PAPI Kostick: 13 Personality Aspects for Recruitment

PAPI Kostick is a personality assessment used to provide insight into an individual’s characteristics and behavioral tendencies in the workplace. The assessment measures 13 personality aspects related to work needs, roles, and behaviors, helping HR gain additional perspective when evaluating candidates during the recruitment process. Its results can be considered alongside interviews, experience, competencies, and job requirements rather than used as the sole basis for hiring decisions. 

Choosing the right candidate requires more than looking at work experience and technical skills. HR teams also need to understand how candidates may approach responsibilities, interact with others, respond to workplace demands, and perform within a particular role. PAPI Kostick can be one of the assessments used to provide additional insight into these behavioral tendencies.

PAPI Kostick is a personality assessment that provides a picture of an individual’s behavioral tendencies and needs in a work context. For HR, this information can serve as additional data when considering how a candidate’s characteristics relate to the demands of the position they are applying for.

What Is PAPI Kostick?

Before using a personality assessment in recruitment, HR needs to understand what PAPI Kostick actually measures. The assessment is not designed to measure a candidate’s technical abilities. Instead, it provides insight into personal characteristics that may be related to behavior in the workplace.

The results can be considered alongside other information, such as a CV, interview performance, work experience, and relevant assessments. This gives HR a broader perspective when evaluating candidates.

Benefits of PAPI Kostick in Recruitment

PAPI Kostick can help HR explore certain behavioral tendencies that may be relevant to the demands of a particular position. Some of its potential benefits include:

• Supporting the interview process: Assessment results can provide additional information that helps HR develop more relevant interview questions.

• Understanding work-related behavioral tendencies: HR can gain insight into how a candidate may tend to approach their role and responsibilities.

• Supporting job-fit evaluation: A candidate’s characteristics can be considered alongside the requirements and demands of the position.

• Making the selection process more structured: Assessment results provide additional data that HR can consider systematically.

However, PAPI Kostick should not be used as the sole basis for accepting or rejecting a candidate. Recruitment decisions still need to consider competencies, experience, interview performance, and the specific requirements of the position.

Read also: Psychological Assessment for Healthcare Professionals

13 Personality Aspects in PAPI Kostick

One reason PAPI Kostick can be relevant to HR is the range of aspects it assesses. The assessment looks at various tendencies that can provide insight into an individual’s behavior in a work context.

Here are the 13 personality aspects covered in the PAPI Kostick framework:

1. Work Direction

This aspect relates to an individual’s tendencies when carrying out work activities and responsibilities. It can help HR understand how someone approaches work activities, responsibilities, and achievement of targets.

This information may be relevant for positions that require consistency in carrying out tasks or a particular orientation toward work.

2. Leadership

The leadership aspect relates to an individual’s tendency to take on leadership roles, influence others, or direct activities within a group.

For supervisor or manager positions, this information can serve as supporting data when considering how a candidate’s characteristics relate to leadership demands.

3. Activity

Activity describes an individual’s tendency in terms of their level of activity and energy when performing work.

This information may be relevant when HR evaluates positions with a fast-paced work environment or those requiring active involvement in various activities.

4. Social Nature

Social nature relates to an individual’s tendency to interact and build relationships with other people. This aspect may be relevant for roles that involve frequent communication, collaboration, customer service, or coordination with different parties.

5. Work Style

Work style describes an individual’s tendencies when carrying out and completing tasks.

For HR, this aspect can provide additional perspective on a candidate’s working patterns and how those tendencies may relate to the demands of a particular position.

6. Temperament

Temperament relates to an individual’s emotional responses and the way they tend to respond to certain situations.

In the workplace, this information can help HR understand a candidate’s characteristics when facing demands, changes, or situations that require a particular response.

7. Followership

Not every position requires someone to always take the lead. Many jobs require employees to follow directions, work within an organizational structure, and collaborate with supervisors.

The followership aspect can provide additional insight into an individual’s tendency to perform their role as a team member.

8. Need for Supervision

This aspect relates to an individual’s tendency regarding the level of direction or supervision they need when performing their work.

This information can be considered when HR matches candidates with positions that have different levels of supervision, such as highly structured roles compared with positions that require greater independence.

9. Need for Rules and Guidelines

This aspect relates to an individual’s tendency toward rules, procedures, and guidelines when carrying out work.

Such tendencies may be relevant for positions that involve strict SOPs, standardized processes, or specific compliance requirements.

10. Need to Belong to Groups

This aspect describes an individual’s tendency to be part of a group or social environment.

The information can provide supporting data when a company is looking for candidates for positions that involve substantial teamwork and interaction among team members.

11. Need for Change

Need for change relates to an individual’s tendency to respond to changes or seek variety in work activities.

This aspect may be considered for positions in dynamic environments, where priorities frequently change or employees need to adapt to new situations.

12. Need to Be Noticed

This aspect relates to an individual’s tendency to seek attention, recognition, or appreciation from their environment.

For HR, this information can provide perspective on the type of work environment that may support an individual’s engagement and comfort when performing their role.

13. Need for Control

The need for control aspect relates to an individual’s tendency to direct, control, or influence situations or other people.

This can be one consideration when evaluating positions involving coordination responsibilities, decision-making, or people management.

Read also: Add-On Interview: Are Assessment Results Enough?

How Can HR Use PAPI Kostick in Recruitment?

Understanding the 13 PAPI Kostick aspects alone is not enough. HR needs to connect assessment results with the requirements of the position being filled so that the information can be interpreted within the right context.

The following steps can help:

1. Identify the Competencies and Requirements of the Position

Before conducting an assessment, HR needs to understand the characteristics of the job being filled. Identify its responsibilities, work patterns, level of interaction, supervision requirements, and other relevant demands.

This helps HR avoid simply looking for a candidate with the “best test results.” Instead, the focus can remain on how the candidate’s characteristics relate to the actual requirements of the position.

2. Use the Results as Supporting Data

PAPI Kostick results should be considered alongside information from other stages of the selection process. HR can combine the assessment results with:

• CV and work experience.

• Interview results.

• Competency assessments.

• References or relevant information about previous work experience.

• Specific requirements of the position.

This approach helps prevent decisions from relying on a single source of information.

3. Connect the Results with Job Requirements

For example, a particular position may require frequent interaction with customers. HR can pay attention to aspects related to social tendencies and activity, then consider how they relate to the demands of the role.

However, the results should still be interpreted within the context of the candidate as a whole rather than being used to assign an absolute label to someone’s personality.

When Should HR Use the PAPI Kostick Test?

PAPI Kostick can be considered when a company needs additional information about a candidate’s behavioral tendencies that may be relevant to the job.

The assessment may be useful in situations such as:

• Recruiting for a new position: Provides additional perspective on candidates beyond their technical competencies.

• Selecting candidates for roles with high interpersonal demands: For example, positions that require frequent communication or coordination.

• Supervisory or managerial positions: Can provide one source of information about leadership tendencies and role management.

• Jobs with specific structures and rules: Aspects related to the need for rules, supervision, or particular work patterns may be considered.

• Selecting candidates in large numbers: A structured assessment can help HR collect additional information more systematically.

What Are the Advantages of PAPI Kostick for HR?

PAPI Kostick can add value when it is used with an appropriate purpose and within the right context. Its value does not only come from the number of aspects it assesses, but also from its ability to give HR another perspective on candidates’ work-related behavioral tendencies.

Some of its advantages include:

• Providing insight into various personality tendencies in a work context.

• Complementing information obtained through interviews.

• Helping HR consider how candidate characteristics relate to job requirements.

• Serving as part of a more comprehensive assessment process.

• Providing additional perspective when HR evaluates candidates with relatively similar backgrounds and competencies.

Use PAPI Kostick to Support Candidate Assessment

PAPI Kostick can be one of the instruments HR uses to gain a broader understanding of a candidate’s characteristics in the workplace. By understanding the 13 aspects assessed, HR can obtain additional data to consider when evaluating how a candidate’s characteristics relate to the requirements of a position.

However, a personality assessment is not a replacement for the overall selection process. Its results are more useful when considered together with interviews, competency evaluations, experience, and job requirements.

If your company needs the PAPI Kostick personality test for recruitment purposes, Psikologiehub can help HR conduct a more structured assessment aligned with its selection needs. Schedule a consultation or contact the Psikologiehub corporate team for more information.

FAQ

1. What does the PAPI Kostick test measure?

PAPI Kostick provides insight into various personality and behavioral tendencies in a work context, covering 13 aspects within its assessment framework.

2. Is PAPI Kostick suitable for recruitment?

Yes. PAPI Kostick can be used as a supporting assessment during recruitment to help HR understand candidates’ behavioral tendencies in a work context.

3. Can PAPI Kostick results determine whether a candidate is hired?

They should not be used as the sole deciding factor. PAPI Kostick results should ideally be considered alongside competencies, experience, interview performance, and job requirements before HR makes a recruitment decision.

4. What are the benefits of PAPI Kostick for HR?

PAPI Kostick can help HR gain additional perspective on candidates’ characteristics and behavioral tendencies, giving the recruitment process a broader range of information to consider.