Government urged to stop using ‘personality tests’ in its hiring process: ‘Big barrier for autistic people’

The government has been urged to stop using personality tests to recruit civil servants, with autism charities slamming them as “one of the biggest barriers” for autistic people seeking jobs.

It comes after Big Issue revealed some of the UK’s biggest companies – including McDonald’s and John Lewis – using personality tests, and how these lock autistic applicants out of work. 

But as the DWP and benefits minister Stephen Timms refuses to say what they plan to do, pressure is growing on the government to end its own use of personality tests.

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“We believe that to get the most out of people, organisations such as the Civil Service shouldn’t be relying on personality tests and instead should look to work with local supported employment services in helping neurodiverse people enter paid employment,” said Rasha Muhi-Eldin, a supported employment team lead for the Working Well Trust.

“If the government wishes for neurodiverse people to enter employment then barriers such as these need to be dismantled to ensure everyone gets the same career opportunities.

“Personality tests are one of the biggest barriers to supporting autistic people into employment. We often find clients are demoralised from the constant tests, rejections and obscure questions

The Civil Service Judgement Test, used as part of the government’s hiring of civil servants, assesses candidates on their ability to “show good judgement and make effective decisions in relation to your behaviours”. In a video guide, would-be mandarins are told the outcome of the test “will determine whether you progress to the next stage of the recruitment process”.

Example questions provided by the government include:

• “I adapt to change quicker than other people.”
• “I prefer not to have to concentrate on one thing for too long.”
• “I enjoy making fast decisions regardless of the risks involved.”
• “It is important for me to exceed expectations when I am given a task to do.”

The DWP denied it uses tests amounting to personality tests “which assess a candidate’s personality tests and behaviour”, but instead psychometric tests which assess more widely.

Reasonable adjustments offered for autistic candidates include a “one-to-one session with a support worker, to aid understanding” or the option to “provide a narrative or spoken response to questions instead of using the standard multi-choice response format”. The Civil Service has also removed the time limit on the test to make it easier to complete.

Joey Nettleton Burrows, policy and public affairs manager at the National Autistic Society, told Big Issue: “Last year, the Buckland Review of Autism Employment found autistic people have more negative experiences of personality tests. The government should implement the recommendations in the review on modernising recruitment practices, as part of wider plans to help close the autism employment gap.”

Just 29% of autistic adults are in work, compared to 54.7% of disabled people overall. In a bid to tackle this, the government has set up a panel to give it recommendations on how to help neurodivergent people into work. As the panel was announced, Timms, the minister for social security and disability, said “negative experiences of interviews, prejudicial opinions and a reluctance to introduce adjustments are just some of the barriers facing prospective neurodiverse employees”.

Yet after Big Issue went to Timms and the DWP with the findings of our investigation, and asked what they thought about companies still using the tests and what the government planned to do, we were told they would be saying nothing. 

“All employers should be making every effort to tailor their recruitment processes, so they can get the best out of every candidate,” Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Ambitious About Autism, told Big Issue

“Every autistic person is different, and the type of adjustments they need will depend on the individual candidate. This could involve removing requirements for personality tests, if they can prove they are qualified for the job in other ways.  

“We encourage employers to make it clear from initial job postings that reasonable adjustments are available to those who need them, as some autistic people may feel uncomfortable requesting them due to negative past experiences. Often, it is small changes like this that can make a big difference to an autistic person’s experience of job-seeking.”

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