Employers are testing for skill and personality to find the best match! Is this the best way to find a good employee? Does a high score on a test mean you are a good employee? Can a test really determine personality? Can a test really tell if you will fit in the company?
Why?
Is this just the result of too many applicants for a single job? Are employers just unable to find out enough about an applicant in a interview or is there a bigger issue? Companies have policies of only confirming dates of employment, pay rate and job title. References are vague and unreliable because they are afraid of lawsuits. What is an employer to do? Companies stepped in to test candidates on their skills and personality. Does it work?
Where is it effective?
I think it can work well in certain categories of employees such as customer service, retail, business services and administrative roles. Testing for skills, particularly specific skills could work very well. Are your accounting, engineering, administrative skills up to par for the job opening? This is something that sounds really good because you want the most competent employee. Can the test identify who will succeed when there is a problem? Testing for skills or intelligence will reveal the candidate’s ability to do the job, but it cannot tell you if he/she will be successful in the role.
Can you test for Personality?
Along with intelligence and skills testing, employers are using personality tests to help select employees. Are personality tests good predictors of job performance? Remember, the candidate takes the test and can answer the questions anyway they like and may not be true. Will the employee fit in better based on the information given on a personality test? For personality tests to be more useful, someone should ask the applicant questions and follow-up with more questions based on the answers. It requires much more effort to make it effective.
My reaction!
Have you ever been asked to take tests to apply for a job? Early in my career, I took a number of tests for personality, suitability or intelligence. I am happy to say, I did not pass any of them. Maybe I just don’t fit neatly into the box? My journey to success may give you some insight. Perhaps I was not a suitable choice or I did not fit in! I will never know! Measuring my abilities, skills or intelligence using a test may be the most inaccurate method of selection. Can the information be helpful? Absolutely, but not in itself!. Everything depends on how you use the information. I think that is true with all interviewing in general.
Final Thoughts
Employers have too many applicants! Testing is a good way to find out who is most qualified or is it? Testing applicants can be a very expensive process and may not reveal who will be the best candidate. The companies who use them believe I them. I think they are only relevant for certain jobs or careers. Can you really test for personality? I think the results are open to interpretation. Are these tests more effective than just interviewing? Evaluation of your answers is very important and probably needs verification. Are lie detectors next?
What has been your experience with pre-employment testing? If you were tested, how did work out? Did they give you feedback about the results? Did you join the company? Do the tests work? Is it a better place to work because they used testing to hire the best of the best? Please let know in your comments. Employers are testing for skill and personality to find the best match!
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A workplace should be able to able to bring the best out of it workers no matter what their personality is. If all had an aggressive personality or if all were passive, the workplace would be pretty boring.
Personally I don’t like these tests, but I do realize they are becoming more and more common.
Test are open to interpretation and can easily be misused. I think the manager should be the person to choose the members of the department. After all, the manager takes responsibility for the workers.
I have been tested for skills before but never personality. I have a few friends though who have been tested. I think it is a good thing because you can hire people in positions that cater to their strengths and personality. It maximizes their success.
Apparently it works for a lot of companies because more companies are using these tests. I personally do not like or believe in their validity.
I have not had to take any pre-employement test aside from a written test. My wife on the other hand wanted to work for the government. She had to take a personality test and a poly-graph all before the interview. She was pretty stressed. My problem was not the tests. My problem was the low ball offer she received at the interview.
Extensive testing does not mean that you will be paid anymore for passing the test.
Man do we know that lol. She was low balled 30k despite meeting all the qualifications of the position. I believe the reason was they had so many applicants willing to take a pay cut.
Man do we know that lol. She was low balled 30k despite meeting all the qualifications of the position. I believe the reason was they had so many applicants willing to take a pay cut.
Competition (supply exceeding demand) will do that. The real problem will occur when the economy picks up.. The people who accepted lower wages will run to the better wages.
I had to take a writing test as part of the interview for my job. Ultimately, the main reason I got it was because of my positive attitude : )
That makes me happy.
All I have ever had to go through is drug testing, not personality. The thing is, I know I will pass a drug test, but I may fail a personality test! 🙂
I am sure if you are a scammer, you know how to game the tests, so not sure how effective they are for some people.
I can understand drug and background checking. Personality testing seems too subjective to test accurately. It is open to interpretation.
Some companies use the tests to screen people out, others for selection. Still others may use it as just an indication of fitting in. I have no problem with a generic test for skills.
A couple years ago I was applying for media sales jobs, and one company I interviewed with three different times. Each time they had me fill out a personality test/evaluation. I admit I completely tried to give the “right” answer to match the personality of a good sales rep rather than the true answer.
Of course, people will do that with all types of job interview questions.
Did you pass the personality test? Gaming the test is one of the reasons I think the results are less valuable.
I have never had to do tests for a job; but then I have never properly got a job (have been offered jobs rather than have to apply for them but it may be time to break this cycle). Which probably is a good thing because I am ENTJ in MB – nice combination for a field marshal but not for an emloyee.
On a bit more serious note, I friend who was very senior in a very large pharma company taught me two things:
1) People needing you means that you are not senior enough; when you are senior people don’t notice whether you are around or not;
2) During inteviews people are not interested in your technical competencies; what they want to figure out is whether you fit in the team.
I agree that connecting with the interviewer is key in getting the job. You have to be likeable!
I’ve never had to do any pre-employment test before, but I also haven’t worked in years. People could just lie on the tests and choose what they think the best answer is. Maybe more thorough interviews would achieve more accurate results.
Although tests are meant to overcome “gaming”, I still question the results. Personality is too subjective for a test unless the questioner is evaluating the answers.
Personality is a difficult one for employers, but the wrong persona can kill a productive team. I was surprised and impressed recently when I learned that the US military regularly discharges people diagnosed with Personality Disorder. Government jobs aren’t so safe!
I didn’t think there was room in the military for personality. I thought you are just supposed to follow orders.
I think the answer to that is dependent upon what you do, and what you want to do. I think all organizations that are committed to long-term success have leaders at every level.
I think you would be surprised at how progressive the military is today KC.
I am glad to hear the military is becoming progressive. My experience dates back to the Vietnam era (1968).
I am experienced of appearing in multiple round of interviews and multiple written tests. Once I was rejcted by Microsoft after 5th round of tests. And I took offer from IBM instead as they had only 1 written and one telephonic. Employer have rights to pick the best.
I am glad it worked out for you. 5 rounds of testing seems like overkill!
Thank you for this excellent &
thoughtful post, so full of ideas that I have printed it out so i can read
again & your post motivated me..
I am glad you like it. I hope you enjoy my other posts as well.
I remember my interview for the financial development program for Westinghouse, we talked about everything from tennis to my volunteer work with VITA. They already knew I wasn’t stupid, they were seeing if I would be able to communicate well and if I had initiative. I got the job by the way. 😉
This kind of “test” is much more evaluative and much better than any traditional test. The interviewer and you were connecting on a personal level which is much better than any test.
I never had to take a personality test. I’m sure the interviewers have their impressions though.
I don’t think the personality test would be effective because you put whatever you think would be best from the employer point of view. Seems silly.
Are you saying everyone would try to game the test? No surprise there. I think the only way it could be effective is to have a person question you and have follow up questions.
I don’t know if personality tests would be effective. Some years ago, I took part in extensive testing as part of a management review. Literally hundreds of seemingly unconnected questions and situations.
I and others thought the results were not totally reflective of my skills and personality. I suppose the (probably expensive) consulting testing company thought it went just swell.
I realize these tests probably have some validity, but I just do not see it. Maybe it makes sense in very special or specific circumstances. For example, customer service could be one area it would be beneficial.
In your experience, how critical is the “fit?” Many career books suggest that it is very important to be aligned with the organizational culture, but I remember an earlier post of yours indicating how you like to change things up. Can you please address?
Fitting in to the culture or personality of the department or company is very important. I think you are referring to my “Break the Rules” article, when I suggest to change things up. Every organization is tolerant of creativity or changing things up, if it works. In some organizations, you may have to sell it considerably, but you will succeed. Everything depends on your track record and building support.
I took a personality profiling test once for a job interview and it seemed like it’d be so easy to fake the answers so I don’t know how reliable they really are. Finding good candidates is hard and sometimes even if someone interviews really well you won’t know if they’re the right fit until they’ve been on the job for a few months. -Sydney
I think that is very true! This goes both ways for the company and candidate. The experienced interviewer will probably be accurate 95+% and that varies from interviewer to interviewer. Candidates are probably not as good at it since they do not make these decisions as often.
It’s an interesting phenomena. I think on one hand, it is good to screen candidates when companies are so overburdened with seemingly acceptable candidates. On the other hand, for things like personality tests, “leadership tests”, etc., one has to wonder how often candidates are answering factually or saying what they think the employer wants to hear, and also, how good a barometer of future success those tests actually are.
Personally, I think a better indication of future success is past accomplishments. As an interviewer, I would rather hear how a candidate thinks because no test will tell me how someone will perform in the future.
Interesting post. I never took a personality test, but aren’t interview questions slightly measuring your personality already? Like you said, it can help, but it shouldn’t be the main criteria. I could imagine helping to break a tie if two qualified candidates were going for one position. I believe it can even be helpful with a close race. Let’s say one candidate is stronger, skill wise, but the second has a personality that meshes better with the team and the company philosophy. I would select the second candidate.
I can see personality tests for certain job functions such as customer service or repair technicians. You would look for certain traits that successful people have in that field. I recall taking a test for skills a long time ago which would make sense.
That’s crazy! I had no idea this was going on but maybe it does lead to a better fit for companies. I think you can tell about personality in an interview but maybe testing offers more insurance. Who knows!?
One of my first interviews (after college), was with an insurance company that required a personality test. Thankfully, I failed and went into finace and accounting instead.
I agree absolutely. The applicant pool is SO big you really need to stand out. Being personable, likeable – is the way to do it.
The best way to stand out is still networking! You do not have to compete with all the applicants and slip in the back door.