Can DISC Be Used for Hiring? Why I Say No

Can DISC be used for hiring? You can, but you shouldn't. DISC describes how someone prefers to communicate and work. It doesn't measure the skills, aptitudes or experience a role needs, so it can't tell you who will do the job well. Even where it's legal, I don't suggest it. Keep DISC out of the hiring decision and bring it in on day one.

I'm DISC certified, and Quokka Hub runs DISC team assessments, so I have every reason to want more people using it. I still give founders and HR leaders the same answer on this one. If someone on your leadership team has asked you to add DISC to the interview process, this post gives you the reasons, the research, a short script for that conversation and a checklist for what to use instead.

Can DISC be used for hiring?

Technically, yes. Nothing stops a company from sending candidates a DISC profile before an interview. The better question is whether it helps you pick the right person, and I don't think it does.

DISC describes how a person tends to behave and communicate at work. It groups answers into four styles, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. That tells you a lot about how someone likes to get work done, how they handle conflict and what kind of message lands with them. It tells you very little about whether they can do the job you're hiring for. That gap is why I say no.

Why doesn't DISC work as a pre-employment test?

Four problems show up as soon as DISC becomes a screening step.

• It wasn't built for that. DISC was designed to help people understand their own style and how they work with others. Using it to screen candidates asks it to do a job it was never meant to do.
• It describes style and leaves skill untouched. A high D profile tells you someone likes to move fast and make calls. It doesn't tell you whether their calls are any good. A high C profile tells you someone cares about accuracy. It doesn't tell you whether they can build the financial model you need by Friday.
• Candidates know what you want to hear. DISC is self-reported. Someone applying for a sales role can guess which answers sound like a salesperson. Once a job offer is on the line, you're measuring how people want to be seen.
• It creates a shortcut nobody tested. "We need a high I for this role" slowly turns into "we don't hire S styles for sales." That's a profile filter, and no one checked whether it predicts anything in your company.

Small teams feel that last one the most. You don't hire enough people to spot a filter that quietly screens out strong candidates. Over time, the team starts to think and communicate the same way. When everyone approaches problems alike, fewer new ideas make it to the table, and fewer people stop to catch the small details before they turn into big ones.

Is it legal to use DISC for hiring?

Legally, it depends on where you are, so check with an employment lawyer in your area. Either way, my advice is always the same. Keep DISC out of the hiring process.

What predicts job performance better than DISC?

The best recent summary I know of is a 2022 paper in the Journal of Applied Psychology by Paul Sackett, Charlene Zhang, Christopher Berry and Filip Lievens, which re-ran the major meta-analyses on hiring methods (Sackett et al., 2022). As summarized by SIOP, these were the top predictors of job performance.

• Structured interviews, r = .42
• Job knowledge tests, r = .40
• Empirically keyed biodata, r = .38
• Work sample tests, r = .33
• Cognitive ability tests, r = .31

The r is a correlation between the hiring method and later performance. Zero means no relationship and 1.0 means perfect prediction. Structured interviews had the highest mean figure in the study, though SIOP notes they also showed a lot of spread. The quality of the interview makes a big difference.

Look at what sits at the top. A structured interview costs nothing but preparation. Every candidate gets the same questions, each question ties to the job, and answers are scored against a rubric you agreed on before the first interview. A work sample gives the candidate a made-up scenario that looks like the real work, so you see how they think without asking for free labor. Neither one needs a license fee.

Checklist for a hiring process without DISC

• Write down the 4 to 6 things this person must do well in their first six months.
• Write one or two interview questions for each of those things, and ask every candidate the same questions in the same order.
• Agree on what a strong, average, and weak answer looks like before the first interview.
• Have each interviewer score on their own before the debrief, so the loudest voice doesn't set the score.
• Add one short work sample built on a made-up scenario that looks like the real job. Respect the candidate's time. Keep it to an hour or less, and never ask for real work your company could use.
• If you use any assessment to screen, ask the vendor what evidence they have that it predicts performance in your type of role.
• Take DISC and any other style profile out of the decision.
• Book the DISC session for the new hire's first or second week.

Where does DISC belong in the hiring process?

After the offer is signed, that's when DISC earns its place.

• Onboarding. Let the new hire know up front that their profile will be shared with their manager, then share it and have the manager share theirs back. The first month is when small misreads between a manager and a new hire start, and this gives both of them a head start.
• Manager 1:1s. A manager who knows a direct report leans S might stop dropping big changes in a Friday afternoon message and explain the why earlier.
• Team communication. Use it to talk openly about how the team runs meetings, makes decisions and handles disagreement. Our guide to effective ways to communicate with your team has more on that.

This is how we use DISC at Quokka Hub. Our DISC Team Assessment is for teams that already work together and the people joining them. For a full walkthrough on running it, see our DISC assessment for teams guide. If you're weighing DISC against other tools, our piece on personality assessments covers the bigger picture.

What should you say when your CEO asks for DISC in hiring?

This request usually comes from a good place. A founder took DISC at a workshop, it described them well, and now they want that same clarity on candidates. I'd skip the flat no and offer a swap that gets them what they want.

A founder I work with told me recently that he brought me in so he doesn't have to think about the people side of the business. If he disagrees with me, he says so. My job is to push back when I believe in something, and at the end of the day I can concede. DISC in hiring is one I'd push back on every time.

Here is a script you can adapt.

"I love that you want to know how people will work together. DISC is great for that, and I want us to use it from day one. I don't want it deciding who gets hired, for two reasons. It doesn't measure the skills this role needs, and the research points to structured interviews and work samples as better predictors. What I'd suggest is that I build a structured interview and a short work sample for this role, and we run DISC with the new hire and their manager in their first week."

It is an easier yes, because you keep the part they liked and remove the part that could hurt them. If you want a second opinion on your hiring process, or help setting up DISC for the team you already have, Book a Strategy Call.

Frequently asked questions

Can DISC be used for pre-employment screening?

I don't recommend it. DISC describes communication and work style. It doesn't measure the skills, aptitudes, or experience a role needs, so use it after the offer instead.

Is it legal to use DISC in hiring?

Legally, it depends on where you are, so check with an employment lawyer in your area. Either way, my advice is always the same. Keep DISC out of the hiring process, because it doesn't measure the skills a job needs.

What is better than DISC for hiring?

Structured interviews, job knowledge tests, and work samples. In Sackett and colleagues' 2022 meta-analysis, structured interviews had the highest mean validity, at r = .42.

How should DISC be used after someone is hired?

Use it in onboarding, manager 1:1s, and team conversations, so people understand how their colleagues prefer to give and receive information.

Sources

• Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection, Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens, Journal of Applied Psychology, 2022
• Is Cognitive Ability the Best Predictor of Job Performance?, O'Shea and Luscombe, SIOP