If you’ve ever considered using “personality tests” to guide a hiring decision, or if you’re researching them now for the first time, you should know a few things: One, there are a ton of them on the market. Two, don’t waste your money on a “test” that’s not validated by real scientific research. Three, we in the industry prefer to call them pre-employment assessments, but that’s our problem, not yours.

Seriously, they aren’t tests. You can’t fail; you just line up well with a certain role or you don’t.

Assuming you’ve found a scientifically valid pre-employment assessment (which shouldn’t be too hard if you’ve gotten this far onto our site), the only thing left to do is take the plunge and try it out on whatever position you need to fill.

The mind-blowing part is that the results don’t go away after you make the hire. You’ll have that report forever. Here are four ways you can benefit from the same personality test pre-employment assessment again and again:

  1. Hiring the right person

Pre-employment reports help you discover which applicants are merely good at telling you what you want to hear in an interview and which ones are intrinsically motivated to do the job on an ongoing basis. It can also help you find the hidden gems who might be so-so at interviewing but potentially great at working.

  1. Coaching and development

Nobody’s perfect. Even the best employees have weak spots. Would you rather guess what those weaknesses are and find out the truth after things go wrong, or do you want a detailed report in advance letting you know where the motivations seem limited? You’ll get your new hire up to speed much quicker if you can build a targeted coaching plan based on the assessment results.

  1. Team growth

When you put a team together or introduce new personalities into an existing team, dysfunction and conflict can result. However, having assessments handy on each team member can reveal potential danger areas, help team members understand each other’s motivations and limitations, and open the door to any number of team-development engagements that enhance productivity and collaboration.

  1. Succession planning

Who knew that CSR you hired for the call center 12 years ago would end up running the entire service operation? Or the staff writer you found wandering in the streets would go on to become company president (I can dream, can’t I?)? Well, you may have anticipated as much if you’d been using validated pre-employment assessments all along. They not only show you the motivations and limitations of your applicants relative to the job you are trying to fill right now, they reveal hidden potential that can benefit you in the future. You can always revisit the data when a higher-level position opens up, and you’ll recognize hi-potential employees from the outset and devote development resources accordingly.

Boom! Company president.

**drops mic**