The Overall Recommendation Score Is the Computer's Own Read on a Candidate
Two predictions sit on your report, and they do not come from the same place. The overall recommendation score is the one a machine produces from end to end, with no human judgment added afterward. What it gives you in return is a reading you can compare across candidates without wondering who reviewed which one.
What Is the Overall Recommendation Score?
It is a single bar built on the percent chance of a good hire. The calculation multiplies basic attitude by competence. Then it lets the fit between the candidate and the position move that result.
Why two predictions sit on the same report
The difference is who makes the call. This score is the computer's best effort, produced the same way for every candidate. The percent chance of a good hire is a personal prediction instead, and a reviewer can raise or lower it. Reading both together shows whether somebody saw what the calculation could not.
What the overall recommendation score helps you evaluate before you hire
Do not expect this bar to reach a hundred. The competency ratings feeding it run from two to eight rather than from zero to ten. Benchmark against your own results instead of against a perfect score.
Why the Overall Recommendation Score Matters in Hiring
This is the one reading on the report that nobody adjusted. Every result came out of the same calculation. That makes it the most consistent basis you have for comparing candidates.
Consistent Across Candidates
Every result comes out of the same calculation, applied identically. Therefore, a gap between two candidates reflects the candidates rather than whoever happened to review them.
Fit Is Priced In
A candidate can rate well on both halves and still lose ground. The calculation asks what the person is worth in this seat, not in general.
A Second Opinion on the Percentage
Reading it beside the percent chance of a good hire shows where a reviewer stepped in. A wide gap between them is worth asking about directly.
How a low overall recommendation score shows up on the job
The adjustments that pull the bar down tend to surface later, once somebody already holds the seat.
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The Four Adjustments Working on the Result
The calculation starts with two ratings and then subtracts. Watching one candidate move through it shows why the final bar can land well below where the opening numbers pointed.
Personality Fit
The adjustment for the seat. Somebody rated seven for competency reads as a five when the job sits outside their behavioral traits. A persuasive sales seat can cost thirty percent of that rating.
Dishonesty
A reliability problem the calculation treats seriously. Scoring above 31 on dishonesty is a strong warning. Among those candidates, 79 percent were later fired, caused trouble, or struck their own employer as mediocre.
Defensiveness
An attitude trait with no bar of its own. Scoring it that way needs an aptitude assessment plus a Sales Ability or People and Logic test. The report describes the degree in writing.
Exaggeration and Very Low Traits
How somebody filled in the questionnaire limits what the rest of it can predict. Heavy exaggeration and any very low trait both pull the final bar down before the report ever reaches you.
Percent Chance of a Good Hire
The personal prediction beside this one. Compare the two whenever you want to know what a reviewer added or removed.
Positions Most Suited For
Where the fit adjustment comes from. If the bar dropped on role fit, this page shows which seats suit them.
Assessment Manual
The full manual behind every reading on the report, including the traits and averages that feed this bar.
Best practice: Never read the bar without asking which adjustment moved it. A candidate at 25 who started at 42 is one hiring problem. A candidate who started at 27 is another entirely.
How to Interpret the Overall Recommendation Score
The bar runs on the same ten by ten scale the calculation starts from. The thresholds below describe what an employee at each level is worth to the business. That is the question the whole calculation was built to answer.
Not Profitable · 25 or Less
An unmanageable or incompetent employee, and clearly a poor one on any reading of it.
Minimum · 26 to 30
Thirty is the floor, and even then only worth hiring in a tight labor market.
Profitable · Above 30
The higher the bar climbs, the more profit that particular employee is likely to make.
How the Overall Recommendation Score Gets Built
| Step | Score | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Attitude 6, competency 7 | 42 | The starting product, before anything about the seat enters the calculation. |
| Poor fit for the position | 35 | The person is capable, though not in this role, so the competency side is worth less. |
| High dishonesty | 25 | A reliability problem pulls the bar down again, ending well below where the calculation started. |
When the Two Predictions Disagree
A gap between the bar and the percentage is information rather than an error. The bar shows what the calculation alone supports. The percentage carries a reviewer's judgment on top of that. A higher percentage usually means somebody saw a pattern worth allowing for, so ask what it was.
What to Do Based on the Score
Pass on this candidate, and check whether fit or reliability caused the drop before you write the whole search off.
Hire only in a tight labor market, and know which adjustment took the number down before you commit to anything.
Move ahead, and read the percent chance of a good hire beside it to see whether the two actually agree.
Treat the bar as one input among several. Resumes, interviews, reference checks and skill tests still decide whether somebody can do the specific work in front of them.
Want to see a sample report?
Get a real example of what the IC or SL Behavioral report looks like — scores, trait breakdowns,
and interpretation guidance included.
Where the Overall Recommendation Score Carries the Most Weight
Every seat you fill runs through the same calculation. Two kinds of position feel the adjustments harder than the rest. Both are worth a closer look at what moved the bar.
Roles where the overall recommendation score carries the most weight
| Role | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Persuasive Sales Seats | Fit carries real weight in this seat. A competency rating can fall by thirty percent when the position demands persuasion. |
| Support Positions | Defensiveness carries particular value when hiring support people, and it works on this number without ever getting its own bar. |
If any of these situations sound familiar, this assessment is for you
Frequently Asked Questions
The overall recommendation score is a single bar chart built on the percent chance of a good hire. It multiplies basic attitude by competence, then adjusts the result for how well the candidate fits the position.
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