Evaluating Risk: Psychological Screening for Employment

Psychological screening for employment sounds pretty official, doesn't it? What is it, you might ask. Public safety professionals are often required to have a psychological evaluation performed during their hiring process. These positions carry a higher responsibility, are involved in high-risk environments, and come with high pressure environments. Here at Albatross Psychological Services, we are experts in providing employers with psychological evaluations and determinations of fitness for a particular role. 

What Kinds of Jobs Need Pre-Employment Psychological Evaluations?

There are a number of different professionals that enter into safety sensitive roles here in Pennsylvania that include but are not limited to:

-Act 235: The Lethal Weapons Training Act that provides training and licensing of those who will carry a lethal weapon while on the job. An evaluation by a licensed psychologist is necessary for the process. Information regarding the state requirements can be found here. https://www.pa.gov/agencies/psp/programs/law-enforcement-training/lethal-weapons-training-program/initial-application-for-certification

-Act 120: The Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission (MPOETC) is a certification program that is required to become a municipal police officer.  This includes police officers and police academy applicants.

-Correctional Officers: Individuals working in prisons as correctional officers often need a psychological evaluation as part of their hiring process. 

- Probation and Parole Officers: Those starting new positions working in adult or juvenile probation or parole might have similar requirements to police officers and require an evaluation of their ability to perform their job. 

Sometimes HR departments might request a suitability evaluation for various other job roles as well.

What do these evaluations entail?

While each of the roles above might have a slightly different focus, most suitability for employment evaluations look somewhat similar in what tests are administered. We administer a specific test of personality that is designed to detect a variety of different personality types, mental health symptoms, defense mechanisms, and beliefs. This test is also designed to pick up any attempts by the examinee to make themselves look better than they are, or to try and deceive the test. That’s why being 100% as honest as possible for this portion is vital. If the test determines that the examinee was deceptive or intentionally tried to make themselves out to be “better”, they’ll automatically fail since we can't see a true picture of the applicant. If we know they were denying even common human faults, we can't say their results are accurate and we can't give accurate results, which means they cannot be passed. No one’s perfect! Trying to make yourself look perfect on the test is the only sure fire way to not pass. 

The next portion of the suitability for employment evaluation involves a clinical interview. That is, you’ll sit down with a clinician and answer questions about your history such as childhood, medical history, social history, any mental health history or treatment you’ve received, and substance use history. Again, being open and honest during this portion is very important. There’s no information in your past that means an automatic fail. However, being overly defensive (i.e. answering every question with only one word and not providing any details) can work against you since we need data to make determinations.  

I think you can see the theme: the most important part of any evaluation for employment is to be as open and honest as possible! 

After we complete these two steps, the results of the evaluation will be sent directly to the employer or governing party. That means that the results of the evaluation are not provided to you, the examinee, directly. You can ask your employer for a copy of the results, but they may or may not provide it. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with the results as the purpose of the evaluation is strictly for employment and not related to treatment.

It’s also important to keep in mind that these evaluations are never covered by insurance. Insurance requires mental health services to be considered “medically necessary.” Since these types of evaluations are related to employment, there is no medical need for them and insurance will deny the claim every single time. Usually, employers will cover the cost of these evaluations. However some evaluations (i.e. Act 235 evaluations) are sought by individuals and are often not covered by employers. Make sure you check with HR to see who is responsible for payment!

Is Anything Else Needed?

A lot of these services and evaluations have a specific form that is required for us, the psychologists, to fill out and send directly to the employer. The forms can be searched for and downloaded off the internet depending on what specific service you’re seeking. We also try to have copies of the common forms in case you’re unable to find and print them, but it’s always best if you can bring your own form to ensure it’s correct! Make sure to check with HR. Other than that, you only need to bring yourself and an open and honest approach! We’ll take care of the rest. 

The whole process takes around 1.5 - 2 hours to complete. Some people take a bit longer on the testing portion, but usually sessions don't stretch longer than two hours.

Interested in learning more about these services, or need to schedule a testing session for employment? Reach out to us or use our online scheduling feature! And as always, please feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. We're here to help and to make the suitability for employment process as easy as possible for you!