Last week we tuned in to a podcast hosted by a well-known talent acquisition thought leader.
The conversation turned to skills assessments and at one point he said, repeatedly:
"𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵."

This is not the first time I’ve heard Talent Acquisition leaders or hiring managers say this.
So I keep asking myself:

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 "𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲" 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?

𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰?
Phrenology (the old practice of predicting personality by measuring bumps on the skull) also seemed scientific.
It just happened to be completely wrong.

𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁?
For decades, colleges asked "What did you do last summer?"
It felt like it mattered.
Research showed it predicted nothing about academic success.

𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸?
I took the MBTI multiple times.
Each time the description felt accurate.
Each time I got a different type.

Here is the uncomfortable truth:
An assessment that looks good or feels good is not enough.
An assessment is not a belief system.
It is not astrology.
It is science.

And if you rely on it without concrete proof that it predicts job performance, it will fail you.
It will fail your candidates.
And in many cases it will expose your company to the risk of bad hires, discrimination claims, and weakened diversity outcomes.

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲?
Simple: Assessment scores should correlate with on-the-job performance and retention.
Higher-scored candidates should actually perform better and stay longer.
If that correlation is weak or nonexistent, the assessment is not doing what it claims to do.

Most vendors do not have this data.
Many who have it will not share it unless you push.
And almost none conduct validation on your candidates and your roles.

This is exactly why we built Informed Decisions the way we did.
We continuously compare interview scores to actual performance and retention.
A real validation loop that shows you what predicts success in your organization.

You see which skills matter, which do not, and where interviewers need support.
Nothing is based on belief.
Everything is based on evidence.

If hiring decisions shape the future of your company, they should not rely on faith.
They should rely on proof.

🧠 Curious: How do you decide whether to trust a hiring tool or assessment?