SOSIE

The SOSIE is a psychometric inventory that simultaneously measures personal values, professional interests and personality traits. It's the standard tool in high-end recruitment and assessment in France for predicting lasting motivation and cultural fit.

Category Psychometric (professional values + personality traits + interests)

Average cost Paid (Pearson Clinical & Talent Assessment licence) — pay-per-use pricing

Certification required Yes — SOSIE accreditation is mandatory (training from Pearson or an approved partner, ~2 days)

When to use it

Where it applies

→Recruitment. A preferred tool for executive and leadership roles. Assesses the fit between a candidate's values and the company's culture, and anticipates long-term motivation beyond technical skills.
→One-to-one coaching. Exploring deep values and how they align with a career plan. Very useful in a skills assessment or transition coaching to clarify "what actually matters".
→Team-building & management. Mapping a team's values, identifying sources of cultural tension. Helps managers understand what motivates each of their people individually.

The underlying model

How the model works

The SOSIE reads a person on 3 levels at once, where most tools measure only one: personality traits (how I behave), values (what deeply motivates me) and interests (which domains I naturally invest myself in).

1Values (6 scales). Support, conformity, recognition, independence, benevolence, leadership — what genuinely matters to the person in how they relate to others and to themselves.
2Personality traits (8 scales). Energy, social ease, empathy, organisation, emotional control, results orientation, caution, cooperation — how the person naturally operates.
3Professional interests (8 scales). Technical, commercial, management, creative, social, scientific, entrepreneurial, literary/cultural — which domains the person genuinely enjoys investing in.

It's crossing the 3 dimensions that gives it power: a candidate might score high on organisation traits, high on independence values, and high on commercial interests — an ideal profile for an autonomous role, but frustrated in a highly hierarchical one, even with the right skills. That's what the SOSIE reveals, and what most interviews miss.

Reference: pearsonclinical.fr/sosie-2nd-generation.

Wrap-up

Strengths and limits

Strengths

✓A unique three-dimensional approach (personality + values + interests) — no other tool covers all 3 dimensions at once.
✓A very robust French benchmark — normative comparison suited to the French job market.
✓An excellent predictor of post-hire motivation and retention.

Limits and biases

✕Access is restricted to accredited practitioners — a higher barrier to entry than other tools.
✕Less well known to the general public than MBTI or DISC, which can reduce a coachee's engagement.
✕Sensitive to social desirability in a selection context (a candidate may present what they think is expected).

Resources

Other personality assessments

Psychometric traits Big Five / OCEAN 5 fundamental traits in continuous scores, the most scientifically validated framework. Typological MBTI / 16Personalities 16 personality types from 4 Jungian dichotomies, team-building's tool of choice. Behavioural DISC / Colour Method 4 observable behavioural styles, widely used in management and sales. Deep motivations Enneagram 9 personality structures rooted in fundamental motivations and fears. Emotional intelligence EQ-i (Emotional Intelligence) The global standard for measuring emotional intelligence in leadership and executive coaching.

Want to go further with the SOSIE?

Whether you are a candidate preparing for interviews or a company running a hiring process, this assessment can be built into your approach.