just what we needed – really simple to send candidates the link to complete and clear to see how they all compared. And great value for money!”
Christina, HR Director, Cancer Research, UK
Christina, HR Director, Cancer Research, UK
HEXACO Personality Test expert

Written by a HEXACO Personality Test expert

Our team of assessment experts is made up of I/O psychologists and psychometricians who are dedicated to making all of our tests as reliable, valid and fair as possible. They strictly adhere to best practices in the industry and stay on top of the latest innovations to ensure job candidates’ unique profiles of characteristics, abilities and knowledge are being measured accurately while minimising bias. They leverage decades of research and advanced predictive analytics to build assessments that link to outcomes that matter, such as job performance, turnover, engagement, culture fit and more.

“Personality profiling allowed us to perform lookalike modelling of our most successful employees and use this as a blueprint for new hires.”
Nick, HR Operations, Airbus, Spain
Nick, HR Operations, Airbus, Spain

HEXACO Personality Test FAQs

What are employers looking for in personality assessments?

Employers are looking for personality assessments that will help them identify the best possible candidates for their company. The assessments should be able to identify personality traits that are relevant to the position that is being filled. They should also be able to identify potential conflicts between the candidates' personalities and the company's culture.

Why do some jobs require a personality test?

Personality tests are used to measure an individual's character, to see if they would be a good fit for a specific job. The test measures things like an individual's honesty, dependability, and ability to work well with others. This information can help employers decide if a potential employee would be a good fit for their company.

What is the cost for Picked’s personality test?

We believe in simple, transparent pricing. We operate monthly and annual subscriptions so you can pick the perfect plan for you. Don't worry if you're not sure: you can always upgrade or downgrade later, or speak to us to discuss the option of a custom made plan to fit your needs. This is all you ever pay – no set-up or hidden fees.

Can I get a free trial?

Yes, sign up (no credit card required) and we'll give you a 7 day trial completely free. You'll get unlimited access to create as many jobs and test as many candidates as you like. You can cancel any time and you won't be charged anything.

“Focusing on data reduced the subjective decision making from our hiring process and allowed us to reduce bias and make better hiring decisions.”
Izzie, Head of HR, iZettle, Sweden
Izzie, Head of HR, iZettle, Sweden

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