Getting the right person in the right seat
DISC Profiling using the Thomas International PPA system
We have for many years used the Thomas International PPA profiling system, based on DISC.
We have a number of clients who always use it whenever they recruit staff and we use it ourselves in our own recruitment processes.
There are two stages to this process:
Everybody has talent and skills of some form. It is a matter of recruiting the right talent for the job vacancy you have. The right person in the right seat.
Before asking potential recruits to complete their own PPA questionnaire, we recommend that you first complete a PPA job profile questionnaire.
If you subsequently purchase a candidate profile we would not charge you for this job profile.
In fact we may well have completed a job profile for a similar job beforehand and can share this with you.
Here’s an example of how we compared the profile of a candidate with the ‘ideal profile’ specified for a particular accounts assistant role:
- We first drafted the job profile on the Thomas on-line system.
- We then invited the candidates to complete their own on-line profile (this takes a matter of minutes).
- Three profiles are produce to reflect behaviour under different conditions.
We then compared the candidate profiles with the job profile:
Oh dear!
This candidate had “interviewed” very well but it was clear from the profile that their personality was not suited to the role required.
They were not recruited. Interestingly, they also performed badly on the Initial Assessments that they completed.


Spot on!
This candidate was recruited and has since performed excellently both at work and in their studies.
The employer was delighted and the student was buzzing.
Candidate Profiling
The general approach has been summarised above
Profiling with the Thomas International PPA tool is a simple and fast way too.
- Understand your existing staff better and use them more effectively
- Improve the effectiveness of your recruitment process and
According to the CIPD, the average costs associated with the turnover and recruitment of a role is between £4,000 and £6,125. Getting it right first time is imperative. The return on your investment of £90 per profile is therefore potentially huge.
We would recommend that you ask candidates to complete the profiling questionnaire prior to the 2nd interview stage, when you have already thinned out the applicants to a list of likely contenders. The questionnaire invitation is sent out by email from the Thomas website and on completion, we generate the reports and forward them to you, to match with the job profile. One of the reports is an Interviewers Guide to assist in the 2nd interview stage. We have a number of clients who now use our PPA Profiling standard package for all their potential recruits. It has simply become part of their routine recruitment process

Standard Package - £99
- PPA Profile
- Graphs and Scores
Other reports available - £44 if on the same candidate as above
- Interviewers Guide
- Candidate Feedback
- Leadership Skills
- Executive Summary
- Strengths and Limitations
- How to Manage
- Management Interview Questionnaire
- Training Needs
- Career Guide
In addition
- Job profile - £20 – albeit not charged where you subsequently purchase a candidate profile
- Compatibility of candidate (already scored) to Job profile (already created) - £45
- Team profile - £198 per team, plus - £33 per team member


Here is the full range of graphs for this student. A very consistent profile. No conflicts.
In contrast, here is a Thomas International profiling completed by us for one of our Employers….
Hmmm!
(PS he is also a friend, which was why he was happy for us to show this!)

PS – A bit of background on the Thomas PPA Profiling System, which is based on DISC
DISC is a personal assessment tool used to improve work productivity, teamwork and communication.
DISC is non-judgmental and helps people discuss their behavioural differences.
Candidates will be asked to complete a series of questions that produce a detailed report about their personality and behaviour.
