What If Employers Want You to Take a Personality Test? Are Employers Going Too Far?

http://wlb.monster.com/articles/personalitytest/?WT.mc_n=rss2005_DMM ^

[freepinglurker]

I have been job hunting for a few months now (I have years of sales experience) and they have all seemed to want you to go through this 3 month journey of just about everything. My most recent experience has gone like this and all have been similiar: Mountains of paperwork/applications/questionaires,background check, criminal check etc... 2 phone interviews, I have been through 4 interviews with numerous questions and several interviewers, a day in the field with an existing representative, lunch with all the other representatives, a company networking function on and on and on. Now they want me to take a silly personality profile. I have had just about enough. Is this normal these days? What's next genetic testing, maybe a dna sample for hiring purposes? Maybe bank statements, a copy of my family tree? I am so sick of this. What do you think of this? Is privacy gone? why do employers think they need all this to sell their product?

[Brilliant]

An interview is a personality test. Basically, they are trying to reinvent the wheel.

[rhombus]

Many many personality tests are pure junk. Of if they have any value at all that value is rarely gleaned from some HR person reviewing and interpreting the results. They might as well as you what astronomical sign you are.

[edcoil]

Back in the 1970 and early 80's did personally tests, IQ tests, interviews, etc.

Look, if you don't like the way they do it, stop looking to work for someone else, put your back into it and start your own business.

[LonePalm]

Welcome to Free Republic.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[JamesP81]

This is a result of companies treating their people like resources (thus human resources) instead of people. Such companies are frequently not good ones to work for (although there are exceptions).

When I was in college, I tried to get a summer job at RadioShack and they required a minimum of two interviews. After the second one they wanted another and I just said forget it and took summer classes instead.

[cripplecreek]

Nearly 20 years ago I went for a job interview. Part of the interview was with a psychologist. Amazingly enough I got the job.

[ßuddaßudd]

I dont go to work to make friends and if I do, thats a bonus.

[Neidermeyer]

As far as "personality tests" go , the vast majority of them are used to weed out people with high IQ's (defined as anything above 104 which is average, 100, plus the standard deviation of the test) and any initiative ,, they're looking for reliable sheep who follow orders and don't think too much ,, if you're having trouble getting hired you're probably looking at the wrong companies...

[JamesP81]

Of if they have any value at all that value is rarely gleaned from some HR person reviewing and interpreting the results.

Frankly, HR people rarely do anything useful, unless making everyone else stressed out and angry is considered useful these days.

[dakine]

Go on welfare....

[D.P.Roberts]

By far, the most accurate means of telling if an applicant will be successful is to know his IQ. Since that's been forbidden, employers need roundabout methods of telling who's going to be worth hiring.

[rhombus]

Frankly, HR people rarely do anything useful, unless making everyone else stressed out and angry is considered useful these days.

But they are always very pretty people, aren't they? Nice suits, nice hair...and that's about where it ends.

[YellowRoseofTx]

I took a personality test for a position and found it possibly more instructive for me than for the company. The result, I was made a nice offer, but from the test I realized that was not the kind of work I wanted and I turned it down.

[durasell]

In the box labeled personality, just check "yes" and move on to the next question.

[Fighting Irish]

I hired a girl that pulled an unloaded weapon on her office partners.

Wish I had such a personality test

[Mr. Brightside]

"You have to have the confidence that the employer is ethical and does not use the negative traits as a bias against you."

An "ethical" employer will not use negative personality traits against an applicant?

What employer WOULD NOT use negative personality traits against a job seeker? Sheesh! What am I missing here?

[frankenMonkey]

Back in the dot com boom days, one of the uber-cool companies gave me a personality test - I failed.

But I'm still in business, and they're not!

Bottom line, if you need the job, go ahead and take it. It's generally meaningless HR drivel.

[Gideon Reader]

The ab-so-effen-loot-ly BEST reason to take advantage of what the United States of America has to offer, and START YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

[Londo Molari]

When I worked in the nuke industry, we had to take a personality test. I believe it was an NRC regulation. I guess they don't want nuts to be running around a nuke plant.