Validity
At Care Character, everything we do is built on scientific rigour, practical relevance, and real-world evidence. Our assessments are not only designed with the care sector in mind, but also validated to ensure they reliably predict the qualities that matter most for effective care and support work and management. The Care Character Qualities Model Our model was developed from a unique combination of: Doctoral research in the care sector – providing clear evidence of the characteristics needed for effective performance in care. Psychometric science – applying established behavioural models and the “Big Five” framework to identify the traits that drive behaviour. Extensive sector experience – ensuring the science is applied in a way that is practical, relevant, and impactful for care providers. Psychometric Evaluation Care Character assessments have undergone rigorous testing, showing: Reliable measurement – including test–retest stability. Comprehensive coverage – alignment with the ‘Big Five’ domains of personality. Construct validity – each trait and scale measures what it is intended to. Predictive power (criterion validity) – evidence that assessment results predict behaviour, performance, and retention. Practical outcomes – effectively differentiating high-potential hires and future leaders. We believe in openness about our research and results. Validity data reports are available to download from the Care Character website.
Care Character – Frequently Asked Questions
Care Character uses a 1 – 10 scale, with 7 or above demonstrating high potential in the seven qualities of care and therefore reflecting a good fit.
Yes – interviewers and hiring managers still have the ultimate hiring decision – Care Character is there to support decision making. However, the assessment does give an accurate indication on a candidate’s potential in a care setting so low scorers are less suitable and may require more support.
There are no right or wrong answers in the assessment so it is unlikely that candidates will feel the need to ask someone else to complete it for them. No assessment is ever 100% accurate and should be used as part of a well-rounded recruitment process – the reports can be used at interview to validate that the results.
The Care Character assessment does not present risks by which candidates could be assisted or engage in cheating with AI. The latest developments in generative AI are designed to produce freeform text in response to user prompts. The Care Character assessment does not rely on open-ended free text responses, and rather requires users to rate standardised assessment items.
The questions are written specifically to be easy to understand and read. The clarity and ease of reading is evidenced in the rapid completion time of the Care Character assessment.
Assessments will last for 6 months so candidates will be unable to complete the assessment multiple times. In addition, they are unable to determine which answers should or shouldn’t be selected.
All Support Worker applicants are invited to complete the Care Character assessment once they have applied and will be expected to complete it before being shortlisted for interview. They are given 7 days to complete the assessment from the point they receive the link.
The reports have summary sections for ease of reference, as well as sections to delve into more detail. Care Character supports interviewers to appoint the right person reflecting the qualities required by a Support Worker, and therefore there are overall time savings by using the tool.
Care Character is regularly completed without difficulty by people for whom English is not their first language.
Care Character is compatible for all types of devices – smart phones, tablets, and desktop.
Care Character was created using findings from an academically backed PhD study conducted within the care industry. The assessment is validated as both a structured assessment for demonstrating that it is measuring what it claims to measure (construct validity), and predictions of job performance based on the assessment (criterion validity).
The assessment only takes candidates 5-7 minutes to complete on average, with a completion rate of over 70%. The assessment offers the candidate a report to help them prepare for theirrnrninterview and wider development, and therefore good candidates are likely to be interested in this and willing to engage with the tool.
