Pre-Employment Evaluations
The process that Public Safety Psychology, PLLC uses in our pre-employment evaluations is designed to comply with the guidelines established by the Psychological Services section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the guidelines published by the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Due to Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements, these evaluations can only be done AFTER a conditional offer of employment has been made, but BEFORE a candidate has been officially hired. Because we ask questions regarding medically related areas – previous psychiatric treatment or hospitalizations, amount and type of drugs used, rehab stays, etc. – the ADA requires that the conditional offer of employment be made before our evaluation. You should check with your legal counsel as to what constitutes a bona fide conditional offer of employment.
Our process involves three steps:
First, a battery of psychological tests is administered to the applicant. This battery consists of approximately 1000 questions and takes an average of 4 hours to complete. It is meant to collect a large amount of information from the applicant in a structured and efficient manner.
The test battery includes a detailed history questionnaire, as well as measures of emotional stability, normal personality traits, and anger management. Each test is scored on a unique Police and Public Safety Profile that compares the applicant against a large sample of applicants to a similar job title. Finally, there is a handwritten questionnaire in which the applicant details background history.
The tests can be administered to a large group at your facility or in small groups at our offices. If the tests are taken in a large group, the results are scored in our office and the interviews are scheduled for the following week. If the tests are taken in our office, the applicant can be interviewed that same day, completing the process in a single day at no extra charge.
Second, the applicant has a face-to-face interview with a licensed psychologist experienced in public safety evaluations. The semi-structured interview lasts 30 to 45 minutes and follows up on the information provided in the history questionnaire as well as the psychological tests. Each applicant is asked the same set of standard questions to provide an objective, fair evaluation. Individualized follow-up questions are also asked depending on the applicant’s responses.
Third, a report summarizing the results of the interview and the interpretation of the tests is written. The report is intended to be easy to read, free of psychological jargon, and offers a bottom line recommendation. The applicant is also rated on 12 Essential Job Elements that are derived from the California POST Commission job analysis. A sample report can be found on a subsequent page of this web site.