NFL Player Evaluation Assessments with Harold Goldstein, Kenneth Yusko and Charles Sherbaum

During this Science4-Hire episode, Dr. Charles Handler mashes up his rabid football fandom and his passion for employment testing to discuss the NFL’s Player Assessment Test (or NFL-PAT) with the I/O psychologists responsible for creating and maintaining it.

Implemented in 2013, the NFL-PAT is an hour-long, computer-based test measuring a wide range of traits and competencies directly related to a player’s on- and off-the-field performance.

Special guests and creators of the NFL-PAT, Drs. Harold Goldstein and Charles Scherbaum of Baruch College and Dr. Kenneth Yusko of the University of Maryland, provide a detailed rundown of the strategy behind this state of the art assessment, the work put into creating it as well as the incredible results it has delivered.

This discussion is the perfect blend of sports and science, offering loads of insight that will entertain any football fan while sharing general truths required for success with any talent assessment program.

Interesting points covered include:
-The historical, strategic factors behind the initiative
-The luxury of having access to a treasure trove of player data
-Expanding the job performance criteria to include off the field measures
-Creating specialized assessment content that is context-specific for football
-How the NFL actually uses the program and the value that it has created.

Finally, we discuss the success of the NFL-PAT assessment, and how other any company can leverage the best practices used by the NFL to up their hiring game.