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Personality Tests as a Job requirement?

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  1. jimjeff99 jimjeff99 is offline

    Burlington, NJ
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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 9:38am)

    To make things short, I accepted a job in sales that started out with a base salary then it eventually dwindled away and was 100% commission. They had me take a personality test. They came back to me and said I failed the test, because according to the test I don't have a strong enough desire for money. My question is how are personality tests relevant for something like this? The only thing I can think of is that I value my family higher than money. They are going to send me the results and I will post when they get them to me.
  2. wantagolf wantagolf is offline Moderator

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 9:43am) in reply to jimjeff99

    So are you willing to put in 70 hours aweek to meet your quota's or would you rather be home those extra 30 hours with the wife and kids?
     
  3. jimjeff99 jimjeff99 is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 9:48am) in reply to wantagolf

    When I was interviewing with them on 3 separate occasions. They stressed the fact that you will be home with your family for dinner 4 outta five nights a week and the max hours you would work were 50 and that is on rare occasions.
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  4. HK_MP5N HK_MP5N is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 10:16am) in reply to jimjeff99

    Employers are as careful/selective now as they have been for a long time. When hiring for jobs that represent daily oriented tasks then you can operate under the idea of keeping sufficient people to meet needed services.

    Intellegince, personality and other type tests have been around for a long time. Certainly intelligence oriented tests cover the more techincal areas for an engineer or scientist.

    Now the personality is a good one and damn sure vital for someone in a sales job. Even the best structured interviews would not necessarily reveal the desired characteristics needed. However, the personality test would reveal those plus many other things that a person would want to cover in a recruiting process.

    While these tests are certainly not pass/fail types they are excellent tools to help make the best hiring decision. These testing tools also have shown to improve voluntary/involuntary turnover rates, but enough of that for now.
  5. Shagadelic Shagadelic is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 10:45am) in reply to HK_MP5N

    Only problem is that testing as a pre-requisite for hire is illegal in certain forms

    Straight IQ tests are out right illegal

    But skills based assesments (say math for Eng, Pharm tests for RN's) are legal.

    Personality tests, I saw a hand writing assesment (able to figure out what type of salesperson someone would be based on handwriting) which has no quantifiable scientific basis, are a slippery slope
  6. jimjeff99 jimjeff99 is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 11:10am) in reply to Shagadelic

    The two tests I took were these. I was told on the sales test I passed with flying colors, but that the personality test was not good and they have standards that corporate sets that I did not pass

    You have completed the following assessments:

    * TTI TriMetrix® Talent Report

    The following assessments have not yet been completed:

    * IMPACT Sales Skills Index™
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  7. Esarbe Esarbe is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 11:23am) in reply to jimjeff99

     "Personality Test?" Isn't that just the interview process?
  8. Leefontaine Leefontaine is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 2:42pm) in reply to jimjeff99

    how is it possible to outright fail a personality test? isnt it like open to interpretation?
  9. HK_MP5N HK_MP5N is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 2:49pm) in reply to Leefontaine

     
    Originally Posted by Leefontaine View Post

    how is it possible to outright fail a personality test? isnt it like open to interpretation?

    lol, I was pretty clear that there is never a pass/fail on this. You get the results back and at that point you decide how much or for that matter how little weight to put in the results. They have a definitive use and cost would be one of the reasons most companies don't use services like this more. I am a full believer in the ROI and consider them a valuable tool for higher positions in a compnay or a consultancy role.
  10. Leefontaine Leefontaine is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 3:08pm) in reply to HK_MP5N

     
    Originally Posted by HK_MP5N View Post

    lol, I was pretty clear that there is never a pass/fail on this. You get the results back and at that point you decide how much or for that matter how little weight to put in the results. They have a definitive use and cost would be one of the reasons most companies don't use services like this more. I am a full believer in the ROI and consider them a valuable tool for higher positions in a compnay or a consultancy role.

    sry didn't read ur post i just read the OP and it seemed like because he failed the test, it cost him a decent amount of money or w.e.

    seems pretty unfair overall to me, how accurate would u say these things are? im kinda skeptical as to how any standard written exam is capable of measuring something so psychologically complex as someone's personality.
  11. AFink93 AFink93 is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 3:24pm) in reply to jimjeff99

    Jesus thats some bullshit buddy.. You should bring down a copy of your mortage and a pic of Sarah and Aubrey and say WTF are you talking about IF I dont word I cant pay for this and they have no place to live.. Great time of year for them to be assholes. Merry Fucking Christmas eh?
  12. jimjeff99 jimjeff99 is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 3:24pm) in reply to Leefontaine

    You can't technically fail one. The first part of the test was 25 phrases Like "desire for a new car" "Love of your family" "Pollution" "Unfair imprisionment" and you has to put these in order from 1-25 as to what was most important to you. The second part of it was similiar just on a less broad scale and on a 1-4 basis.
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  13. AFink93 AFink93 is offline

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 3:54pm) in reply to jimjeff99

     
    Originally Posted by jimjeff99 View Post

    You can't technically fail one. The first part of the test was 25 phrases Like "desire for a new car" "Love of your family" "Pollution" "Unfair imprisionment" and you has to put these in order from 1-25 as to what was most important to you. The second part of it was similiar just on a less broad scale and on a 1-4 basis.

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    No way in hell this guy could ever fail a personality test..
  14. DBo Fo Sho DBo Fo Sho is offline Taking advantage of Official Threads

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    Dec 23rd, 2009 (12/23/2009 4:09pm) in reply to AFink93

    I made it to the 2nd interview (out of 4) with a company which was based on sales and commission. Then they decided to give me to personality compatability test, in which I scored 4/19, so obv I didn't get the job. I shared some of the questions with my friends and we just laughed at how fucking dumb and irrelevant they actually were. These people conducting interviews and assembling these tests really need to open their fucking eyes and find relevant questions to ask.
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